Hello all and happy new year (a bit late i know)…Finally a new page.  These things take an enormous amount of research I’m afraid.  William Sharley and Anna Crouch of Horsington in Somerset England.  I’ve managed to recount as best I could and find out more for myself about these interesting ancestors however I fear I’ve come away asking more questions.  The predominant one being ‘well who in blazes is William’s father?’

Ancestry.com have several folk chasing an ancestor that time-wise just cannot be our William. Nor can his mother possibly be the lady mentioned.  After spending hours poring over available registers and short of me just popping over to Ringwood in the UK (not possible I’m afraid).  I just don’t have enough information to be able to answer this definitively.  As a result I’ve hit a roadblock. Ack.

I have tried to put some flesh on the bones of our Sharley/Shirley’s who came to New Zealand, in particular William and Anna.  As always Papers Past has been a firm friend in this search.  

What I have not tried to do (I only write the stories), is recreate the wonderful work that has already been done by many Sharley/Shirley folk me.Therefore I think it is appropriate to publicly acknowledge the work done by the Shirley Association and Roger Shirley’s West Country Shirley Families.  I have firmly endeavoured not to plagiarise the work done by these two valuable sources.  I have with definitive determination sought to personally verify and validate all leads.  This has meant that in many cases where I can’t firmly put a ‘stamp’ on it, I’ve had to leave gaps.

Please take some time to go through the Acknowledgements/Reference Page .  This takes almost as much time as writing the pages sometimes it seems.  However it is absolutely laden with a rich treasure trove of resources to help you in your journey.  If my hours spent researching can save you some time in finding valuable sources by all means please do this for yourself.  Your eyes will thank you!  Likewise it is always rewarding to be able to acknowledge the work of others.

So with that I hope you enjoy the stories of our Sharley/Shirley’s!

Cheers.

Darienne.