West family tree

After taking early retirement, my grandfather, Fred West, spent some time investigating the family history (genealogy). He only traced the male West line, but he did trace it back to the 15th century. This is more remarkable because there is no noble blood evident in the line, and so having been educated enough to read and write over that period is some achievement.

The earliest traceable origins of the family seem to be in and around Sibsey in Lincolnshire, though a substantial part of the family history is in near by Wrangle. During the industrial revolution there was a move to St Helens in Lancashire for our branch of the family, with increased mobility thereafter.

One thing that struck me forcibly in transcribing the tree into something I could conveniently put on the web was the high levels of infant mortality in past centuries, and indeed the generally slim chance of living to what would now be a normal retirement age.

The conventions I have used are:

• Each generation is on a separate page, with Generation 0 being the oldest.
• Siblings are in a vertical column.
• Where there was more than one marriage, the partners of the first marriage are in a square together. The children go from the next square right upwards. The second partner is in a square on their own, and the children of that marriage go from the next square to the right and downwards.
• The direct line from me is in red.