Wheatley Name Origin

This interesting name is of medieval English origin and is a locational name from any of the places so called in Essex, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Oxon, and Yorkshire. The derivation is the same for all counties and is from the Old English pre 7th Century ‘hwoete’, wheat, and ‘leah’, a clearing, thus a clearing where wheat […]

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Barrett – Of Norman Descent?

Introduction The interest in the subject of this study is born out of the family history research coupled with some family myths. Most people in the UK could probably claim to be of Norman descent and it may be difficult to prove and to be honest, people today are a mixture of Scandinavian (Anglo- Saxon) […]

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Ferberd Name Timeline

In order to understand when the variant forms of the Ferberd name may have appeared (and disappeared) a timeline has been created of the known people, based on Find My Past searches conducted in September 2017 by Paul, and searches of the Berkshire records by Sheila. The Timeline Explained In many cases, only a single […]

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People Named Ferberd Who Emigrated

Our investigations into the source and usage of the name Ferberd, which is usually a given name but sometimes a family name, have uncovered a few that emigrated from England This article describes them. Ferberd Harold Ashford b 1907/8 d 1957 This Ferberd is one of ours – he belongs to the Barrett family.  His […]

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The Ferberd Buswell Connection

      I think the Ferberd Buswell is a one off so therefore a red herring in terms of our research. You may be right in thinking he was named after his father’s friend Ferberd Barrett of the Sessions link. 1851 census, as we know, shows Richard Buswell at Kingston Bagpuize in the same […]

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The Origin of the Name Ferberd

When our father Ferberd Henry Barrett (ID: I1019) began researching his family history in about 1967, one of the main reasons was to try to discover the origin of his peculiar forename which he shared with several ancestors. (If you want to view the records of the people in our family who share this unusual […]

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Henry Barrett b 1854 and Elizabeth Alder b 1850, and Henry’s Ancestors

Introduction This is a summary of the research carried out by Sheila Wheatley with input from Paul Barrett into the history of Henry (aka Harry) Barrett b 1854 and Elizabeth Alder b 1850.  Henry and Elizabeth were married 7 Nov 1874.  We want to document Henry’s ancestors to see if we share a common ancestor, […]

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Walter Costar, and Gertrude and Ellen Barrett Love Triangle?

Gertrude Emma Barrett born 1868 married Walter Costar on 23rd December 1888. The 1891 census shows Walter age 24 and a Game-keeper and Gertrude with 2 children, Lizzie age 1 and Christopher age 8 months, living at Denman’s Farm, Chawley, Cumnor, Berkshire. The 1901 census finds Gertrude, now 32, living with her parents in Tubney. […]

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Clara Richings b. Abt 1857- Married or Not?

Clara Richings was born in About 1857 in Longworth, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England.  Her parents were Alfred Richings and Millicent Legg and she was one of eleven children. Our Problem According to all the research that we have carried so far, Clara never married. She appears on the 1871 and 1881 England Censuses as a […]

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The Intriguing Hockley / Collins Family formed in 1869 Bagshot

Family: Edward Thomas Hockley / Emma Collins (F133) When our family tree was imported to TNG from Ancestry.co.uk using FTM as a bridge some media became disconnected and that had to fixed.  In the process I decided I would scrutinise the documents carefully to make sure they were relevant to our family tree (because, unfortunately, […]

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Barrett Publicans

Thought it might be a bit of fun to write about to see how many of our forebears were publicans. This follows on from Paul finding a Richard Barrett of the Lamb and Flag, Longworth, while sorting through censuses.  I remembered finding him and a few others so thought to do the list. Richard Barrett […]

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The Skeleton in the Closet

 The purpose of this piece of research is to determine: The parentage of Liza Alder born 1829 The birth dates of William and Elizabeth Alder as this may have a bearing on the above The parentage of Percival Alder/Barrett born 1859 The relationship, if any, between Liza Alder and Albert John Barrett. I have the […]

