My name is Paul Blacknell and I’ve been researching the Blacknell Genealogy since 1988 when I started interviewing my eldest relatives. I quickly discovered that we are descended from a long (and wide) line of Blacknells from Calverton, Nottinghamshire.
My earliest definitive ancestral link is to my 5th-great-grandfather, William Blacknell, born in Calverton around 1730. Many, if not most, were closely involved in the framework knitting profession that centred on Nottinghamshire and in fact originated in Calverton. I have found other Blacknells further back in Tudor times but have not established a credible connection.
There are also convincing links to the Freers from Quorndon in Leicestershire as well as a migration of Blacknells to Ruabon in Denbighshire – many descendants of whom still live there.
Although I have to admit I’ve been primarily interested in the Blacknell line, my mother’s side goes back to the Quigleys (circa 1840) and Colhouns (circa 1880) in County Donegal, Ireland.