Hello all. One of the stories my wifes paternal grandmother told was of a connection to Norway by way of a marriage. Nothing in my research until recently had revealed any such thing.I am back to the late 1700's. Then yesterday i had a stroke of luck on FreeBMD .One of grandma's sisters born 1879 in Sunderland who i had previosly found in 1881 and 1901 was on their list.Instead of just Fanny W Swain it had her full title of Fanny Wigdahl Swain. Now is this the hint of a connection? Some research has suggested that the name is at least of Scandinavian origin. So here is the family verbal history. Some one in the family either of COWLEY or SWAIN parentage,possibly, and a male some how got "ensnared" by the daughter of a Norwegian "priest " who was engaged within the temperance movement. The father ,allegedly came over with the Norwegian fishing fleets fishing fleets. We had always thought that the name Swain might have come from Swainson or Svenson but that does not appear to be true. Fanny's sister,grandma, was called Mary Cowley Swain so some evidence of previous family names used as christian names. Father to the girls is a Brady Swain and mother Jemima nee Cowley. I have found her father George an Iron Founder on the 1881 census and also his marriage on FreeBMD. He seems to have married a Mary Turnbull in 1846. Can anyone shed any light on any of the above ? Does any one have any knowledge of when the temperance movement was in full swing? Any one any connection to the above? Loads of questions ,hope to get some answers!!! Colin Notman