ROBERT
JACK EARDLEY, M.D.
3366 Commodore Drive
Lexington, Kentucky 40502-3602
(606) 269-3686
Fax #: (606) 266-7317
E MAIL: robertjack@eardley.org
Web Site: http://www.eardley.org
Dear
Eardley Family Member,
When I wrote to you some weeks ago it was something of a ground breaking event. For the first time since the Eardley letters began in 1995, one is now able to make contact via the World Wide Web. The signs are that the new technology has served us very well and that the degree of penetration has been as effective (if not more so) than the 'old' paper-based method of communication. The use of the 'web' is not only extremely fast but also most cost effective. I would not like you to be aware of the cost of producing even one world wide letter. So far there have been twelve letters with more to come. Therefore the new technology has been helpful in many ways. Of course we have to assume that those of us who own and use a PC and visit Eardley.org on a regular basis take it upon themselves to inform family members who are not familiar with the new technology. All the evidence is that we are doing this and you are urged to continue this practice. Without your help and cooperation there would be members of your family who would remain unaware of new development. Do please continue to help keep them informed - especially with regard to our Eardley Family get-together set to be celebrated in Audley on Saturday, July 15th, 2000 near Stoke-on-Trent, England. The pieces in the plan for this overall unique celebration are fast coming together. The Steering Committee is due to meet again on April 26th. This will be followed by a further meeting on the morning of May 6th at 11 a.m at the North Stafford Hotel (opposite Stoke railway station). Any Eardley who wishes to join us and who is willing to help is invited to attend.
Allow me to focus for a while on the Eardley.org website. Regular visitors are fully aware of its format and purpose. However, for those who are relatively new to the situation it may be helpful to share my ideas with you on the subject of the website. My primary purpose in setting up the 'site' and sustaining it was and is to create a 'mass awareness' amongst Eardleys worldwide of their genealogical history and culture. The thousands of contributions over a five year period have convinced me that we have an extraordinary story to tell. From a tiny 'gene pool' drawn from a handful of families from Audley in Staffordshire, England - we have spread our abilities and talents throughout the English speaking world. The great mass of data we now share will one day provide an opportunity for more detailed study than I can ever expect to achieve. My purpose is and always has been to place as much of this information in the Eardley Public Domain. That is why the letters, marriages, birth and deaths are now noted on the website. As a further step towards the 'sharing' concept I made the Message Board available for every Eardley in the world to make appropriate contact with any or all Eardleys able to access the website. My definite preference is that Eardley information be submitted to the Message Board in this form which allows every other Eardley to read that information. Should you use e-mail the main thrust of the Board is lost. The more information posted - the greater the mass awareness we can generate and share. So - please avoid e-mail and post your information on the new easy to use Message Board on Eardley.org.
One is assured that our website, which as one writes has received in excess of 18,000 'hits,' is the most often visited website in the world of its type. Quite an achievement I'm sure you'll agree and you all have made it possible. Should you wish to contact me direct you may still telephone, write or e-mail me or Robert Francis Eardley in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Contact details are available on all the previous letters. Particularly, welcome are copies of original letters as well as pictures from Eardleys who emigrated - went to war - achieved anything unusual or outstanding - or even did something amusing and you want to have it posted on the website - just send me the material and we can have it done. By the time this letter is 'posted', there will be more information concerning our Eardley ancestors.
The list of Eardley 'Deaths' has been copied up to 1875. This list includes Eardleys born before 1837 - the date of the start of government statistics. This will enable us to identify the parish our pre-1837 ancestor was born and lived and therefore will give us an opportunity to make Eardley connections at a time when there were possibly fewer that thirty Eardley families in the world. Should you then be prepared to work at it methodically it will be possible to see where you and a host of other Eardleys fit into the 'big picture'. In addition and equally importantly I am adding and posting lists of Eardley marriages - both men and women from 1900 - 1941. This information is now bringing the whole of the data almost to the present time and it should be possible to find evidence of most of 'our' parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Shortly, I intend going to London yet again to extract the same range of information from 1941 to the present. It will then be perfectly straight forward for almost every Eardley to trace his/her ancestry for several centuries and perhaps beyond.
