THE YANKS are coming - to trace their East Lancashire roots.

In September, two sets of Americans will be arriving in Blackburn and Accrington to try and dig up their family trees.

Art and Patty Edwards are trying to find out all they can about Thomas Lightfoot, a brother to the first Mayor of Accrington. They are also interested in Art's grandparents, Edwin Holland Ryder and Nancy Riley, who were married in 1878.

Since their last trip in February 1995 they have managed to trace a member of the Lightfoot family in Clitheroe.

There are Lightfoots all over the world, from California to Australia but the English ones seem harder to track down. If you can help, Art and Patty will be coming to Accrington in mid-September and can be contacted at their home at 488 Carolina Street, Woodbridge, California, 95268 USA, or locally on 01254 398579. Another American couple heading for the area on September 11 and 12 will be Anne and Ira Abbott. from Willow Bend, La Porte, Illinois. They are trying to track down their ancestors, Thomas and Nancy Abbott, Henry and Martha Ann (Keen) Abbott, of Blackburn, John and Alice Keen (parents of Martha Ann), of Southport, and George and Betty (Feilden) Ainsworth and Thomas and Sarah (Towneley) Ainsworth of Blackburn. Many of the ancestors emigrated to America in the mid 1800s. The Abbotts can be reached at their home address, 1671 S. Willow Bend, La Porte, Illinois 46350, USA, or e-mail to Anne E Abbott, Internet: 71534, 27132 @compuserve.com. While they are in England they can be reached at The Metropole Hotel, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.