I began researching my family history in 1995, prompted by many questions about where the name "Armitstead" came from. I fairly quickly traced the Armitstead line back to my great-great-great-grandfather Richard Armitstead, who was born in about 1782 and lived in Bentham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The line stopped there for several years, until I made contact with a distant cousin in the USA who had letters written by a Thomas Armitstead in the 1840s. The information in these letters has enabled me to trace back a further three generations.

I have researched other branches as well, and the chart below shows the surnames and the areas (all in England) where the families lived. The names link to pages giving detailed information.

If you think you may have a family connection, I would be pleased to hear from you: