A Year in Surnames Week 3 – A Surname that is curious #AYearInSurnames

Posted on September 19, 2020 by

Image created Julie Goucher 2020 using wordclouds.com

This week I have chosen to not focus on a specific surname, but something that happens with surnames; the use of an alias.

I talked about what I worked during lock-down, you can read that post HERE. During my work with the material from the catalogue of West Sussex Records Office, I came across several instances of members of the Butcher family using an alias, in the first instance with the surname of Cowper and a separate Butcher family with the surname Piper, as these were all in Rudgwick, it is likely that not only do these families connect, but they connect to my own family.  I was of course curious about that, but something else happened.

In undertaking some much needed filing, I came across some notes that I had made years ago, involving the surname Chitty. Now, that surname is well known across Surrey and Sussex and the surname already has a connection to my Budd family, but this documentation relates to an Ann Chitty who left a will in 1745 where she mentions various elements of my Butcher family. Then I came across another series of notes relating to a Chitty family, alias Bucher. (note the missing of the T from Butcher).

Initially I thought this was the case of inter-marrying etc, but with an occupational surname, perhaps this John Chitty was referred to as alias Bucher because he quite literally was a Butcher? And if that was the case then did that have any bearing on the Cowper and Piper alias’? This needs much more research and unravelling.

The next instalment of #AYearInSurnames will be posted sometime next weekend. If you would like to take part, you can read the introductory post HERE, but essentially,each Saturday (UK time), a blog post that fits with the theme for the week should be written and posted to your own site during the forthcoming week. Do not forget to leave the link for your post in the comments on this site.

For those who like to plan ahead, I have released the blog themes for the entire year and these can be downloaded from HERE

#AYearInSurnames

Posted in A Year in Surnames, Butcher One-Name Study, Genealogy, One-Name Studies, Surnames, Variants, Deviants and Alias | Leave a comment

A Year in Surnames Week 2 – Surname Beginning with A (Ayling) #AYearInSurnames

Posted on September 12, 2020 by

This week I have focused on a surname that occurs in my own ancestry, the surname of AYLING.

My Grandfather’s sister, Ellen Butcher married Albert Edward Ayling in 1930 at St Nicholas Church at Guildford. Albert was known by his middle name, though it was shortened to Ted. He was a keen sportsman, playing cricket in the Surrey village of Shackleford until he was in his early 70’s.

Marriage of Ellen Violet Butcher and Albert Edward Ayling 1930 St Nicholas Guildford Courtesy of Surrey History Centre & Ancestry

When my Aunt died in 2009, aged 98, she had been a widow some 24 years. During the time I spent with the family following my Aunt’s burial, I was asked if I could do some research on the Aylings. This I did, sharing with the family. Recently, with the death of one of their children, I have turned again to those notes and taken the opportunity to research further.

I had a quick look at that earlier research and found that Ted’s Ayling family had hailed from Lurgershall in Sussex. A coincidence was that another branch of my family come from the same village. In the space of an hour I managed to retrace Ted’s family back to 1801, which confirmed the earlier research.

Ayling Surname Distribution based on the 1881 Census for England and Wales courtesy of Surname Atlas (Steve Archer)

Sussex is a hotbed of Ayling’s, as is Hampshire and to a lesser degree Surrey. A quick look at Surname Atlas which is a super surname distribution map, based on the 1881 Census. This map shows the most instances of the surname in the darker counties. You will see that Sussex is a significant county, followed by Middlesex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent. Then there are a few other incidences of the surname in the palest locations, such as Norfolk.

From the collection of Julie Goucher, the view across Lurgershall towards the church from the Mill at Lurgershall

A few years ago, I came across a lovely watercolour painted by George Ayling (1887-1969). I purchased it, not because of the Ayling connection, but because of the view. The painting is the view across Lurgershall from the Mill and towards the church. This mill is now located at the Wield and Downlad Museum. I visited the museum more than 40 years ago whilst I was at school.

The next instalment of #AYearInSurnames will be posted sometime next weekend. If you would like to take part, you can read the introductory post HERE, but essentially,each Saturday (UK time), a blog post that fits with the theme for the week should be written and posted to your own site during the forthcoming week. Do not forget to leave the link for your post in the comments on this site.

For those who like to plan ahead, I have released the blog themes for the entire year and these can be downloaded from HERE

#AYearInSurnames

Posted in A Year in Surnames, Ayling, Genealogy, One-Name Studies | Leave a comment

A Year in Surnames Week 1 – Surnames of my Grandparents #AYearInSurnames

Posted on September 6, 2020 by

I always think of the surnames of my Grandparents in two groups. On one side, the English ones for the surnames of BUTCHER and MATTHEWS and on the other side, the Italian ones, for the surnames of ORLANDO and LICATA.

All four surnames, and how they link into my family saw variations of migration, whether that was across County lines in the United Kingdom or across the English Channel or Atlantic in regard to my Italian Grandparents.

Distribution of Surnames 2014 for Orlando and Butcher – Copyright Julie Goucher 2020

The image shown here, comes from one of my surname presentations and has been created using the site, https://forebears.io

This shows the distribution of the surnames, Butcher and Orlando for 2014, which is the only year where there is a comparison between the two surnames.

My own Butcher family migrated across the globe much earlier than this though, starting with John Hunt Butcher in 1815 who left Surrey for Tasmania along with his family. Other branches of the family later on went to Canada and on the home front, moved consistently and frequently between Surrey and Sussex.

My own Orlando family migrated in two waves, firstly to the United States in the early years of the 20th Century and later post the second world war, though at that time they came to England. Since then they have ping-ponged their way back and forth.

In thirty years of research I have never explored if my Matthews family individuals migrated out of England. My great great Grandfather, John Matthews (born 1848) migrated from Warwickshire where he was a re-married former widower with three children from his first marriage and a coke dealer, to Surrey. It was relatively common, for widowers to remarry fairly quickly, though in John’s case he took four years to do so. He died in Surrey in 1927.

My Grandmother, Maria Carmela Licata born 1899 and lived her entire life in Sutera a rural village in Sicily, the youngest of four children. Her brother and two older sisters left Sutera and migrated to the United States, settling at least initially in New York. Of the sisters, the oldest was married and sailed with her younger sister and two children, to join her husband who had already sailed and established his life in America. The younger sister was not married and recorded her brother as her family member. It has been two years since I did any work on this family, but the older sister died in New York, with her death registered in New York and also entered into the death register in Sutera, which un-nerved me a bit, as it inferred she had died in Sutera, whereas it was written by a priest keeping careful watch on his former flock.

The next instalment of #AYearInSurnames will be posted sometime next weekend. If you would like to take part, you can read the introductory post HERE, but essentially,each Saturday (UK time), a blog post that fits with the theme for the week should be written and posted to your own site during the forthcoming week. Do not forget to leave the link for your post in the comments on this site.

For those who like to plan ahead, I have released the blog themes for the entire year and these can be downloaded from HERE

#AYearInSurnames

Posted in A Year in Surnames, Genealogy, One-Name Studies | Leave a comment

Introducing a Year in Surnames #AYearInSurnames

Posted on September 4, 2020 by

Unless your family are from Iceland, you have a surname, and so do your ancestors. The year of 2020 has been a strange year, full of promise until a pandemic struck, then as Country after Country entered lock down, it was as if someone had pressed a global pause button.

During the 28 weeks I was confined to the house shielding, I did a lot of research, evaluation, writing and thinking, though not necessarily in that order!

I am always surprised when genealogists and family historians take the view that studying surnames is a niche subject, after all we all have one and therefore, researching surnames, to some degree should be very much front and centre of our individual research.

As I said, I have done lots of thinking, and part of that thinking is to create a series of blog posts, centred around surnames. For the next 52 weeks we will explore a surname each week from our individual family history, centred on a theme or a letter from the alphabet, with the latter not being in any specific order.

Does that sound like fun? If so, why not play along.

Each Saturday (UK time), starting tomorrow, 5th September 2020 a blog post that fits with the theme for the week should be written and posted to your own site during the forthcoming week. Do not forget to leave the link for your post in the comments on this site.

