About This Website + Contact Page

The main purpose of this website was *originally* to have been the facts surrounding my old house in Belper, and the land on which it stands.

Although a "new" resident of Belper (only 20 years!) I once lived in a 250-year old cottage here that was crying out for restoration and in addition had a fascinating history.

Developing an interest and a love of Belper's history, I conducted sporadic research into the house, and the area (once called Shortlands) in which I lived. However, while this is fascinating to me, it is of little genuine interest to visitors to this website, who mainly come looking for data to help in their own family research.

In addition to this, any work on the origins of the house and land, and the families associated with it - the Gratians, Stathams, Watsons, Strutts etc - is a very long-term project and therefore the website could not be updated quickly enough to keep it fresh.

Therefore, the decision was taken to turn over the website to other topics, in the hopes that it will provide a service to the wider public. It will contain general information about the town of Belper and its people as well as such genealogical records as are available.

I hope you find it interesting and useful. If so, please leave a note in my guestbook I would be happy to hear from you, but I don't have time to answer queries about your personal family research. I don't have any material other than what is on the site.

Feel free to browse all the pages, using the Site Map if necessary.

CONTACT PAGE: If you would like to write to me, click HERE

GUESTBOOK: Contribute a message before you leave the site. Click HERE

           Please go to the INTRODUCTION PAGE for more information about the website.