'Distant Shorrocks Cousins' meet up in the Pub (where else?)

On a recent trip to England in early October, Keith met up with his 'Distant Cousin' John Shorrocks - at 'The Fox' pub in the village of Chetwynd Aston, Shropshire. The photo shows John (at right) with Keith and his sister Sue (the photo was taken by John's lovely wife Jenny).

It generally promises to be intriguing to catch up with distant relatives - but more so when, as in Keith's case, the family has been dislocated by war losses and name changes. And in this instance, it was a particular pleasure because John, who is an avid reader of the Good Pub Guide, was able to select a very convivial meeting spot!

The meeting was a great success - and John received the ultimate accolade from Sue: 'you have my father's eyes'.

The common ancestor James Shorrocks was born about 1794 in Salford, Lancashire. He was a Brushmanufacturer.

John is a descendant of James' son Edwin Shorrocks and Keith and Sue are descendants of another of James' sons Walter Shorrocks.

Testing the ydna links solved a long-standing 'brickwall' in Keith's genealogy / family history, as it confirmed that Keith's grandfather Harry Shorrocks had changed his name to Harry Johnson around 1905 when he moved from Salford to South London.

On his trip, Keith also went hunting Shorrock(s) subjects in their native habitat, central / northern Lancashire and came up with two new ydna test specimens.

Results from these denizens of the surname homeland (John Shorrock from Feniscowles and Andrew Shorrock - a farmer from Goosnargh) may therefore throw some further light on how the various members of the surname group relate to each other and to the Lancashire area.