It had always been my intention to some day trace the origins of the Sherwood Family.  A start was made in 1981 to do just that. Unfortunately I left things a little too late.  With the death of my grandfather Arthur Gordon Sherwood in 1978 and his sister Minnie Kelly in 1981, two invaluable sources of family history were lost. I was extremely fortunate though to have the interest and help of Arthur's son and daughter, Pat (Arthur) and Jean Sherwood.  It is to them that I'm indebted and offer my sincere thanks.

Initially I hadn't intended to write a book about the family. As time passed and more information came to hand I felt compelled to record it.  A small book seemed an appropriate way of doing this.

By all accounts ours is an 'average' family with alas no skeletons in the closet.  If there have been any famous or infamous members of our family then I've either failed to uncover them or they have kept it a well guarded secret.  Never the less ours is a family with a story just the same and one I believe well worth telling.  It is with this in mind that the book sets out to do two things.  Firstly, to record for present and future generations photographs, letters, anecdotes and other information pertaining to our family.  Secondly to stimulate, hopefully, further interest and research into the family's origins.

The information in this book is drawn from three sources: public records, family letters, and anecdotes- oral history.  Oral histories are the stories passed on from one generation to the next.  We are fortunate in that a number of the things included in this book come to us as a result of the oral tradition of story telling.  Letters written by family members add a personal quality to the family history.  In many instances they provide a unique and very valuable first hand account of people, places and events not found elsewhere.

The title chosen for the first book, 'Digging Up The Past', (1987) came from a letter written by my grandfather Arthur Gordon Sherwood in 1977.  In the letter he asks 'What good does it do to dig up the past?'   In the very same letter Arthur went on to talk about a foot race he won as a small boy along with other memories from his child hood.  The paradox is that Arthur was (fortunately) quite keen to dig up the past.

In this updated edition we solve the riddle of William Sherwood's (c1782-1843) place of birth, and go back a further two generations. In our search for our illusive ancestors we leave Cambridgeshire and travel to the neighbouring county of Hertfordshire. 

We play a part in the return of the Fowlmere Independent Chapel Registers, and discover distant cousins in the United Kingdom and the United States. We learn more about the family's voyage to Australia on the Amazon, and discover the Sherwood Family Bible and the Sherwood family Birthday Book.

Most important is the inclusion of more information on the women who married into the Sherwood family.  They come from families who have a unique history of their own.  It is important that their story and ancestry is also recorded.   I have made every effort to do this.

Much of the evidence that links the Sherwoods of Fowlmere to the Sherwoods of Clothall and Weston in Hertfordshire is circumstantial. The critical link in a chain that stretches back at least two more generations is an elderly lady by the name of Elizabeth Dixon. All indications are that Elizabeth Dixon was my great, great, great grandfather William Sherwood's mother.  My reasons for believing this are explained in chapter one.

It was Elizabeth's appearance on the 1841 census for Fowlmere that provided the start to a search that would not only take us further back in time but would also mean coming to grips with a change in name from Sherwood to Sherrug and still allow us to maintain what I believe is a definite family connection.

The book spans seven generations.  On present information the origins of the family date back to Stephen and Sarah Sherrug/ Shearwood. Both were born about 1720.   The focal point of the book is their great grandson Charles and his family all of whom settled in Australia in 1856.    The remainder of the book traces the lives of my parents and grandparents.

There is still much to be done, with more of the story waiting to be uncovered and told.    I remain confident that what is found in these pages is an accurate record of the origins of our family.

                                                            Robert J Sherwood
                                                            2001