"Eleanor Wrathall Smith [Brenda's mother] made these notes on her father Wilfred and his father [Stephen's] arrival in Canada:

"Stephen Wrathall brought his family to Cape Breton about 1909 - [his son] Wilfred celebrated his [13th] birthday during the voyage.... [Wilfred] had finished the 10th form in the English school system. Stephen was a mines manager in England, and owned property there. He bought a farm at Wallace Bridge after having worked for a number of years in mines in Cape Breton, [near Glace Bay]. [His sons] Tom and Anthony remained in the mines in Cape Breton. Several members of their families are still in mines .....

"Stephen is said to have gone to New Zealand before bringing his family to Canada. The Wrathalls are said to be descended from yeomen, as opposed to serfs, in England. Reports tell of a cemetery full of Wrathalls killed in battles."

Brenda mentions the other side of her family research:

I'm also a descendant of the Yorkshire Immigrants who came here between 1772 - 1776. Mine is the Smith family and in spite of what people think would be a very difficult family to trace, my Smith family cousins in England even passed down some letters from Nathaniel Smith who was born in Osthermotherly about 1720 and wrote home about the voyage over and their life here. I wonder if there are any Smith folks among our ranks of Wrathalls who might also be tied in.

Full Title: Snilesworth - Old stones, old fields, old farms: A History of the Snilesworth Area. Author: Bill Cowley

Page 101 - There is no doubt that Bumper Castle was always part of the Easterside Estate ......The house is well built, with a slate root and has the date 1722 on the gable end, .....In 1851 Richard Hilbert was farming 127 acres there, having succeeded William Atkinson. In 1881 and 91 Thomas Wrathall was there. In 1920 Mrs. Clark, widow of Noah Clark, was paying UKP 25 rent (photo 81).

Page 102 - High Thwaites, Low Thwaites, and Sike House (or Low Syke), (photos 82 and 84) seem from their names to be Norse clearings on the west side of Ladhill Gill, beside the old road that comes down Bilsdale West Moor, but there are no early references. A 1583 will of John Kirke of Harthwaite, Hawnby Parish, probably refers to High Thwaites. (Ryedale Historian No-15, p28)- In 1861 George Burrow (or Barrows), also there in 1851, is farming 67 acres. He is 45, his wife Mary 42- have five children and one labourer. In later years Richard Wrathall , George Atkinson and Thomas Bell are there. Through these years Low Thwaites is usually entered in the Census as occupied by a farm labourer. The moor between Sike House and Honey Hill was one of the busiest areas for coal-mining, in bell-pits. In 1871 Robert Garbutt, 60, coal miner, is entered at Moorgate.

Brenda reports on research activity during 1999-2000:

My inclination is to think Stephen WRATHALL [born 13 August 1864 Barbon ] fits nicely between Sarah A. Wrathall born about 1862 and Nancy J. Wrathall born about 1865. However there are likely other spots he could be tucked in if properly researched. As you can see I hold out for solid proof. There are lots of great branches to hang from in this family too.

..... I called the Cumbria Archive Service. They feel that they should be able to supply the needed parents of Stephen....... I have just made a jpg out of a family group chart to send to Roy. Hopefully we may have something new in time but who knows. ..........If anyone would like to have a copy of our information sent to them I'd be pleased to do so. Text file is easiest for me or scanned. Family Origins 5 is what I have running right now and it doesn't do a GEDCOM file right for me, or more likely, I can't set it up right to do one that doesn't include all the thousands on file.

.... the William Foster Wrathall reference struck a cord with me. My mother's brother Lindsay Layton Wrathall married Evelyn Wrathall from Bentham, who is a daughter of a William Foster Wrathall. I forget if Layton and Evelyn were second or third cousins [they are third cousins]. She has lived in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada for many years. I thought Evelyn's father was deceased, but I wonder if this William Foster is a cousin of hers. She doesn't have complete information on the family, and hasn't been to England in some time. I'd love to be able to send her information. She's a fine gal with her very thick accent and very big heart.

In Jan. 2004, Brenda sent three pictures of Lindsay and Evelyn Wrathall's family, with the following descriptions:

• I have attached a picture of Lindsay's gravestone . He is buried in a Royal Canadian Legion cemetery near Brandon, Manitoba.
• [Here's a scan of a card] which was included with a piece of [Lindsay and Evelyn Wrathall's] wedding cake, which was sent to each of the family members. Wasn't that precious?
• [I have also included] a picture of Lindsay's father Wilfred , [with] Evelyn, Lindsay, baby Edward and Lindsay's sister Marion. This was taken in November 1964; I would guess that Aunt Marion took Pop (Wilfred) to see the baby, Edward having been born 10 June 1964. [Wilfred's name] is spelled "Wilfrid" on his birth certificate, but he always ignored that. .... Marion's oldest son is Alexander, who was born 17 June 1954. I'm the old lady of the bunch, born 15 July 1944, and all the rest are in between Alex and me.

... Please note: Lindsay used an "a" in his name in all his signatures on letters and any family announcements etc. I have the same problem with a great-grandfather, Thomas READ Smith. Most of the time I ignore it, unless it is going to be presented publicly.

Another Stephen Wrathall descendant, Jane MacDonald , checks in with this message:

I'm looking into my family background and came across your webpage. My grandfather's name was Anthony Wrathall and his wife was Jane. I've just begun my search, so maybe we can be of help to one another. I would really appreciate seeing Jane Wrathall's death notice . I'm originally from Cape Breton and would be thrilled if I had a connection.

E-MAIL: wrathall(at)rawbw(dot)com

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