Credit for the existence of this work starts with Dad - Bob Brooks - and continues through Hugo  and Dru, Jon (of Liz and John), Peter Purdy (a previously unknown living relative) to new  distance friends and relatives, such as Jeremy Dann, Mark Robinson, David Allebone, Janet Green  and, most recently, Christopher Parish. 
 Aside from its initial form, I intend the tree to become trimmer and increasingly more  informative for all who see it and for it to start to tell you more about how your ancestors  lived.
 Whilst there have been several surprises along the way so far - and no doubt more to come - the  reasonably static nature of 18th and 19th century family life means that we can clearly see  that:
 Brookses come from Sutton and Somersham, which sat on what seems to have been a very mobile  border between Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. In the late eighteenth century, they were  divided - Sutton, on of the Isle of Ely, sat in Cambridgeshire whilst Somersham sat in  Huntingdonshire.Occupations are almost unwaveringly Agricultural Labourers with the occasional  Shepherd.The geography of the area just prior to the beginning of these records is illustrated  in an act of May 1758 under George II for the draining of the fens: “An Act for draining and preserving several parishes of Sutton, Mepall, Witcham Chatteris,  Dodderington and a place called Byal fen in the Isle of Ely and County of Cambridge and also in  the parishes of Somersham and Pidley with Fenton in the County of Huntingdon and all powers,  authorities, directions, penalties, forfeitures, punishments, provisions, matters and things  therein contained shall extend and are hereby extended to, and shall take effect operate and be  executed with respect to the lands and grounds herein before bounded and described and to the  owners, proprietors, occupiers and tenants thereof."
 Parishes come from Swavesey and, from the glorious names, appear to be the strictest of Strict  Baptist roots.Parishes also tip over into the Fens - Swavesey lies exactly halfway between  Cambridge and St. Ives and, believe it or not, is noted these days for its forward thinking  council making the most of modern technology.Again, Agricultural Labourers to a man - until  Isaac's descendants discovered the Police force.
 Broadly speaking, Swavesey is about 5 miles from Somersham and about 7 miles from  Sutton.Somersham is about 5 miles from Sutton.Warboys, which features in this and our memories,  is around 2 miles west of Somersham and Wilburton, from where the Dann family come, is about 3  miles south east of Sutton.If you place a compass point in the map between Swavesey and Sutton  and drew a circle with a 5-mile radius, it would include just about every village mentioned in  the tree, with the notable exception of Manea.
 Robinsons here start with John Robinson (b 1817) who came from Newcastle originally but moved  to West Hartlepool.Here the family pretty much stayed put and developed careers in the ship- building business.
 Marshalls came as the biggest surprise so far in coming from a very stable past in Stockport,  Cheshire - although Robert Marshall (b 1794) appears to have originated in Manchester.Annie  Marshall - Grandma Robbie - was first of her line of the Marshalls to be born outside the  county in a long time, being born in Reddish, Lancashire, where her mother - Elizabeth Starkey  - hailed from.Marshalls have a solid background in textiles, principally as Cotton Weavers and  the like.
 I am now back to the business of adding details frequently, so please come back often.This  latest version includes the latest members of our direct family - Thomas Matthew Miles b. 14th  February 2010 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., Robert Manuel Brooks B. 29th April 2011 in Granada,  Spain and Noelle Shirley Elizabeth Miles b. 4th March 2013 in Milton Keynes, U.K..