The Ainsley ancestral family is huge! My Ainsley family hails from Bilsdale in the North York Moors, England, and my research concentrates on the descendants of Stephen and Charity Ainsley who farmed in Bilsdale in the late nineteenth century. The Ainsley family in Bilsdale has many branches which have been extensively researched by William Cyril Ainsley, with significant input from Peter Brown (who started his research in 1947) and Joyce Mitchell. With the kind permission of Mary Smith, William Cyril Ainsley's daughter, this larger Family Tree is also included on the website.

The Individuals section will have subsections devoted to individual histories of members of my ancestral family which I have researched using various sources. A Military subsection contains information from Military records of any Ainsley which I have researched, and these are not necessarily confined to Bilsdale Ainsleys.

In general, information about younger members of the Ainsley family will not be published.

Another section of the website is devoted to geographical information.

One of the aims of these web pages is an attempt to draw together researchers to enable them to exchange information - contact details will, with permission, be included on the Contacts page. A Bulletin Board is available to post messages for help with research on any Ainsley-related topics. Where researchers of any branch of the Bilsdale Tree have published their research online, links will be provided (with permission) on the Links page - links to any Ainsley-related website can be included on the Links page. I invite all those whose researches encompass AINSLEY in any way to contact me

This is not a static site and details will be updated and/or corrected if this is found to be necessary - input and comment are welcomed.

While researching the local family connections in Bilsdale I naturally visited the Sun Inn where I met for the very first time William George Ainsley - a lovely man who runs a sheep farm as well as the Inn; he is married to Margery (Madge) who is kindness itself. William showed me his copy of Cyril's Family Tree and I made arrangements to return in order to make my own copy. During that second visit (when with true Yorkshire hospitality Margery made me dinner) I spent several hours copying the tree. I also later established contact with William Cyril Ainsley.