I wanted to add that I went to the launch of Pembroke People in his house somewhere towards Paddington, as I recall. This was a huge amount of effort to produce, and has been useful to me down the years and will stand as a fitting epitaph to his research. ----- I don't think I have seen it posted anywhere else yet, but John and Sheila Rowlands revised 2nd Edition book on The Surnames of Wales has just been published. It is a real gem, and for example has a wonderful map showing how the use of patronymics dropped out across Wales from 1600 to 1850 in fifty year contour lines, based on a huge survey of wills from the NLW. Of course, chock full of useful ideas based on a lifetime of research in this field. http://www.gomer.co.uk/index.php/books-for-adults/history-and-culture/the-su rnames-of-wales.html John Rowlands will be speaking at WDYTYA 2014 on Thursday 20th February at 4.15-5.00 pm on: The perpetual incognito of being a Jones': overcoming problems with surnames in Wales The website has a pop-up box which describes what he will be discussing in more detail. http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com/workshop-schedule Beryl Evans from the NLW is speaking on The Welsh Experience of World War One, 1914-1918, from 10.15-11.00 am on the Friday, 21st February. And on Tracing Your Welsh Ancestors on Saturday 22nd February And as a personal plug, I have the graveyard slot on the Saturday from 16.45 to 17.30 on DNA and Welsh Family History. That of course, is the one criticism I would level at the Rowlands book, there is no mention of DNA in it at all. I am sure this is deliberate, as I know they have an interest in the De Cantington or Canton families from Pembrokeshire and run a DNA Project on them. However DNA will revolutionise the study of all surnames. At least two companies, Full Genomes and FTDNA, are now offering DNA sequencing of a big chunk of the Y-Chromosome [up to 1/3 of it, maybe, but certainly the section of most interest to folk doing family history]. There are figures of one single base change happening on the Y-chromosome every 2-3 generations at this degree of resolution. If those locations can be mapped with a high degree of precision, then this starts to change everything. Again this need for precision comes from the need to identify correctly all the differences which can occur in complex multi-genetic human disease. This is called Next-Generation sequencing, and will revolutionise healthcare as well as this field. David Cameron has announced recently Britain's NHS involvement in a 100,000 genomes project over the next few years and this is the same technology which is making recovery of Ancient DNA becoming more feasible. Much of this will also be showcased at WDYTYA. So how you link paper reconstruction of your ancestral trails to the DNA revolution will continue to develop intensely over the next few years. The Irish are well down this road, partly as so many of them went to America and partly because of the well-known destruction of so many paper-based records. The grandchildren arrive today, so as us older members can remember when the TV transmitters used to break down occasionally: Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible Brian -----Original Message----- From: dyfed-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:dyfed-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Joy Sent: 17 December 2013 15:04 To: dyfed@rootsweb.com Subject: [Dyfed] Richard Rose I am sure that those members of this list who have read "Pembroke People" will be sad to learn of the sad death its author - Richard Rose - on Monday 16th December. Although not a Pembrokeshire man himself he became fascinated by the partly encrypted diary of Matthew Campbell, Customs Officer of Pembroke, which he had found on a London antiques market stall. Over a number of years he worked on compiling a vast amount of information on the people who lived Pembroke and Pembroke Dock between 1800 and 1837 which most of us have found invaluable in our researches. Even with a computer, sorting all the information collected from such extensive sources was a mammoth task entailing many visits to Pembrokeshire, as well as the Carmarthenshire RO, the NLW and many other archive collections, from his home in London. His contribution to the history of Pembrokeshire will remain as a standard work and he will always be remembered as a scholar and a gentleman. With fond remembrance Joy