For those who like to plan ahead, I have released the blog themes for the entire year and these can be downloaded from HERE

Posted in A Year in Surnames, Genealogy, One-Name Studies | 2 Comments

Researching Surnames Guide – Readalong

Posted on August 30, 2020 by

Cover for Surname bookletBeginning 1 September 2020, I am offering a read-a-long of this booklet, coupled with discussion – there is just ONE space left. Please do not delay if you wish to join us.

The booklet will be read over 3 weeks and then discussed over alternating weeks.

Here is the schedule:

  • 1 September 2020 reading pages 1-15 (A)
  • 8 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (A)
  • 7 September 2020 reading pages 15-25 (B)
  • 15 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (B)
  • 14 September 2020 reading pages 26-38 (C)
  • 22 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (C)

There is opportunity to follow up on the discussions and learning as the Pharos surnames course, Practicalities of a One-Name Study, begins on 6th October 2020. The next Introduction to One-Name Studies course is in February 2021.

The booklet is available to Guild of One-Name Studies members free of charge in PDF format or can be purchased from the Guild HERE (100% of all purchases support the Guild)

Places for this read-a-long will be limited and available to all. They are free of charge. Depending on the interest, there may not be another opportunity to take part.

Form removed, if you wish to receive information of any possible next running of the read-a-long please use the contact button to send me a note!

Posted in Genealogy, Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901), One-Name Studies, Practicalities of a One-Name Studies (Pharos Course 903) | Leave a comment

Researching Displaced People – Webinar

Posted on August 23, 2020 by
Image Courtesy of Virtual Genealogical Association

Today I shall be presenting a webinar to members of the Virtual Genealogical Association. To read all about the VGA please click HERE.

The webinar, Researching Displaced People will begin at 11 am Eastern US time.

The handout is comprehensive and will be available by clicking the image below

Posted in European Ancestors, One-Name Studies, Presentations | Leave a comment

Desk Ramblings (29)

Posted on August 3, 2020 by

Desk Ramblings

Created by Julie Goucher, July 2019

The last Desk Ramblings post, which you can read HERE, was written as the UK went into COVID-19 lock-down, on 26 March. Since then it has been a strange time to be living in and I wonder what historians of the future will make of it?

Whilst some found the last 4 months a challenge, I was not especially bothered by not going out and about. We kept our interactions with others to a minimum, at least in the physical sense, despite that I still managed to be unwell, but am on the mend now. I taught two Pharos courses during  the period of March to July, the first running of the Practicalities of a One-Name Study and then an Introduction to One-Name Studies.

On a personal note, I decided to work through the online catalogues of a number of venues relating to my One-Name Studies. I started with West Sussex Records Office and whereas I expected to be able to conclude the whole of Sussex and Surrey, I have only managed to complete West Sussex. I also managed to watch a Society of Genealogists recording, Treasures of the Society of Genealogists, which was immensely helpful. I lectured twice during June to the Society of Genealogists, about Surnames, plus to a genealogical Society in the United States. I also wrote three presentations, one of which will be presented a bit later this month.

Readers may remember that I mentioned on the last Desk Ramblings that I was about to start a Moleskine Expanded notebook, which has 400 pages, well I did start it and finished it, the notebook did me the entire period of lock down, so that was well timed! Here is a brief snapshot:

Moleskine Expanded 1

As you can see here, I use quite a lot of those tabs of what material is located where. Moleskine does not have a index page, nor are there page numbers. For the first time in years, I did not leave space at the beginning of the book, in essence, I winged it. This book contains a host of material, journal entries, notes and research material. In a strange way, the lack of page numbers and an index did not, and has not prohibited me from locating material. My current notebook is the slimmer Moleskine, but I have another expanded lined up ready and waiting.

I note that I have a few posts completed, but not scheduled for two previous series, I shall complete these posts get them up this week. It is ironic, that having been home for the best part of more than four months, I still have outstanding tasks.

I have scheduled a Read-a-Long of the Surname Research Guide, which you can read about, and sign up HERE. The booklet is not a long read, but the concept of a group read was to bring together those who might be curious about surnames and want to focus on reading and discussion. We all have surnames, yet having a surname specific study is seen as unusual.