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Old Research Notes William and Elizabeth Alder

William Alder baptised 11th July 1779 @Fyfield, the son of John Alder & Sarah Hatt. William married Elizabeth Winter on 17th November 1803 @ Fyfield. Elizabeth was baptised on 6th March 1785 @ Marcham, the daughter of William Winter & Elizabeth Michel (that’s how it is spelt in parish records). 1841 census gives William’s birth […]

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Alfred Richings b.1816 – d. 27 Oct 1870

Alfred Richings was an interesting character, a stone mason who seems to have experimented with a type of artificial stone. He built his house called Warren Cottage. All the window surrounds and mullions were made of this artificial stone. He is believed to have worked mainly for the Pusey Estate which was a major land […]

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The Mysterious Percival H Alder-Barrett

When the family tree was transferred from Ancestry to TNG via Family Tree Maker (FTM) a glitch caused hundreds of media files, mostly documents, to become detached from their “owners” and I am currently  in the process of reconnecting them.  I am purposefully making time to critically examine the data  in the documents to validate […]

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Richings Name Origin

Recorded in a number of spellings including Rich, Riche, Riches, Richens, Rinchin, Richins, Riching, Richings, and possibly others, this is an English surname. It has at least three possible origins. Firstly, it may be Old French, and a nickname for a wealthy person from the pre 10th century “ Firstly, it may be Old French, […]

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Barretts In Berkshire

Tracing the movement and settlement of the family in Berkshire with the hope of finding the earliest date and possibly where they originated! Many professional researchers seem to be of the opinion that people generally stay within the district they are born. Maybe many folk did, especially before transport became easier with trains and other […]

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The Grants

Dad‘s (F H Barrett 1923 – 2003) mother was Beatrice Grant. Her father was Joseph and her mother was Beatrice Grant formerly Croft (who we all knew as Granny Grant). Beatrice (dad’s mum) and her father Joseph’s details are well known, accurate and documented. Joseph’s father was James Grant a brick maker. Joseph and his […]

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Blampied Name Origin

This is an old Jersey Channel Island name, also linked with Canada where the Jersey boat men used to sail. There is also a link with the North American Indians, e.g. Blanc-Pied or White Foot, although that sounds more French. Alan’s great grandfather Elias Blampied was born in Canada in 1851. The Internet Surname Database talks about the […]

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Hackett Name Origin

This unusual name has two possible origins, the first of which is from an Olde Norse byname, ‘Hali’, in Olde Danish ‘Hake’, given originally to someone with a hooked nose, and popular in medieval England as ‘Hack’ or ‘Hake’. A number of surnames were generated from this source, Hackett and Haggett being diminutive forms of […]

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Clarke Name Origin

This long-established surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is from a medieval occupational name for a scribe or secretary, or for a member of a minor religious order. The word “clerc”, from the Olde English pre 7th Century “Cler(e)c”, priest, originally denoted a member of a religious order only, but since the clergy of minor […]

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Howell Name Origin

The primary source of this ancient and distinguished surname is the Old Welsh male given name “Hywel” meaning “Eminent, Prominent”. This name was borne by Huwal West Wala Cyning (King of the West Welsh), recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of Devonshire, dated 926, and by Hywel Dda, Hywel the Goat, Prince of all Wales and […]

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Barrett Name Origin

   The origin of the Barrett name is unclear.  When my father Ferberd Henry Barrett (“Fred” 1923 – 2003) carried out some family history research in the late 1960’s he came to this conclusion: It’s unclear what the struck-through characters mean on the third line up.  Did he mistype?  Did he mean to type ‘Barre?’ […]

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Lt James Kennedy OBE (Mil) RNR

Abandon Ship! This was the order that Lt James Kennedy, commander of the HM Whaler ‘Blackwhale’ had to give on the night of 3rd January 1918 after his convoy escort ship hit a mine off East Fife Ness at the position shown on the map. James wasn’t on watch at the time.  According to the official report […]

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