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My most distant CLOSE surname connection is though my g.g.grandfather, George Close, who was born c.1784 in Durham County, England, possibly in the community of St.Andrew Auckland.
Other than the fact that George died in 1872, aged 88, and is buried with his wife Ann [d.1832] in the St.Helen Auckland Cemetery, Durham, I know almost nothing of this family other than a few bits of oral family history which came down through their son, John Robert Close, my g.grandfather.
Information gleaned from the familysearch website shows the following:
rA George Close married Ann Rowell, in May 14, 1812, at St.Andrew Auckland.
rGeorge and Ann appear to have had seven children in all: Thomas [b.1813]; Jonathan [1814]; Mary Anne [b.1816]; George [b.1819]; John [b1823]; Jane [b.1824]; and Catherine [b1827].
Oral family history provides the following:
rGeorge(Sr)worked for the Bishop of Durham in some capacity and he also worked on the construction of the Stockton to Darlington railroad, circa 1825.
rShortly after his mothers death in 1832, my g.grandfather, John Robert, was indentured to a shoemaker. Apparently this was an unhappy arrangement because John ran away. Fortunately he was befriended by a ships carpenter and taken into his family. John learned the carpentry trade and eventually made his way to North America, settling in the city of Hamilton, in the then province of Upper Canada, in 1854/55.
Because there is a curious lack of family history concerning Johns parents and siblings, my guess is that he had little, if any, communication with members of his family after he ran away. However there is a single clue to the possibility of some family communication in a solitary reference to a W. Close residing at my g.grandfathers address as listed in the Hamilton city directory of 1868/69. The fact that this W. Close worked in the same Car Department of the Great Western Railway as my g.grandfather reinforces a family connection of some sort.
My quest here is to see if I can pickup the threads of Georges family and discover if the children listed above survived childbirth and had families of their own and, or course, to confirm that the above connections are correct.
Best regards to all,
Allan Close, e-mail: aclose(a)istar.ca
Greetings
I am new to this list and am looking for any information on the CLOWES family origionaly from the Leeds and Richmond areas of Quebec, Canada.We think, some or all moved to the US in the late 1800s. Some church records in Quebec spelled the name Close, or Clowse.
Any information or contacts, greeatly appreciated
Jay Champion in Alberta Canada