I am wondering if these two names were once the same and how common they were around Romsey at the start of the 1800s. We have Thomas Russen who also seems to have been spelt Rufsen, Rufsell and Russell. Can anyone enlighten me as I am getting quite twixt muck. Thanks Pat We are here to change the world with small acts of thoughtfulness done daily rather than with one great breakthrough - Rabbi Harold Kushner Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Hi Pat Given the long s of the day which looks like an f to the modern eye (the first s of a pair was often written f and always was till perhaps 1750) you only have two names - Russell is the same name as Rufsell, and Russen the same as Rufsen. I meet this a lot with my gg grandmother and her sisters - maiden name Bossingham - comes up often appearing to be Bofsingham. It isn't - the people of the day knew quite well it was Bossingham. The long s is in fact a little different to an f when you examine it carefully... Dawn (Melbourne Australia) We have Thomas Russen who also seems to have been spelt Rufsen, Rufsell and Russell. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4913 (20100303) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com