My Pepper ancestors all come from Nottinghamshire.

They lived in Gedling, Hoveringham, Lambley, South Collongham, Lowdham and Gunthorpe.

My 2 x great grandfather moved the family to Nottingham and they lived in the Sneinton and Meadows areas.

The earliest Pepper I have traced is Edward, who married Grace Re(y)ner on 12 Feb 1664 at St Mary's Church, Nottingham.

They had six children, and I am descended from the only boy.

Thomas Pepper was baptised on 27 June 1645 in Gedling. He married Frances Green on 12 June 1666, also at Gedling.

They had 6 children.

John was baptised in 12 March 1671 in Gedling. He married Mary Eyr at Gedling on 3 Aug 1704.

They had 6 children.

John was baptised on 26 September 1706 at Hoveringham. He married Mary Melton on 9 Jan 1731 at St Nicholas, Nottingham. At the time of his marriage, John was a Sutor (Cobbler) and Mary was aged 25.

They had at least 4 children, possibly six.

Samuel, baptised 1 March 1732/3, married Sarah Brownley on 6 Jan 1756. They died on 7 Aug 1801 and 10 Feb 1806 respectively.

They had eight children.

Samuel, baptised 9 May 1762 at Lambley, married Elizabeth Stimpson on 15 March 1790 at South Collingham. The marriage was by banns and the witnesses were Wm. Faroy and Jonathan Clover.

They had 3 sons.

Samuel, baptised 31 Oct 1790 at South Collingham, married Elizabeth Graves on 23 Aug 1819 at Lowdham. The marriage was by banns with parent's consent. The witnesses were Sarah Allwood (Samuel's uncle had married in to the Allwood family) and John Slater. Samuel was a framework knitter.

Sadly, Samuel died on 30 June 1826, leaving Elizabeth a widow with 3 children, Mary (5), William (4) and Samuel (my 2 x great grandfather-18 months old). More tragedy was to follow as Mary died the following year. The 1841 census shows Elizabeth living alone in Gunthorpe, aged 45 (year of birth c.1790) and eking out a liviing as a stockinger.

Samuel appears on the 1851 census as an "Ag Lab" in Gunthorpe, living alone and aged 26. He later married Ellen Banner of Mansfield, and moved his family to Nottingham.

The 1871 Census shows the family at 13 Queens Square. My great grandfather, Samuel, was born 16 June 1861 at Henry Street, Sneinton. He worked as a labourer and later as the foreman of Turney's Leather Factory on London Road, Nottingham. He married Elizabeth Cluroe and had six children.

Elizabeth died in 1902, aged only 41, when my grandmother, their youngest child Ada, was only 2 years old.

My grandmother was brought up by two aunts, her father's sisters Mary (Polly) and Eliza (Liza). One was a milliner (hatmaker) and the other a seamstress and they had a shop in Nottingham. She used to joke that she was the best dressed waif in town!

During the First World War, she joined the Women's Land Army, and I have a photograph of her looking magnificent in her uniform. She met the man who would become her husband, James William Blackwell, whilst potato picking in a field in Trowell, near to Stapleford, where his family lived.

They were married on 20 March 1926 at Shakespeare Street Registry Office, Nottingham. They lived in Stapleford and had 2 children, Jimmy (who tragically died on 20 July 1936, aged 9 in a diptheria epidemic) and Jessie (my mother).

During the Second World War, my grandmother was "called up" for essential munitions work, and spent the war years making shell casings. My mother (when old enough) was directed in to essential work also, and made springs for hand grenades!

My Grandmother died on 5 December 1993, just a few months short of her 93rd birthday. She was a wonderful woman, and had a wealth of stories about her family and the times she lived in. Some of them will appear here, as they are too good to keep to myself!