A history of our ancestors
This website takes its name from a family WhatsApp group. We created 'The Ash Side' to connect two much-loved parents and grandparents, Brian & Jean Ash, with their closest relatives, including their children, grandchildren and in-laws. Since much of our family history research over the years has focused on the ancestors of members of that group, it made sense to adopt the name for this project.
To experience the full benefit of everything the site has to offer, we recommend viewing it on a computer rather than a phone.
As you would expect of a genealogy site, this is a work in progress. Our plan is to start in late 2025 with Stage 1, telling the story of the direct ancestors of Brian Ash and Jean Topping, starting with their parents, whom you can see at the top of this page. In Stage 2, we will add the ancestors of the families into which their four children married. In Stage 3 we will explore the extended families of direct ancestors on all those branches.
The research on which this site is based has been under way since the beginning of the century. We have almost 5,000 names on our family database, not all of which will appear here. If you think you may have a connection with us and cannot find what you're looking for, do get in touch. We may know more than these pages reveal. And if you spot a mistake or can add to our knowledge, we'd love to hear from you.
If you enjoy exploring, you will love The Ash Side. It's a cross between a database, a history book and a time machine. Not only will it introduce you to the ancestors we have found with as much detail about their lives as we have been able to gather. It will also allow you to explore the connections between them and to see where they fit into broader patterns and stories.
Each person on our family tree has their own page, which you can reach by searching for them using the menus at the top. The Individual page gives a comprehensive overview of what we know about an ancestor: dates, places, parents, spouses, marriages and children are all shown in detail. The facts included here are all based on primary documentary evidence which we have checked for ourselves or trusted information from family members.
Look out for the tabs at the top of each Individual page. Clicking on them will display either a family tree or a timeline. Hover over a person in a tree to see more about them. Click on them to visit their page.
The Notes section at the bottom of each page is often the most interesting part. If we have a story to tell about a person, this is where you'll find it. Notes sometimes include speculation or questions to which we can't find answers. You might see these as invitations to visitors to contribute insights based on their own research and experience.
The top menu gives you tools to explore the data from all sorts of interesting angles. You will find graphs, charts and tables here. In due time, we hope to add photos, audio recordings, videos and scanned documents. There are interactive elements everywhere: click on a button or a drop-down arrow to see what it reveals. Clicking on a name will take you to an individual's page.
For reasons of privacy, we don't show the details of living people, who appear simply as an initial and a surname. Living people's names can be removed on request.
The information on this site is updated frequently. If you become a regular visitor, the What's New page, accessible from the Find menu at the top of the page will take you straight to the latest changes.
We humans are, by nature, pattern-seeking, story-telling animals. Historical facts and figures can be fascinating on their own; but there's nothing like a narrative to breathe life into them. That's what the Stories section of this website is for.
Some of the tales we plan to tell are about the lives of interesting individuals. Others will follow whole families, exploring the connections between them and tracing their journeys through time.If you're a member of our extended family, you already have access to our sister site where early drafts of some of those stories have been published for a private audience. Once they've been tried and tested, some of them will appear here.Walter Frederick Topping
The son of a Chaplain to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Walter F Topping was a Scottish marine engineer who travelled widely, managed an international shipping company, raised three children with his wife Kate and died in San Francisco in 1898. He was Jean Topping's grandfather.
Georg Leonhardt Rengert
A pork butcher who came to England from Germany in the 1860s, Georg settled in Plumstead in south-east London. He married Emma from Hertford, with whom he had 13 children. His sausages were much sought-after. A devout Christian, he contributed generously to the building of the Methodist Church in Woolwich. He was Brian Ash's great grandfather.
John Abel
John was the son of a Sergeant in the Royal Artillery. His father, who was born in Aberdeen, served in Gibraltar and the West Indies. John became a carpenter at the Woolwich Royal Arsenal. He married Lizzie King from Suffolk. Lizzie and John had nine children, one of whom, Edith, became Brian Ash's grandmother.
Alexina Maitland Notman
Alexina Notman was the daughter of a master gardener who worked on Scottish estates including Cammo and Cliftonhall near Edinburgh. Her middle name, Maitland, suggests a tantalising connection with the Scottish landed gentry who owned Cliftonhall. She married John Hatfield Topping, with whom she had eleven children. She was Jean Topping's great grandmother.
If you do not see your surname, please use our search engine.
Here are some of our favourite tools.
My name is David Ash. I'm a retired teacher from Birmingham, England and I have been researching the history of our family since the 1990s. If you have information to share, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
Dedicated to the memory of Jean Margaret Ash née Topping, 1931-2024. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
