She says: "Head of the family was Thomas Hughes. He married Amy Brown (born 1903) in 1925. I think he came from Flint in Wales.

"I know they had two children, maybe more. Ernest Hughes was born in 1927 and died 1989 and Thomas Michael (Mick) Hughes was born in 1941 and died in 1989. I know Ernest had several children, but we were never that close to my father's side of the family. I have found a Hughes family on the 1901 census and they were miners and lived on Bole Hill. I know my father, Mick Hughes, worked for Orgreave as an electrician until about 1983. Maybe someone from work may remember him? We lived in Killamarsh then."

•Contact: Sonya Miller at smiller@brokerlink.ca

CAN you help Mrs J Brown to trace her mother's family?

Mrs Brown, from Oxfordshire, says: "The family came from the Sheffield/Rotherham area. Their surname is Ollivant. My mother's father's name was William and her mother's maiden name was Annie Elizabeth Jervis. I believe she had older brothers and sisters. My mother's name was Maud and the youngest child was Ester. If there are any members of the family who knew my mother or were related to her, I would love to hear from them."

•Contact: Mrs J Brown at 92 Apley Way, Witney, Oxon, OX28 5BQ.

BARBARA Southward (nee Cracknell), from Southend is trying to find a long lost college friend.

She says: "We were students together at Sheffield College of Education from 1966 to 1969. Her name is Janet Wright (nee Sargent). We are planning a reunion to celebrate our 60th birthdays and would like her to join us. I know she was living in Sheffield in the 1970s, which is the last time we had contact."

•Contact: Barbara Southward at barbara@ravenglade.co.uk

CAN you help Dr Andrea Petrie in Australia to find out more about her family?

She writes: "I am researching my ancestry and have traced my great grandparents Charles and Sarah Binns to Norton Woodseats. In the 1901 Census, they were living at 20, Welby Place, Norton Woodseats, Sheffield.

"At that time, my great grandfather Charles Binns was 39 and a Railway Inspector. Their children were Charles H Binns, aged 13, Elsie Binns (my grandmother) eight, Stanley Binns, six, and Allan Binns, one.

"My great grandmother, Sarah Binns, died in 1905 but I have no further knowledge of other family members. I have photos of my grandmother, Elsie, in Edwardian dress with a small group of other girls at what looks to be a 'private' school.

"Can any of your readers assist with local information from that era? I am interested in hearing from anyone who may be a descendant of any of this Binns family or who may know of them."

•Contact: Dr Andrea Petrie at tolyco@uqconnect.net

ANN Libby in Essex wonders if anyone has details of the Maguire family.

Ann's uncles settled in the west riding of Yorkshire and had families of their own who could have had links with South Yorkshire.

She has a photo of the wedding in 1842 of her great grandparents, Richard Maguire and Margaret Ann Chapman.

Richard Maguire lived at Dock Street . Monkwearmouth and Margaret Ann Chapman at Victoria Cottages, Monkwearmouth.

She says: "For anyone who is related, I would be more then happy to get a copy done for you, at my cost. It's the only one, I have got of my great grandparents."

•Contact :Mrs A Libby 15a Prestwood Close, Benfleet, Essex SS7 3LD, email Ann.libby@talktalk.net or call 01268 743127.

To make an appeal in Contact Column write to Fiona Firth, Contact Column, The Star, York Street, Sheffield, S1 1PU or email fiona.firth@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk

Read more in our nostalgia section and see previous Contact Columns.