At 05:04 PM 3/25/2010, Tony Burton wrote: >Hello List, I'm a new boy to your list researching 4th Gt >Grandparents, James Byers, b. Wamphray 1829 and Janet Bell b. >Kirklandrigg, Dalton 1829. > >While researching Janet BELL I discovered, what to me is the amazing >fact, that in the relatively short 8 year period from 1827 - 1834 >there were no less than 22 different families named BELL in >Dumfries-shire alone who all christened a daughter 'Janet'. And >this does not, of course, take account of other BELL familys who may >have christened a child by another name. Can anyone please assist >me by providing an explanation for this very large preponderance of >the surname BELL in this area? Best wishes to all, Tony. > Tony, I think we all discover that the surnames we are searching in the records are more common than we ever thought. I have Dobies coming out of the woodwork in Dumfries and despair of ever sorting them out. If you want even more Byers and Bell info, both with connections to my Dobie family, please see this page on my genealogy website: <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cdobie/g-gracie.htm> Cheers, Charles Dobie