rmation.

Regards

David

for my darling wife, Margaret FISHER and her family, in fact I keep hearing them mutter about ‘brick walls’’ and it's giving me a headache. So I thought it was about time to ask for help and if reading this letter triggers connections with your own research, that would be great. This letter contains most of the information that my descendents have been able to unearth about my family and they would really appreciate any additional information that you may have, their contact details are below.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Robert STRONG as have mentioned above, I have come back to help two of my many, many ggggranddaughters in New Zealand. I myself was born about 1792 maybe in Middlesex London, England. But ‘London or Timbuktu’ - its so long ago I can't really remember. We were a hardworking family, not much money, couldn't read or write so we all worked with our hands in jobs that were mostly connected to the waterways of London. Its not like today, those days we had no education and so whatever was recorded was done by hearsay and taking into consideration all the different accents in this part of the world, there is every possibility that items got recorded wrong, with names not quite right.

That’s me, let me now introduce to you the ‘love of my life’ ! While I was in Hornsey Middlesex I married my beautiful Margaret FISHER, she was born about 1793 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, ‘though I can't remember how she got to Middlesex from Norwich - but am pleased she did or I might not have never met her! We were married on 1st August 1813 in The Parish of Hornsey, North London and afterwards we headed south to the Thames River looking for work.

After duly arriving at the London docks we took up residence at Silver Street Rotherhithe.
I worked as a Sawyer, in the docks, it wasn't a very pleasant area to work in, with the Thames River at your door and surrounded by many old rat infested warehouses, but we were happy and blessed with seven children, John William, Robert, Rosina (Roseanna), Charles George, Sarah and Susannah. Can't remember if we named them after our respective parents, brothers and sisters we might have but those clues to our family origins haven't helped my girls find our families.

Our first born, John William appeared in 1816 and brought us much joy, but we lost him on the 1st Feb 1824, can't remember how he died. Robert was born 9th May 1817, later in 1856, Robert & his wife Sarah Anne Charlotte SELF and grandchildren Mary Ann Susan, Robert Charles, Rosina Elizabeth, Margaret Jane, Susannah Emily went to live in New Zealand, then in 1819 came my beautiful Rosina she is one of the lost souls the girls haven't found yet.

Our unpredictable Charles was born in 1823, I loved him like the others but have to say that he was the black sheep of the family, so Charles and his wife Mary Ann ROSS and grand-daughter Mary Ann were sent out with Robert in 1856 with the hope that things would improve, but with too much liquor and not a happy life the silly fool managed to drown himself in the Auckland Harbour in 1896.

George, my last son was born in 1826 and became a sailor with a thirst for adventure, being the first to set sail from home. In Oct 1847, he signed up to sail to New Zealand via Ireland on the Barque called “ANN” that the English Government had hired to transport Fencible Soldiers who were to protect the early settlers during the Maori uprisings. On board he met his fiery Irish lass Margaret MCMULLEN, daughter of an Irish Fencible who was traveling with his wife and four daughters. The ‘ANN’ arrived in Auckland during May 1848 and George & Margaret were the first couple to be married in the new St Paul’s Church in Onehunga Auckland on 9th July 1848.

Then came my lovely daughters; Sarah and Susannah. Sarah was born in 1830, and in 1865 she left with her husband George LEWIS and grandchildren Sarah Ann, Susannah Martha, Eleanor Margaret, Rosina Emma, Eliza Louisa to live in New Zealand. Those great boys of mine, Robert and Charles paid for her to join them, so that she wasn't left here in England on her own.

Susannah is the baby of the family and was born in 1833. She was growing into such a lovely young lady when both of us caught that dreadful illness, Cholera. As a result I passed over on 10th July 1849 and my lovely Susannah followed not long after, we are buried in St Mary's Church cemetery Rotherhithe, but don't go looking for our names because the head stones have deteriorated over time and what is left of them is leaning along a side fence in the Churchyard. Now at the time, everybody thought cholera came from the local water supply but it was actually the sailors off the foreign ships that brought it to the Thames area and that’s how us local folk got sick.

What my girls do know is that my dear wife Margaret and precious daughter Rosina were still living in Silver Street, Rotherhithe, in 1851 - working as laundresses to support themselves, but after that the records seem to have vanished and my girls are having trouble finding out what happened to them, where did they go, what happened to Margaret? Did Rosina marry? Why didn’t they come to New Zealand with the rest of the family?

As the years have rolled by I have sat up here watching all my descendents being born and thought I would never have kept up with them or remembered all their names, thank goodness my girls have written all the family names down. Robert and Sarah had 9, Charles and Mary Ann only had 1, George and Margaret had 8 and little Sarah with her husband George LEWIS had 8, that’s a total of 26 grandchildren!

From there my family has grown and spread throughout New Zealand, not too bad for silly old man who can't remember where he was born.

Grateful to any help you can give my girls.

Your faithfully mystical servant.

