MEMBERS of a longstanding family from the Winchester area have been united with their American cousins to celebrate their roots.
Last Friday 19 members of the Diddams family from southern England met ten Diddams from the US at the County Record Office in Winchester.
Record office staff organised a guided tour to help the family discover their ancestors amongst the archives - including Enos Diddams, who played an important role in the 1830 Swing Riots.
He was the leader of a group of Dever Valley men who met at Sutton Scotney in 1830 to petition the King for parliamentary reform and a living wage. Their efforts were brutally suppressed, with some executed and many imprisoned or transported.
John Diddams, organiser of the reunion, states that the one common ancestor of virtually all the US Diddamses was Edgar James Diddams. Edgar, who was born in Micheldever in 1849, emigrated to the US in 1872.
The reunion included a performance by local musicians the Madding Crowd, based on the 19th century rural labourer's life and including reference to the Diddams men.
The Dever Valley tour will also include visits to several family graves in Bullington churchyard and references to Diddamses in Wonston parish as early as the 17th century.
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