h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I did a bit of looking into my family history, and found out just enough to be able to make a bit of slightly dull party conversation about it.

There are two variants on my surname's suffix, -don and -den. The version that ends in -don means 'lives in the wooded valley', and the -den means 'lived on the wooded hill'. So when people misspell my name, I can confuse them by telling them that I live on a hill

A man with the exact same name as me was a rather famous surgeon, and was midwife to Queen Victoria. There was also a Sir Charles ****den, who was a scientist and an assistant to Henry Cavendish. My family, funnily enough, own the Cavendish Hotel, which I manage.

I also tracked my family name back as far as the 16th Century to a small village in Wiltshire, and a few years ago I went and had a pint in a 16th century pub in the village. It was quite odd to think that the first ever -dens would have drunk their ales in the same place.

Hi there Jim, Alfredo and Skankyrich

My father is a football supporter but I’m glad he didn’t name me after a sporting hero.

I am intrigued by what you have written Alfredo and don’t think there’s a limit to what you write on here. On hearing about the violinist I pictured the one from Moulin Rouge, hope you don’t mind. I wonder why history becomes shrouded in mystery and that it becomes unclar what is fact and what is fiction.

That’s funny, den is also the last part of my bf’s mothers. Don’t tell me that my bf is related to you??

I know that you two aren't related because I've a feeling I know both first parts of your surnames.

Well, my surname is on a thread on my PS, so I don't know why I'm bothering to be coy about it

That's not how I worked it out. Anyhow, 'ton' also means 'hill' so I'm guessing that it depends on what era of language you look at right?

It depends on where and when your name originated to some extent. If it originated in Yorkshire, there's much more likely to be a Viking influence on its meaning than if it came from the Saxon heartlands further south.

The surname Campbell has two Irish translations that I'm aware of. One of them I can't remember. The second comes from the phrase "Son of the bald-headed warrior", which I quite like.

Well the 'ton' to which I'm referring is a hill in the south rather than a surname.

Well, this is a very inspiring and welcoming topic to and for me.

We all know that in the countries that Napoleon occupied, it was also the start of official registration of families. That started around 1820 (am I right? I think so).

Before that one has to rely on church-administration = birth, marriage,husband/wive, brothers who were witnesses, death.

There are also other sources of information.

-When peoples left Europe by ship to the U.States; their names were all written down.
-When people bought a house, there's always some paperwork, also long before Napoleon.
-When people joined armies.
-Graveyards.
-Personal writings of family members.
-Paintings/songs
-Criminality and religious persecution. In a song about Hanneke van den Hove who became a martyr (dangerous word these days)they also give some information about her age and her birthplace.

But, but, one really needs a "skill" to estimate such information, cause there are many reasons why such information is not correct....
Many reasons, but as a starting point, yes!

You will experience yourself, that when you are really involved in a research, you get a feeling when you're on the right track, or not, despite the changes in names.

Example;
Anneke van den Hove has a huge of varieties in names.
In those days it could happen,- also during "Napoleon" that two brothers had a different second name. Yes, second name.

As I said, about Anneke;

Anna, Anneke, Tanneke, Hanneke,Hanna,etc.

Van den hove/ van den Hoven/ Uyt(t)enhove(n)/Wtenhoven,Uut(t)enhove(n), and the most ancient; "Jeltenheuve".
When you're involved, one really can develop a feeling to judge what a dead end street is and what not.

Having said this; until 1700 I all had it done (with very much of good luck) by a very professional person who can enter a library and leave it with information, I would never have found.
He taught me and showed me, how easily names can differ, but, that one can collect information to be able to confirm ones assumption.

Sometimes I tried to do some research with information he already had found in the same library. I could not find it at all and most of us will feel from time to time stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I have other talents and these I could use very well and these were a good combination with the work/info by the professional. He’s a scientist about atomic energy with a great passion for genealogy and does the job in his free hours at low costs.
He told me -when he gave me the first information he had found - "most people I always have to start with bad news, that exotic stories cannot be true".

Our ancestors were just as human as we are; good and bad things, like wanting to have extra status by believing dramatic stories about their ancestors.
Hiding sensitive matters..... Well, if the woman you married with is pregnant while you met her for the first time. How to solve that problem in a VERY religious world? She's just "our child", or in more difficult cases; "our niece", or even "housekeeper". I think that Anneke van den Hove was an illegitimate child and later on got the status of "housekeeper".

I myself am getting passionate when I can find out such things as;
Profession, street they lived, illnesses, their moving from town to town, their quarrels with other family member, joining all kinds of fraternities. So many children did die in those days.
Most shocking of all?
Position of women.

My real passion about genealogy is the human interest, and that's far easier to find, like old maps of a town where they could have lived.
Big towns have books in which they show which street had which names in which period. So suddenly one can walk through a street where one's own ancestors lived or worked.
The prison where Anneke van den Hove was held still exists at the border of Brussels.
http://www.ebru.be/Streets/StrWildewoud.html

Research has always it's ups and downs.

hi all
-
why is some that look for relations are hoping they are axe murderers, or pirates, and others hope they did something like inventing something.
-
from my research on my family they all sem as far back as 1700,s worked in either the textile trade, coal mines, or engineering.
-
may be if i could get back to say the 14oo,s or 1500,s there could be something nasty, but as it cost money, and lots to get a researcher, unless i was to win the lotto, it wont happen lol.
-
im 60, nearly 61, no family as such to carry on, on my brothers side a few neices and nephews. and a niece on my sisters side.
-
, jim

Well, I'm 57 and I realize that "sensation" is always an attractive emotion for mankind. Why not.

But, of course you need a sharp balance; at least in my point of view.

I realized, that my "research" was also a painting. My own painting.

The things that intrigued me were a source of research and those I did not know more about than just their name and not even their job, were no stimulus for me for extra research and I think that to avoid this kind of behaviour is almost irrisistable.
I also include, of course, social and cultural aspect.
I was deeply shocked about the position of women through the ages and was VERY uplifted when I discovered some women in the neighbourhood of far ancestors who just went their own way and made it to the top.

And things like poverty, fires in a city, celebrations, cloths, etc
are interesting for me too when linked to ancestors.

Another research suggestion about familynames.

One can join a Google News group sometimes that's about that name.

I once joined one and it did help me.

Hi Opti,

Glad that you found something interesting in my Ephesian Matron article. Is there anything you would like to ask? I'm not an expert on the people involved, but I know a bit.

If you don't want to ask here, then feel free to e-mail me. My e-mail is

[the first word after 'David B' in my h2g2 name].[the next word]@yahoo.co.uk

I think that method of explaining my e-mail should delete any little robots crawling the web to steal addresses!

You left the @ in though which I always thought attracted the little blighters

Websailor

Well, if they want to try e-mailing [the first word after 'David B' in my h2g2 name].[the next word]@yahoo.co.uk, they're welcome to. I'm assuming nobody's weird enought to have that as their exact address!

Should have replaced the @ with AT, though. Naughty librarian!

Well, you could easily say; write to my yahoo account "misterbig".

Anyone can make the good mix. Maybe even computers