A Google search...

Greetings,
My name is David Wightmore, and what follows is the foreword of the Wightmore History I have put together over the last number of years.
In February of 2000, I entered "Wightmore" into a search program on my computer. One of the results was the Tomaszewski Family Tree on which my family resides as my Mother is descended from the Randall line from which the Tomaszewski Tree is derived. Mr. Tomaszewski informed me that he had received correspondence from Mr. Andrew Williamson inquiring about the Wightmore entries. Eventually I was able to send an e-mail to Mr. Williamson, and his first message to me started "I am descended from Thomas Whitmore who married Martha Russell in 1810." This was the start of the search for my family history.
There were two Wightmore families in Salford, Lancashire according to the 1841 Census. One was Thomas and Martha with several teen-aged (and older) children, and the other was James and Maria with three young children. There appeared to be no immediate connection between these two families except for their name, and it was thought that James was, perhaps, the son of a brother to Thomas.
My Father knew his grandfather, but was never able to go back any further because "J. Alfred's father died when he was just a child, and nobody knows who he was." A birth certificate was eventually located, and it was discovered that his father's name was John, who was the second son and third child of James and Maria Wightmore. This connection showed that James and Maria were my three times great-grandparents.
The following summer was spent searching the Birth, Marriage and Death certificate indices and connecting names into their immediate families. This has resulted in a document I refer to as the "BMD Recapitulation". The International Genealogical Index was also consulted extensively. Eventually I decided that I would like to get the birth dates of everyone involved, and had to consult the various Church records for christening dates obtained via the IGI. James was not listed as either Wightmore or Whitmore. Belatedly, I sent for a marriage certificate for Mary Wightmore, and it came back transcribed as "Wightman". This prompted a further search for James Wightman, christened within two years of 1817, and who should show up but James Whitman, ch. July 5, 1818, father Thomas, mother Martha. The connection had been made. James was, indeed, a son of Thomas and Martha Wightmore, and they were my four times great-grandparents.
What follows is a written summary of my research.
Then follows "The Book"...

My Mother's line (Randall) started in England in the late 1500's, then to America in the early 1660's, then to Alberta, Canada where they homestead in the early 1900's. I visited the quarter section my greatgrand father farmed a couple of years ago; not a lot left...

 

Well done for figuring out that variety of surnames. I have a similar problem with the surnames of my great grandparents McAllister (McAlister, Macallister, Macalister, Allister, Alister etc) who married McAtier (McAteer, Macatier, Macateer, Mateer, Matier etc)