The Norman and Marshall Families - Paupers and Peasants
Conclusion
This is a brief attempt to construct the story of my Marshall and Norman forebears. I have further information that I am happy to share with genuine researchers descended directly from these families.
These families were poor - very poor in some cases and in some periods. Some had no skills, trades or education. They did not have money, own land, leave wills or lease property. The Overseers Records of the Poor may be the best way of finding out more, but sadly the survival rate of these records is poor.It maybe possible to take the line back further but records are scarce and even if a tree could be constructed, the supplementary evidence needed to prove that the line was correct is missing. It would be nothing more than a list of possible names and dates without any of the additional family, social and local information that makes family history so fascinating. Giant trees, constructed for the sake of adding generation after generation without proof or substance, are, in my opinion rather meaningless.