Well I finally put enough records together to publish our tree. Just in case you want to get straight into the tree and save these fascinating notes until  later you can scroll to the bottom of this page for some hints about getting into and around the  site. 
 Otherwise please read on.
 This is a permanent work in progress; although progress has now become more gradual. Much of the  information has come from internet based 
 indices and needs confirmation. I plan to spend a good amount of time in future years  travelling through the UK checking original records. If you see something in the tree that you  know is wrong please let me know. Either e-mail me or drop a note in the visitors' book.  Do please leave a note in the visitor's book anyway.
 I dabbled in my family history for years, asking questions but never recording the answers. Around about 2002 I looked around and my parents' generation was down to very few people. My  wife, Ann's, was very much the same. It was then that I saw the need to start recording family- sourced information while I still could.
 Dad's paternal family, Walker, came to Custom House, West Ham from Scotland at the beginning of  the 20th century; his mother's family, Shivell, also lived in Custom House and census records  showed that her father was born in Holbeck, Yorkshire. Dad, by the time I was researching his  family, was very ill and never did manage to pass on any information to me about them. I  gradually picked up information about the Shivells / Shevills and then had a breakthrough when  I contacted Helen Shevill, in Leeds, via Genes Re-united. With her help I was able to link my  great grandfather Joseph Shevill with his father, grandfather and great grandfather in  Yorkshire and then back to the Newcastle area.
 Mum, bless her, took my cause to heart. She recorded everybody and everything she could  remember about her Mother's family, Traish, who lived in Plaistow and Custom House having moved  down from Goole, Yorkshire and her father's family Spratt from the Plaistow and Custom House  areas of West Ham. She didn't have so much on the Spratts but was fairly sure they originated  from Ireland. I haven't been able to prove that yet.
 Ann's mother was Elsie Gladwell and Elsie's paternal family lived in West Tilbury, Essex having moved down from rural Suffolk. Elsie's mother's family, Baker, lived in Beckton, East London  and her mother was one of thirteen children. So far I have discovered eight of them; roll on the  1921 census. Sadly I have found nobody from that family to talk to. Ann's paternal family, Owens, moved from Quakers Yard, Treharris, Glamorgan at the end of WW2.  Six of the brothers and sisters moved to Luton to work at Vauxhall motors; Ann's dad, Dai,  moved to Rainham, Essex to marry Elsie Gladwell and took work with Murex which later became  BOC. I found a good base of information in the Owen/Owens family bible (mainly written in Welsh  language). 
 Once I had traced Ann's great grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth Owen, I found two other  branches of the family, who shared Thomas and Elizabeth, through contacts on Genes Reunited. Thanks must go to the many people who have given me access to their own family trees and helped  me link my tree with theirs and fill in gaps in my own family history. I have included them as  sources for information incorporated in my tree.
 I must also thank those from the Ancestry Community who have given me much needed assistance  with special thanks to Ell who has given me many hours of her time. It looks as if I will be travelling throughout the UK, maybe Ireland too, visiting record  offices and other places. I can't believe how much this task has involved me. I hope that you  can find something interesting in this tree and, again, if you do see something that you know  is wrong, or have any information that may add to the tree, please let me know about it.