Hi

Is anybody out there researching either of these family names. If so, I would be very interested to hear from you.
I am currently researching my mothers side of the family.

I have information dating back to the mid 1800's on the Knott side of the family - my Great Great Grandad (John Knott b: around 1851 in Oldham, Manchester) but seem to have come to a dead end. I know that they were living in Swansea, Crewe and then moved back to the Gorton area of Manchester, where he died on 6th July 1940.

My Great Grandfather on the Gilchrest side was called Matthew William Gilchrest. His birth was registered in the December quarter of 1862 in Withington, Manchester. Unfurtunately, less is known about this side of the family, so any help would be immensely appreciated!

I know that Matthew Willian Gilchrest married a lady called Mary Ellen Garnett in 1885 and they had at least 2 children, James (my Great Grandad) born in about 1885 in Gorton, Manchester & Rachel Gilchrest born in about 1887, presumably she was also born in this area. I know that they were C of E.

I have noticed to date that the records that I have checked have shown the spelling of the surname to be erratic to say the least. So far some of the records seem to indicate that a few members of the family flitted between using the spelling 'Gilchrest' and 'Gilchrist', so I would not be surprised to find further variations in the spelling of their surname.

My mum and Aunts believe that the 'Gilchrest' family were originally from Scotland or possibly Ireland .... I would love to find out if there is any truth to this.

My immediate relatives on both sides of the family are unfortunately deceased and there is a lot that we do not know about the more recent generations. Unfortunately, the majority of the records ie census's are unavailable for 100 years, leaving me with a vast gap in my research data. If anybody can help me fill in some of these gaps it would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Lisa