It's quite a while since we gave the site a make-over, so here it is! Gone is all the dust, spiders, and miscellaneous junk that accumulates in the dark corners ... the equivalent of the attic. You know the type…
Courtesy of my sister, we now have an acre of land on the Moon! Even though the Close strain are renowned for opening up new frontiers, as far as we know we are the only Closes so far to have…
Dedication to John Close (1796) A dedication on the east window of The Church of St Andrew at Grinton, Yorkshire. It was dedicated to John Close (1796), Barbara Close (1820) and their son John Close (1849) by Susanna their daughter.…
Metcalfe Close (1893) was born at Gunnerside, Richmond, the son of Ralph Metcalfe and Elizabeth Hannah Close (1870). He joined the 12th Mountain Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery during the first World War as a gunner. Service number: 162445 Enlisted at…
As a young man John helped his father Jarvis with his butchers business but he mistakenly thought he had a talent to be a poet. At the age of 16 he started printing fly-sheets of his verses to sell at…
Gilbert Fairchild Close (1881) was born on 7th January, 1881 in Pittsford, New York, the son of John Edward Close (1848) and Mary Ellen Hooper. He entered Princeton University in 1899 and graduated with the Class of 1903. Subsequently he…
Although Frederic Close (1889) was born in Missouri, America, he made his home in the Long Preston and Settle areas of Yorkshire when his mother came back from America with the family. During the First World War between 1914 and…
The actress Ivy Close was famous not as an actress in the first place, but as Miss Britain. When the Daily Mirror launched the competition for The Most Beautiful Woman in the World in 1908, her father sent in photographs…
Photographs of Ribba Hall in January 2011. A series of photographs of carvings on barn doors done by the children of John Close, plus others which appear to be other occupants of Ribba over the years. Many thanks to Emma…
We've had an unvalidated Irish / Canadian tree sat here for some time, and this update fills in the detail. Not a huge release in terms of new people (around 50), but around 100 new images, mainly census records in…
