Posting my interest. I am studying the history and migration of the PORTEOUS and PORTEUS families (as well as other variant spellings, such as PORTAS, PORTESS, PORTIS, PORTICE, PORTUS - amongst many others). I'm researching the history and spread of the above names ­ especially the migration of members of any branches of this formerly small Borders family from southern Scotland - initially to England and Ireland, then to the US and Canada - and later to the former British colonies of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa (from the 17th through to the early 20th centuries), and the main original areas of settlement (cities, provinces and states). County Durham and North Yorkshire are known to have contained clusters of PORTEOUS families from the eighteenth century onwards. Any confirmed information regarding dates of emigration or arrival and places of origin and settlement would be appreciated. Bruce PORTEOUS Porteous Research Project Norfolk, England porteousresearch@mail.com http://porteous.digitalrice.com/