Now for a word about the weekend of the Get-Together. Should you require accommodations, there are a good selection of venues already posted on the website. Further information on this topic may be obtained from Stoke-on-Trent Tourism Department. Many attractive deals are on offer. Alastair Griffiths is arranging for golf-playing Eardleys to play a 'free round' at his local club at Wolstanton on Friday, 14th July. Bring your own clubs. Alastair has and will be posting additional information on this subject on the message board. Please notify Alastair on the message board if you plan to be present that day for golf, a trophy would be given if enough play. We can get a good idea of how many will play if you inform him on the Message Board. As numbers grow and are seen to grow, more will be encouraged to take part,
No one can accurately estimate just how many of us will be in Audley on Saturday, 15th July. It has been suggested that more than 'one' church event be staged but my own feeling is that we should have just the 'one'. Older people could be seated and should total numbers be very large, the rest of us could 'process' up the aisle and out the side door round and round in 'crocodile' formation. This may be the only solution to the large number scenario. Should anyone have another idea please let us know. The afternoon presents two options and some of us may wish to sample both. Audley Cricket Club is staging an important fixture against local rival Leek. A large marquee/maybe two, will be erected on site and we will have the opportunity to meet and get to know each other informally inside the marquee. Should the weather be unkind this facility will prove invaluable. In the evening inside the marquee a dance is being arranged. This will give us all a chance to 'strut our stuff'. A short distance away lies the village of Woodlane. They hold their Annual Carnival on that day and we are all invited. We anticipate setting up some recording mechanism which will give us an opportunity to know exactly who and how many Eardleys attended. Wayne Eardley of Canada would like to take as many facial portraits of every Eardley possible for facial comparison studies in the church hall. What you do after church is largely for you to decide but we anticipate that you will choose the activity that suits your group the best.
As one writes, more information is coming in concerning an additional activity available to us on Saturday, 15th July, starting at 10 a.m. The Audley Historical Society is opening up their two halls opposite the Church in order to display for us various fascinating documents of interest to us.
1. Audley Parish Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths. 1713 - 1910.
2. Census Returns. 1841- 1891.
3. Index of Eardley Wills from 1857 and earlier.
4. Various Audley wills.
5. Parish records from neighbouring parishes of Bart Holmley, Betley, Madeley and Talke.
A microfiche reader will be available. Tea and biscuits (cookies) will be available. We thank Mrs. Spode of Audley Historical Society for making this information available to us. Sissy Tidwell, an Eardley of Glenwood, Arkansas is working ' night and day', she tells me, to produce a limited number of Eardley T-Shirts of various colours which will display the Eardley Family Crest and an appropriate logo. Sissy assures me they are available at cost price and represent a 'labour of love'. The prestigious East Window Project (its eventual restoration) continues to hold a high interest for us. We would like a permanent reminder of our Reunion to be seen as making a contribution to the enhancement of St. James Church which played such a central role in the lives of all our ancestors. If you have seen it, you will know the window is made up of many small panes. It may be possible to set up a mechanism which will enable individual Eardleys/families to help restore an individual pane.
Once again, our thanks are due to Vicar Peter Davies and Curate Roger Woods for their cooperation in this venture. There will be one more letter to be posted on the web site in early June which will provide the latest news on the July 15th weekend and other related matters. Until then continue to access the website for all the latest snippets of information and please - do use the Message Board as the best kind of Family Forum. Share your messages with all Eardley readers. This get-together is a 'one off' - is unlikely to happen again in our lifetime. So do be there for what could be a new entry in the Guinness Book of World Records! Bring your family, have an enjoyable weekend. Bring all the recording equipment you can carry. Plan on using lots of footage and on 'losing' your voice for a while. Your records will live on in your family long after we have moved on.
Until my June update, have a great time planning your trip and God Bless You All.
Best Regards,
Robert Jack Eardley
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