I hope everyone has been well and safe, stay tuned for more frequent posting.

Posted in Desk Ramblings!, Stationary,Filofax, Journals & Notebooks | 2 Comments

Q & A – Which Pharos One-Name Studies course should I take first?

Posted on July 30, 2020 by

Q & A

Created by Julie Goucher – Feb 2020 Using Wordclouds.com

This morning I received the following question:

Julie, I recently joined the Guild of One-Name Studies having listened to your online lecture with the Society of Genealogists. I want to take part in the readalong, but I am not sure what Pharos course I should do first?

 Thanks for your question. Historically there was two courses offered by Pharos, the Introduction to One-Name Studies course and the Advanced One-Name Studies course. When I took over teaching the Introduction course, I began keeping a note of questions that I was asked by students, some with a great deal of frequency. Those notes eventually found themselves turned into the Practicalities of a ONS course which ran for the first time in March.

In a perfect world, the Practicalities course would follow the Introduction course, and in the main that does happen, but it is not an issue for students to take the practical course first. The course outline shows that the Introduction course is focused on the foundations of a study, whereas the Practicalities course has the focus on the practical elements of a study, but there is a bit of overlap between the courses, because elements of the beginnings of a study do overlap.

That said, over the last almost four years I have taught students whose studies have been up and running for a number of years, as some want to revisit elements of their studies and expand their knowledge. Some students have been focused on other matters and want to refresh their knowledge etc. In much the same way as there is no right or wrong way to work on a study, there is no right or wrong way to take the One-Name Studies courses, they are seeking to provide layered learning.

It is not just the formal learning of the courses, the networking between students is actually lovely to see develop and that very much follows the ethos of the Guild, members helping members. I am consider myself very lucky in that I get to interact with members of the Guild and genealogists, teach what I find absolutely fascinating and to spread the word about surnames.

I hope that helps and I will see you on the Readalong. I have a number of posts to share here in the coming days, so I have pinned the Readalong post to the front page of anglersrest.net In the meantime, do read the numerous surname posts HERE, and the course descriptions of the Pharos courses, the links appear on the right hand side of the this site or on the Pharos website.

Posted in Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901), One-Name Studies, Practicalities of a One-Name Studies (Pharos Course 903), Q & A | Leave a comment

Researching Surnames Guide – Readalong

Posted on July 29, 2020 by

Cover for Surname bookletBeginning 1 September 2020, I am offering a read-a-long of this booklet, coupled with discussion.

The booklet will be read over 3 weeks and then discussed over alternating weeks.

Here is the schedule:

  • 1 September 2020 reading pages 1-15 (A)
  • 8 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (A)
  • 7 September 2020 reading pages 15-25 (B)
  • 15 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (B)
  • 14 September 2020 reading pages 26-38 (C)
  • 22 September 2020 online discussion via Zoom (C)

There is opportunity to follow up on the discussions and learning as the Pharos surnames course, Practicalities of a One-Name Study, begins on 6th October 2020. The next Introduction to One-Name Studies course is in February 2021.

The booklet is available to Guild of One-Name Studies members free of charge in PDF format or can be purchased from the Guild HERE (100% of all purchases support the Guild)

Places for this read-a-long will be limited and available to all. They are free of charge. Depending on the interest, there may not be another opportunity to take part.

Form removed, if you wish to receive information of any possible next running of the read-a-long please use the contact button to send me a note!

Posted in Genealogy, Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901), One-Name Studies, Practicalities of a One-Name Studies (Pharos Course 903) | Leave a comment

Introduction to One-Name Studies Course – Lesson Five

Posted on June 30, 2020 by

Pharos Lessons

Copyright – Julie Goucher 2020

The fifth lesson of the Pharos Introduction to One-Name Studies course has just been sent to students.

Our fourth chat session will take place a little later this week, please check the Pharos forum for details and the link.

This is the last lesson of this Introduction course, although the chats and conversations continue.

For more details about the Practicalities of a One-Name Studies course (903) and the Advanced course (902), confirmation of the forthcoming dates and to book please visit the information pages HERE.

Posted in Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901), One-Name Studies | Leave a comment