When my parents decided to marry their respective parents discussed whether it was advisable as they were in fact already related. Father was a son of Charles Gilding, who had married Elizabeth Twite, and mother, who did a fair amount of the research on this website, is the daughter of Leonard Gilding and his wife Mary Ann Littlewood. Charles and Leonard Gilding were actually first cousins, but twice over. The parents of Charles were Arthur George Gilding and his spouse Rebecca Perry, and the parents of Leonard were Elijah Gilding, (Arthur George's brother), and Ellen Perry, (Rebecca's sister). A confusing start, perhaps, but looking into their respective ancestors it turns out the Gildings and the Perrys were related further back. This information my grandparents, most likely, wouldn't have known about when they had their family discussions! A first cousin marriage thrown in along the way makes for an interesting, and sometimes complicated, ancestry. Like the Gilding family Elizabeth Twite's ancestors were from various parts of Norfolk. Many of her lines are less complicated and some can be traced back to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, while others are halted only by missing parish registers. Mary Ann Littlewood was born in Essex and came to Norfolk through her work in service. She stayed on in Norfolk but her ancestors were almost all from North East Essex, with the remaining hailing from Suffolk.

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The rural counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex are situated close to the eastern coast of England. In the past these counties relied heavily on agriculture and had strong connections with the sea. Over the years for a whole host of reasons people migrated away from these coastal counties. Nowadays many individuals all around the world can trace at least one of their ancestors back to this area of England. Perhaps your family is to be found on here.