The Johnson Connection

As a member of the North Meols Family History Society my surname interests are published in a booklet published by the society for others to see. People researching their Wright surname write to me from time to time to see if I have an interest in a Wright that they are seeking but unfortunately I usually find that they are not in my database and I am unable to help.

In the Spring of 2003 Nadine Moffatt wrote to me to ask if I had any information about a Thomas Wright born in 1835 in Marshside. In the course of the next couple of e-mails Shellfield Road was mentioned and I commented that my grannie's father lived on that road and his name was John Johnson. Immediately an e-mail whizzed back to me to say that Nadine and I were related. Her great grandfather was  the same John Johnson and our grandmothers were sisters.

Not only that, but as a child Nadine and her brother and parents used to visit my grandparents' house in Lytham St Annes. My grandparents also used to take me with them to visit Nadine's house in St Annes Road in Marshside. Old family photographs then shot backwards and forwards through cyberspace and amazingly it turned out that Nadine and I had many photos that were identical. I had several pictures of her parents that she had never seen and we both had photos of our great aunt Anne and uncle Robert Ball who lived in the last bungalow on Marshside Road.

Since meeting by e-mail we have spent many happy hours swapping childhood memories and trying to sort out our respective family trees. Since I am a Wright via Johnson and Nadine is the same, it is extremely difficult to trace the family before the 1800s due to the many Wrights and Johnsons who seemed to make up the bulk of the Marshside population, but we keep trying.

The Society Open Day in September was an appropriate time and place to meet face to face and we spent over four hours together chatting, drinking tea, bar snacking, drinking more tea and visiting gravestones in the nearby St Cuthbert's graveyard. A good day out was had by all including spouses who patiently put up with all the talk of ancestors and family trees.

To see Nadine's tree click here.