New Oxfordshire surnames project

From Oxfordshire Family History Society (www.ofhs.org.uk):

Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) has started a new Oxfordshire surnames research project, examining surnames recorded in Oxfordshire parish registers from 1538 onwards, currently estimated at up to 20,000 key variants. The team is also using many other early recorded sources to build a comprehensive database of Oxfordshire surnames. The aim is to trace their whereabouts in different parishes over time, their origins, hotspots, DNA connections and many other facets of Oxfordshire surnames. The project will take about 2 years to complete.

The project team is appealing for help from those who have a good recorded family history in Oxfordshire or who manage a one-name study. They are welcome to contact the team with a brief description and their contact details, so that when their surname is analysed they may be able to participate in submitting content for that name. All significant contributors will be acknowledged.

# At this stage the team want just a interest in being involved - so please send your contact details, name of interest, and place(s) in Oxfordshire where you have records of the name's occurrence, to the team leader Sue Honore via surname-project@ofhs.org.uk

# Later, you will be asked for more detail, tied to place - so wills, and newspaper records, for instance - or, for instance, gamekeeper licences - would all be of interest.

# It is anticipated that the analysis will be published as a book, with a page or so on the occurrence and detail of each name, and lots of maps, and with some information also made available on the OFHS website, in the members' section.

Do join the project!

(With thanks to Wendy Archer)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Clans and Surnames in Ireland conference

News of a conference to take place in Nenagh, Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, in May:

The 'Clans and Surnames of Ireland Genealogy Programme will take place from May 15 - 19, 2017 at the Great National Abbeycourt Hotel in Nenagh, County Tipperary. Our programme includes expert genealogy workshops, seminars, lectures, fieldtrips and valuable research advice for Irish family researchers. 

Our fieldtrips will be offered in County Clare, Limerick and Galway to facilitate a range of requirements. We can offer 'Walking Tours', Graveyard tours and Landscape character assessment fieldwork. We offer a suitable package for a companion who may not be taking the programme should you wish to travel with same. Conservation, preservation & collections care workshops are also scheduled within the programme for the week. Our programme is in high demand so don't delay and do not hesitate to contact Lorna Moloney for more details if required.

Our speakers include Kenneth Nicholls, Dr Paul MacCotter, Patrick Guinness, Sean J. Murphy, Fiona Fitzsimons, Dr Joe Mannion, Donough McGillacuddy, David Ryan, Regina Sexton, Lorna Moloney, Dr Michael C. Keane, Dr Ursula Callaghan, Rosaleen Underwood, Brian Donovan, John Tierney, Aiden Feerick, John Nangle, Margaret Jordan, Jennifer Armstrong Zinck, Jane Halloran-Ryan, Jennifer Wood, Tony Harpur. Tony Browne, Penny Walters, Deirdre Hunt and Treasa Kerrigan.

For further details, and to book, please visit http://www.clansandsurnames.com/irishclans/.

(With thanks to Lorna Moloney)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Ancestry's surname profiler tool

I'm not sure if this is a new feature, or simply one that I have not come across before, but there is a surname profiling tool on the Ancestry website at www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts. The tool allows you to type in a surname to source its origin and meaning, and then provides a means to look for the distribution of that surname in England and Wales, or Scotland, across each of the censuses from 1841 to 1901.

I have done a search of my own surname, Paton, and have learned from the site that it is derived as follows:

Scottish: from a pet form of the personal name Pat (short form of Patrick), formed with the Old French diminutive suffix -on.

Yup, I'm happy with that, though interestingly enough the source it is taken from is The Dictionary of American Family Names, from Oxford University Press. Nevertheless it's the well established explanation for the name in Scotland, and an improvement on the same surname derivation as found on another profiling site, the GB Surname Profiler at http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/ which notes the following nonsense for the Scottish name:

PATON English - Locational Name; Settlement Ending; Ton

Ahem!

Do have a play - I'd be interested to hear how accurate or not others may find it.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Guild of One-Name Studies appoints new chairman

A couple of announcements from the Guild of One Name Studies. The first is that the body has elected a new Chairman, Paul Howes - the full press release announcing his appointment is available at http://one-name.org/election-of-new-chairman/.

The Guild will also be at Who Do You Think You Are Live in Birmingham from April 16th-18th, and will be offering a small membership discount and a goody bag to new members at the show. For further details see http://one-name.org/join-the-guild-at-wdytya-live-2015/

(With thanks to Cliff Kemball)

Chris

For details on my latest book Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, and my other genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Genealogy Radio Show looks at Irish surnames

The latest Genealogy Radio Show podcast is now available from Lorna Moloney, and features a discussion with Sean J. Murphy on Irish surnames.

