My surname is "Barnshaw", which happens to be quite an unusual name. My uncle (well aunt's husband) has a very inquiring mind and about 10 or so years ago, took it upon himself to start a huge project, researching our family tree. Over the years he has sent us a mine of information; he has sent various photos of ancestors (who I can really see myself in, which is quite surreal, as I look like Dad's side of the family) and essays detailing the various branches of Barnshaws all over the UK. He has even located many people abroad who are direct descendants of our particular line of Barnshaws. Trying to find the "trunk" of the family tree (which I believe he hasn't yet managed to do) has sent him on all sorts of chases; he has even had to consider whether "Burnshaws" could be related due to some strange twist of the English language back in history. He has however, traced our direct line back to the 17th century before drawing a blank. It appears we are linked to a place called "Barnshaw Hall" in Goostrey, Cheshire (North West England) - I think we were landowners in the area. Basically, all my ancestors for the last few generations came from around the Cheshire area; my dad is the first generation to come from the South.

All this has always been ticking over in my brain as I find it fascinating, but I hadn't really given it much thought of late. However about a month ago, I happened to join the Barnshaw group on Facebook. There was only me and about 3 other people in it though. A lady (from Canada) on the discussion board commented on how few of us there seemed to be; I agreed and briefly mentioned that I'm aware of a fair few Barnshaws in the UK due to my uncle's detailed research into the name. Now a couple of days ago, this lady sent me a message on Facebook responding to me and saying that what I had said was "very cool". She explained that she is trying to find out more about her ancestors and told me the name of her grandfather (who died before she was born). I recognised the name she quoted; he was using his mother's maiden name (Gwillim) as a kind of additional surname before Barnshaw. I had heard my uncle talking about the name Gwillim as being significant in our family tree (turns out it's my great grandmother's maiden name before she married into the Barnshaws). The lady said to me that we could even be related and that any information I could tell her about my own family would be helpful. I mentioned it to my dad who was immediately struck by her grandfather's name and was near certain that it had to be the same person as his own uncle (his dad's brother)! Moreover the fact that not only her grandfather, but also her own father, had died young seemed significant, as the Barnshaw males dying young is a trait my uncle discovered - it was due to high cholesterol which obviously could never be controlled by drugs years ago. Indeed, my dad is only alive at the age he is due to the wonders of modern medicine! The lady had also said that her grandfather was one of seven (which my dad's uncle was) and that she is aware of the "Goostrey" link - which let's face it, is quite a distinctive name! It was all beginning to look more than coincidental.

Dad got straight on the phone to my uncle who (to cut a long story short) dug his notes out and it turns out that she IS a relative! Her grandfather is my great uncle - my grandfather is her great uncle as they were brothers!
It also makes her dad and my dad first cousins - she and I also share great-grandparents which means we are second cousins! Wow! I was so excited to find this out yesterday and immediately messaged her to inform her. What makes the whole thing even more bizarre is that my uncle was able to tell my dad quite a few things about this lady, as she had figured in his research. He knew where she lived in Canada, her job, and details regarding her siblings. At some stage during his research, it appears that he communicated with her mother who must have filled him in. I think he used to send round questionnaires to relatives of Barnshaws living abroad (due to an ancestor emigrating) once he located them.

Anyway that was one intriguing discovery! I can't wait to communicate more with her. I told her that, if she's interested, we have a huge number of documents and photos which we can email. I think it was just so amazing that everything seemed to click - it was like one thing, then the next, then the next that all seemed to fit! Who would have thought Facebook would throw all that up eh? :)