This is the entry point for the research I've done into my family origins. There are two main lines, on my paternal side is the Hughes/Barker lineage on the maternal is the Hammond/Kitchen one.

Up to date I'd had a small Hughes based tree, the reasons behind the sudden huge expansion (ahead of my retirement!) can be found in the story of John Barker and yes he is the reason even though he died in WWI. Why exactly is told via the Twinkle Toes link from here and the previous page has a link to it too, but it makes some sense to look at the chart to see who he is and if you have the time follow up the family story below too.

Click to go to chart

The chart has thus been significantly updated it and includes information from the 1901 and 1881 Census's and given it is a lot larger it is slightly more difficult to view. You will need to click the small image above and then it should appear on its own page, though probably still too small to view. If you have IE6 and hover your mouse over the image a bit then you should get a button in the right hand corner which will let you enlarge the image. Note that given the vagaries of Microsoft this may take a couple of tries, clicking on it sometimes makes the button appear too. Otherwise just download it (it's a jpg) and view it in your favourite DTP programme or Paint works well too. To do this, again click on the small image above then right click on the image and take save picture as, download it on your hard drive and open it.

The descriptive text (Hughes Family History link below) comes from information I gathered from my Grandfather James Hughes over a number of years before he passed away on 2 November 2000 - at the grand old age of 94. What a life that must have been, from horse-drawn trams to moon landings and back to trams. The last cavalry charges (in World War One believe it or not) to nuclear devastation, the telegraph to the Internet. It is only a pity that he never quite made it on to the Net or I'm sure he would have had some comment to make on this.

Like many people of his generation he had a selective memory when it came to certain parts of our history and these are defined by the prejudices of the era he was raised in. Thus any of the (large) Irish contingent in the Hughes line he seems to have no recollection of, the Celtic fringes do not figure large at all, though given the Welsh roots of the Hughes clan this leaves a rather big hole. Whatever, I do think it is a thumping good story, and Thomas Hughes must have been quite a character. All this said I've left the story as intact as possible as a dedication to my Granddad. If you have read it before it is worth re-visiting as I've done some further research, including the Ellis Island records. However the extra research I've done using the 1901 and 1881 census etc have proven what a good memory James Hughes had, the only odd thing is that he calls Thomas's wife Sarah when records confirm she was Martha and a good deal younger than him.....

Finally if you can shed light on anything or know any Hughes who might, just "E" mail me here, and of course if you are related to me please do let me know. In fact this family tree business was one of my initial motives for learning how to construct a site. However, like so many other things it tended to get overtaken by day to day life and other demands/pursuits, that is until John Barker intervened. However it is still my intention to pursue this even more rigorously when I retire, which will hopefully be nearer the age my Grandfather was and not my Father who still works. Funny how some things skip generations.

Last updated October 2002