You've just come in from the page which shows a picture of my grandfather, William Lee. He was dead before I was born but my curiosity about this guy and my decision to discover his burial place was the reason I succeeded in finding out everything I could about my ancestors. Perversely, the last thing I discovered was where he was buried!
Ok, you might find this a tad strange....but my name isn't Mick Norcop, it should be Mick Lee. The reason I'm named Norcop and not Lee was because my grandfather didn't marry my grandmother.
Let me explain. My grandmother was born a Shardlow. She married a guy named Norcop and they had some kids. Norcop died and she met a guy named Bill Lee. They had four kids [3 girls and a boy] but they all took the married name of my grandmother instead of my grandfather's name. These things happened in the early 20th century.
So, my dad was the son of Bill Lee. He should have been named John Lee. He wasn't! He was named John Norcop. I'm the son of John Norcop who should have been John Lee; I'm Mick Norcop but I should be Mick Lee. My son is named Anthony Norcop but he should be named Anthony Lee. His son is named Samuel LEE Norcop. Hurrah. Getting there but it's taking generations to revert back to our original name.
Is it important? You can bet your life it is, especially when I can trace my grandson's ancestral line back to circa 1635 to his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, GEORGE LEE, a lead miner from the Peak District of Derbyshire who was born during the reign of Charles the first. So let us begin with the story of the search for my ancestors.
Where do we start? We start almost 400 years ago in an inhospitable but beautiful place called Brassington. But first, let us look at the surname, Lee.