This site is named after my branch of the Ison family that has its roots in the village of
Great Abington, Cambridgeshire.


My great-great-grandmother was Kesia Ison (Onion/Unwin) who was born in Great Chesterford,
Essex, in 1825. Kesiah married William Ison from Great Abington (born c.1826) in 1846,
with whom she had four children - Jane Anne, James William, Betsey and William Joseph Ison.
The family moved to London in 1855 where Kesia and William had a fifth child, Charles. 
The unfortunate husband William died soon after, having falling down some stairs while
"intoxicated", so the widowed Kesia had to return to Great Abington.
Kesia gave birth to my great-grandfather George Ison in 1864. George's father is
un-registered and Kesia never re-married. She died in 1872 in Great Chesterford.

Following Kesia's death, George lived with his now married half-sister Jane Anne (Canning) in
Cambridge, before moving to Enfield, Middlesex, in the 1890s. Here he met and married my
great-grandmother Ellen Louise DRAGE.

The other significant family on this site is the DRAPER family of Sherfield on Loddon,
Hampshire. My maternal great-grandfather was Gilbert Ernest Draper, born Nov 1881, one of
the nine children of David Draper and Mary Brown.
Gilbert signed-up as a Trooper in Baden-Powell's South African Constabulary during the Second Boer
War. After returning to England he served 25 years as a Metropolitan Police Officer. 
Members of the Draper family emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s, and thanks to the power of the
Internet I am happily and fruitfully in contact with cousins I never knew I had.

I'm especially keen to find out more about the Unwins/Onions of Great Chesterford, and the Isons of 
Great Abington. Please make contact with me via this site if you think we share common ancestors.