Greg Garden wrote: > I am wondering if someone might be able to help me please. Apparently > our roots lie in the GARDYNE/ GARDIN/GARDEN family from Angus. "Apparently?" Would you like to tell us something about the evidence for this? The name GARDYNE is certainly recorded at an early date in Angus, but it does not necessarily follow that all other or later occurrences of the name are linked to the first - many names came into existence independently in more than one place, and I would guess that one that is linked to such a common thing as a garden, or such a common trade as a gardener, might well have multiple beginnings. > I am trying to find out when they actually arrived in Aberdeenshire > please. I have posted an enquiry on the Angus list but to no avail. The earliest record I can find is that of Simon GARDIN, who was entered in the Burgess Roll of Aberdeen on 7th January 1471/2. But that does not necessarily make him the first GARDIN in the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen - only the first to be recorded in that particular source. > I thought that someone on this list might be able to tell me where to > look to see when the Angus families may have migrated to the Aberdeen > area. I can't imagine any source that would tell you anything as tidy as that. The further you go back in time, the thinner the written record becomes, and what does survive is often a record of transfers of land. This will typically name the parties exchanging property, but it may not say anything about the identity or origins of the parties, or where the rest of their family were. Gavin Bell