Hello folks,
Mention of the surname BETTS in Norfolk caused me to awake from a
long slumber...
My maternal grandmother was Alice Soons BETTS (1865-1937 Norwich)
who married Albert SPILLING (1863-1940) in 1886.
I have only managed to trace her ancestry back a couple of
generations to a James BETTS (1774-1852) and an unknown wife.? And
then there's reference to his parents as another James BETTS and
Ann.? All of these being in Norwich.? I've found researching BETTS
from afar via available online records extremely difficult because
the surname seems so common in Norfolk in that era.
There is a family story that one of our BETTS relatives served on
the ship Trafalgar with Nelson, but I've searched the available
surviving crew lists and haven't found any relatives.
Sadly, DNA testing hasn't provided me with any identifiable matches
via my BETTS ancestry.? Most of my maternal DNA matches trace back
through my SPILLING ancestry -- BLYTH, GOWEN/GOWING, RHODES.
Cheers! -- Dave
--
Dave Naylor, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
---
