Potentially of interest to ELKINGTON researchers who have Oxfordshire roots - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) has started a new Oxfordshire surnames research project, examining surnames recorded in Oxfordshire parish registers from 1538 onwards, currently estimated at up to 20,000 key variants. The team is also using many other early recorded sources to build a comprehensive database of Oxfordshire surnames. The aim is to trace their whereabouts in different parishes over time, their origins, hotspots, DNA connections and many other facets of Oxfordshire surnames. The project will take about 2 years to complete. The project team is appealing for help from those who have a good recorded family history in Oxfordshire or who manage a one-name study. They are welcome to contact the team with a brief description and their contact details, so that when their surname is analysed they may be able to participate in submitting content for that name. All significant contributors will be acknowledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ELKINGTON is a well-established Oxfordshire name, first occurring in the OFHS baptism index in Cropredy in 1541. I'd like to encourage members of the ELKINGTON mailing list to be involved with this project - # At this stage the team want just a interest in being involved - so please send your contact details, name of interest, and place(s) in Oxfordshire where you have records of the name's occurrence, to the team leader Sue Honore via surname-project@ofhs.org.uk # Later, you will be asked for more detail, tied to place - so wills, and newspaper records, for instance - or, for instance, gamekeeper licences - would all be of interest. # It is anticipated that the analysis will be published as a book, with a page or so on the occurrence and detail of each name, and lots of maps, and with some information also made available on the OFHS website, in the members' section. Do join the project! Wendy