To listen to the podcast visit https://www.mixcloud.com/raidiocorcabaiscinn/the-genealogy-radio-show-episode-5-series-2-sean-j-murphy/

(With thanks to Lorna)

Chris

For details on my range of genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Surname Society announcement

News of a new group called The Surname Society (http://surname-society.org)

The founder members are delighted to announce the launch of The Surname Society - the online society for individuals, groups and associations with an interest in surname studies, regardless of their location in the world, the surname they are studying, or their level of research expertise.

Focussing on single surname studies, the society meets the needs of researchers in the world of family history and genealogy as it evolves in the 21st century. The Surname Society’s vision is to connect like-minded people by providing facilities which enable members to share knowledge, data and good practice with others. The society allows members to register both worldwide and limited studies and is entirely online. Collaboration is facilitated and encouraged as it is the core ethos of The Surname Society.

Surname researchers collect data relating to all name bearers, either on a global or restricted basis. The society does not mandate study methods and members are encouraged to develop their own approach to the investigation of their surname to advance their knowledge and expertise in areas such as etymology, DNA, name collection and family reconstruction. The Surname Society will help and advise inexperienced members on ways to conduct their study and how to avoid the pitfalls which can occur!

A truly global organisation from the outset, the committee members are located around the world from Australia to England, Spain and Canada and in the first week since its announcement to those who completed the online questionnaire, the society has almost one hundred new and enthusiastic members.

The cost of membership to The Surname Society is just £5 per annum with no hidden extras. You can register as many names as you want on either a restricted or worldwide basis, collaborate with others, share in the educational opportunities offered and a plethora of resources in the Members’ area of the website including a fascinating quarterly e-newsletter and the School of Surnames, with many other developments in the pipeline in due course.

So, what are you waiting for? Take a look at the website and if you are interested, join!

For more information visit http://surname-society.org, email info@surname-society.org
and/or follow us on Twitter: @surnamesoc

COMMENT: I'm not a one namer, so I don't really know what the difference is between the proposed offerings of this group and the already established Guild of One Name Studies (http://one-name.org) - but if you are interested in starting a surname study, there are now different options to explore.

(With thanks to the Surname Society)

Chris

Stuck for a Christmas gift?! I have a series of genealogy books available in the UK, Australia and Canada, on Scottish, Irish and British based subject areas. Further details at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. Santa approves!

Guild of One Name Studies update

The Guild of One Name Studies has announced some new developments:

New Guild services

Lodging of surname interests -a pilot project enabling members to record surname interests other than their registered name(s). This facility provides members with the ability to record an interest in a surname without having to register a full-blown one-name study. If successful the lodgement of surname interests could led to an increase in the number of surnames being registered for a one-name study.

Study Associate - a project to introduce study associates to enable members to collaborate on a one-name study, thus making it easier for members to work together on large studies (such as the surname Smith which has recently been registered by a Guild member). This project will be helpful where multiple people are collaborating on different aspects of research into a surname. It should also help where the member who has registered the name is no longer actively conducting research, allowing another person to provide new input. In addition it will provide for continuity where the member who has registered the study leaves the Guild or decides they no longer want to be the formal owner.

Website preservation -a pilot project enabling members to preserve their one-name study websites with the Guild. The proposal is for the Guild to host the one-name study web sites of members that relate to their registered surname(s). A major purpose of the project is to enable the one-name website of each participating member to continue indefinitely as a live website (that is, one that is publicly accessible) after the member has died or ceased to be a member of the Guild. The project will also allow participants, while they remain members of the Guild, to continue to maintain and develop their websites. This planned website preservation project is being trialled by the Guild because it has the financial resources to undertake such a facility and its long standing pedigree gives an assurance that such a facility is more likely to survive long into the future and so be able to offer an extended potentially unlimited life to members' websites.

For further details visit www.one-name.org

(With thanks to John Keith Coldwell)

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Records online course starts on November 5th, and runs for 5 weeks, priced at £45.99. Spaces are still available - see http://pharostutors.com/coursedescriptions.php#302

Surnames database project reaches 45,000 names

The Family Names of the United Kingdom Project, currently under way at my old university in Bristol, the University of the West of England, has now researched some 45,000 names to date in its project to document British surnames across time, completing the first phase of the project due to be published in 2016.

The project was recently revised and given additional funding to include surnames for which there are still at least 20 people bearing it as a minimum, as opposed to the previous 100.

The full update is available at both www.medievalists.net/2014/04/14/database-uk-surnames-reached-45000-entries-dating-back-middle-ages/ and www1.uwe.ac.uk/cahe/research/bristolcentreforlinguistics/fanuk.aspx.

(With thanks to Medievalists.net)

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians. And for those wishing to take Scottish ancestral research a bit further, my next Pharos course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Records, commences May 14th 2014.