Robert STRONG (Snr.)

eeking PSYCHOLOGYcontact@psyreunion.com REUNION late70s/early80s disco UWIST www.psyreunion.com Richard BENDELOW seeking BLAIR McClure 0 1482 21950 bestinterest Cardiff Reunion seeking SABINE Meigh/ Mcveigh UWIST 0 1482 219510 bestinterest
NO PC World 0 mobile phones DVDs CDs printers UWIST PSYCHOLOGY REUNION scanners digital cameras estate agents

ts Manager, SpeedDater) promised to use a venue in the Brighton area which was accessible to disabled customers.

However, it appears that the disabled people in and around Brighton are being forced to wait. Seemingly, there are no venues under consideration. Indeed, there is little sign of a search for a venue by SpeedDater. In an attempt to find a suitable venue, I wrote to a number of establishments myself. Some of these expressed interest in having their premises used for SpeedDater events. SpeedDater, alas, were less enthusiastic.

I recently attended a presentation about the new amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act due to come into force in October 2004. The presenter spoke of "ostrich organisations" burying their heads in the sand and disassociating themselves with the Act. Could SpeedDater be positioning themselves in this category? I hope not. But, something is causing a lengthy delay. Could Brighton really be so backward in its provision for the disabled that it cannot yield a single wheelchair-access venue suitable for speed dating events? As I type this, I am aware that I am using technology capable of putting me in touch with every corner of the planet. How hard can it be?
This is a lonely campaign indeed. Please support me by contacting SpeedDater with details of any suitable venues. Contact:

Brooke Ellingworth
Events Manager
SpeedDater Ltd
www.speeddater.co.uk
0870 300 3535
brooke@speeddater.co.uk

Many thanks,

Julian Henley

d an event in London which was excellent! Speed Dater really know how to organise a great event, it's a great way to meet loads of people in one evening so I would urge anyone to give it a go.

Anyway, I recently set about trying to find a wheelchair-accessible venue in the Brighton area for Speed Dater to use, I wrote to dozens of night clubs, restaurants, pubs, hotels, wine bars, etc. I can assure you this is quite hard work for someone with cerebral palsy - even the act of folding a letter and getting it into an envelope can be a tough job sometimes. I therefore felt rather pleased with my efforts when I received an email from Speed Dater's Events Manager, Brooke Ellingworth, telling me that a possible venue had come up in Haywards Heath. However, Brooke also said that the venue may have to be dropped because he was concerned there might not be enough demand to make for a successful event.

I would hate all my hard work to be for nothing. More importantly, I would really like to attend speed dating events near my home town (Burgess Hill).

I would like to ask a big favour of you, the reader of this message board. If you have any interest in speed dating in Haywards Heath or know anyone who might, please contact Brooke Ellingworth (details below) and express your interest. I would sincerely appreciate your support, it could make all the difference for me and other disabled people in this area who find it difficult to meet people.

I very much hope you can help.

Many thanks for your help. Speed Dater can be contacted at:

Brooke Ellingworth
Speed Dater Ltd
Unit 2e
Westpoint
32-34 Warple Way
London W3 0RG
Telephone: (020) 7549 2204.
Email: brooke@speeddater.co.uk
Website: http://www.speeddater.co.uk

of posting this message) all forthcoming Brighton events are to be held in Al Duomo's downstairs bar, effectively barring disabled people. Surely an organisation of this size has the resources to find venues that are accessible to the disabled. It's hard enough for many disabled people to meet people and form relationships without this sort of unnecessary barrier being put up. I urge all disabled people interested in the exciting activity of speed dating (or anyone concerned about rights for the disabled) to get in touch with Speed Dater and enquire about their policy on disability. Perhaps together we can pursuade them to provide some wheelchair-friendly events in our area.

Speed Dater Ltd can be contacted on Tel. 0870 300 3535.

Julian Henley
Flat 12
Ernest Kleinwort Court
Oakenfield
Burgess Hill
West Sussex
RH15 8SJ
Tel. 01444 245437
speeddatingjh@hotmail.com

e/hear about him. I also have some very important medical information for him. Ihave tried everything i know to find him and will never give up hope.

ingles Party at The Hogshead pub (Church Road, Burgess Hill) for current members and anyone interested in joining. Anyone aged 18-30 who is unattached is very welcome to join the fun. There is no fee but guests will naturally have to buy their own drinks.

The fun starts at 8.00pm.

Guests are asked to "check-in" with me on irrival. I will be highly recognisable, at the bar in my electric wheelchair. However, if anyone is not sure who I am they may ask Adrian (the Manager of Hogshead) or another member of staff.

If this event is successful, further events will be held on a regular basis.

Contact details:

Mr Julian Henley
Flat 12
Ernest Kleinwort Court
Oakenfield
Burgess Hill
West Sussex RH15 8SJ

Tel. 01444 245437

Email: julianhenley@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.burgesshill.150m.com

ess Hill

* Be aged between 18 and 30 years

* Be single....
O catch yourself a soulmate - Visit our site at http://www.burgesshill.0catch.com