A BOLTON MP is stepping up his search to find the descendants of the local men who fought in the historic Battle of Trafalgar.

Brian Iddon, who represents Bolton South-east, has issued renewed calls to find the descendents of the men who fought alongside Nelson in the naval battle in which he died.

It follows the start of celebrations of the battle of October, 21 1805, off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast, between the combined fleets of Spain and France and the Royal Navy.

Dr Iddon"s search follows the release of an essay by the MP about the battle, which brought to an end Napoleon"s plans to invade Britain.

The paper will be circulated to schools in his constituency.

According to the Ayshford Trafalgar Roll which used ship"s rolls as its source 18 men from Bolton were on Nelson"s ships.

It lists names such as Thomas Fray, Thomas Tart and Samuel Saxon, who manned The Royal Sovereign warship; Robert Buller, John Marsh and John Bradley, who were on The Mars; and Abraham Broughton on The Dreadnought.

The Electoral Roll lists six people living in the borough with the surname Tart, three families known by the name Buller and 70 people called Broughton.

Dr Iddon hopes that families can be traced ahead of the 200th anniversary of the battle in October. The MP first became interested in the battle after he was asked to give a speech on the subject to the Bolton Sea Cadets, of which he is a patron.

He said: "It would be fantastic to find some of the descendents of some of the people who died. The celebrations have already begun and we would love some local people to be part of them."

The other Bolton men listed as taking part in the battle are: Abraham Coop, of The Agamemnon; Josh Watson, of The Belleisle; John Holt, Thomas Brown, and Philip Bowman, of The Conqueror; John Barrow, of the Defiance, William Jones of The Minotaur, James Davenport of The Orion, Thomas Greenwood of the Prince; John Chandler of The Spartiate; and William Cobourne (alias William Cowbourne) of The Victory.

l Do you know any of the descendents?

If so, call 01204 537 277, or email: gtidman@boltoneveningnews.co.uk