In a message dated 08/05/01 04:54:07 GMT Daylight Time, jharper@neb.rr.com writes: > Story goes, too, that as far back as anyone has the name is in Bristol in > the late 1500's. So I thought to inquire whether anyone on this list might > be familiar with that name or any of its variations, and would be able to > point me in some direction on where to look. I'm just beginning my > inquiries into my English lines, so am learning English history and > geography at a crash pace. I haven't really any clues other than > "Bristol". But there seem to be a lot of possibilities for counties in > which the name might appear, so I thought to inquire here and see what you > all would suggest for places to look. > > Jo This does seem to be a very rare name. At the GENUKI homepage there is a search engine that allows you to search extensively through the online gen. data on UK sources and researchers. In all of this there are only a few entries for PILAND and PYLAND - all in Gloucestershire as you would expect. These are all in connection with Probate Records, of 1544 and 1574, but will be of interest to you. There does not appear to be anyone listed as researching that name. Your best bet would be to subscribe to the Rootsweb List for Gloucestershire and post a message for help. That one is a very busy and helpful list so there could be some luck. There are lots of postings for the name/s on the genforum and familyhistory discussion lists, though these are mainly American used. HTH /\___/\ | o o | >(( v ))< \ _^_ / Pete Brown Groby Leicestershire Interests: BROWN - Northants FARR - Glos YARRANTON/YARRINGTON - all UK