Greetings all Blaxall searchers I've just subscribed and run through the archive. I note an early email commenting on the use of Blaxall or similar as a forename. My grandfather, named above, had Blascell as his second forename and solely out of curiosity I've been attempting find out both the origin of the name (now I know that - thanks all) and for what reason he would have acquired the name. In various documents the name is also spelt Blascell and a cousin in Australia believes that John B spelt it as Blackcell. So info I know: John Blaxcell Tonkin was born in Sheerness Kent in 1872 the son of Richard John Tonkin and Caroline Louisa Rye. Her father was William Rye and they came from Southampton. The Tonkins almost certainly originated from Cornwall around Redruth/St Austell. John B went to Australia some time between 1881 and 1891 where he lived all his life. So far as I know there is no link to Suffolk. The only deduction I've made is that it was the family name of a spouse. Why? His brother Charles had the second forename Rance which was the family name of his maternal grandmother, so its likely that he was named Blaxcell for similar reasons. If anybody out there can contribute any clues, I'll be most grateful Keith Atkins