Hello Silver Cloud,
I found these posts and was fascinated to read the information. I am descended from Joseph and his first wife, Maria Smithies. Their daughter Clara was my grandmother. Clara was born in Horton, Bradford in 1912, just a year before Joseph left for Canada. The fact he left England at all only became known to me this morning, so the further information that I have learned has come as quite a surprise. It is sad to learn that my grandmother never had the chance to know her father. I have learned something of Josephs family history, going back to the mid 1700's.
I have several names I am interested in at the moment, and now know that relatives on both my mothers side and my fathers side moved to Canada and the US.
Kind regards,
Penny