Tails it is, and I’m going with the Grindles. I don’t plan to spend forever on this line, but I’m keen to learn something, anything, about the family of my surprise 3x great-granddad William Grindle, apparent father of my illegitimate ancestor Thomas Tonge. With any luck, I can identify William’s parents and siblings, then see just how far back the Grindles go in the Lancashire village of Little Hulton. Well, that’s the plan, so let’s give it a whirl.
First, I need a baptism and the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk project (lan-opc.org.uk) scores straightaway with a William ‘Grindall’ (ooh, another alternative spelling). Christened at the now-familiar Peel Chapel on 30 April 1815, he’s the son of George Grindall and Jenny, abode Little Hulton, occupation badger. Badger? Disappointingly not a man…
