On the maternal side of our family we were not very adventurous, therefore most of our 
family history is confined to the Andover area, but it does make for much easier 
searching. We lived at 1 Parkhouse Road, Shipton Bellinger this was sold and 
demolished about 30 years ago, it is now a housing estate. The actual house was a 
corrugated iron building which our great uncle Coggie? (Charles Henry Horn), bought 
from the MOD after WW1, I believe it was the guardroom at the Australian Camp up on 
the Downs and our extended family lived there very happily. We had a large garden, my 
granddad, Frank Snook(s) kept pigs and cultivated the garden and fruit trees while 
Granny, Phebe Snook(s) nee' Horn(e) kept the chickens. I remember vividly being chased 
up the garden by the cockerel after going in the henhouse to get the eggs, my brother 
Robin shot him with the catapult and killed him. He was a horrible bird and we were 
all terrified of him. We were pretty self sufficient, never ever bought vegetables, 
Granfer always grew enough potatoes to last all winter and they were stored in clamps 
in the garden and in some huge barrels in the woodshed. After the harvest Gran used to 
send my brother Phillip and I up to the cornfield to glean the heads of corn that had 
fallen on the ground, these were used to feed the chickens, we also used to go 
ferreting during the war, the rabbits we caught would supplement our meat ration. 
Granny told me that her mother used to do what we call house-sitting today for the 
people who owned the old farmhouse at the bottom of the village, (now demolished and 
turned into a small housing estate, what a sin!), also for the people who owned the 
Croft, this house was seriously damaged by fire in the 1940s has probably been 
demolished as well. Granfer Snooks family have been difficult to research, John Snook 
born about 177? has been a mystery, for the time being I'm making an educated guess 
that he is the son of William and Elizabeth of Abbotts Ann. He did say in the 1851 
cencus that he was 77 born in Shrewton  but can find no evidence of  this, in the 1841 
he said he was 60 born in Hants I think this is more likely. On my Dads side of the 
family things were a bit different, Granfer Charles Greens fathers family had lived a 
settled life in North Waltham, Steventon and Hurstbourne Tarrant. Granny Tryphena 
Green nee' Bowers came from a travelling family, consequently it's been difficult to 
trace them and if I found someone, usually accidentally, it was very exciting. I have 
a photograph of Granny Green and she looks very much like a Red Indian. Grannies 
family were Romanies who originated in Northern India in the 12th century, part of 
the tribe came to Europe via Persia and Egypt, the other half went across Russia 
and the Bering Straits to North America. I never knew about Granny Greens family 
history till I was an adult, although I always had a feeling we were different from 
other people.
My husbands Mothershaw/Bird tree has been far more difficult as he knew very little 
about his relatives, most of the information we have has been passed on by other 
people via the Internet. As the family lived in the Staffordshire/ Derbyshire/ 
Warwickshire & Shropshire areas it has been very difficult, I am still working on it 
and any information will be very gratefully revieved.