Hi, everyone -- This is in response to Valerie <tomlinsn@intertech.net.au> who posted on 3 March about the VAN HANSEL surname, seeking possible links between Belgium/Germany and the presence of this surname in Manningtree, Essex, ENG in 1710. Valerie (and anyone else researching in Essex), there was a French Protestant Church at Colchester in Essex. I am not sure where Colchester is in relation to Manningtree but this might be a good place to start looking for any VAN HANSELs. The Huguenot Society of London has transcribed, indexed, and published these records in Volume 12 of their Quarto Series -- ie. Register of the Dutch Church at Colchester. This volume has also been filmed by LDS and is on # 0962135. Since all the French Protestant Church records which have been published by the Hug. Society have also been entered into the IGI (International Genealogical Index), it would be a good idea to check there to see what comes up. The IGI is accessible on the LDS website at www.familysearch.org. Once on the site, click on Search for Ancestors. Another idea -- have you tried a search of the parishes immediately adjoining Manningtree? The section for Essex on the GENUKI site (which is Genealogy in the UK and Ireland at www.genuki.org.uk) should provide you with parish maps and an idea of which parishes to search next. You might also try joining an Essex mailing list and posting a query on there. Information on Other Mailing Lists is on our list website at http://www.island.net/~andreav/index.html in the Beyond the Basics section. And if anyone wants to learn more about the Hug. Soc. of London Quarto Series, that's also on our list website in the Beyond the Basics section. Look for the heading Organizations & Addresses then choose British Isles information. Lastly, don't forget to try some search engines to see if any clues turn up through that route. Look for the heading Search Engines in the Beyond the Basics section of the list website. Sorry I can't help with Belgian or German origins of this name. Perhaps others on the list have information for these locations. Hope these comments have helped. Andrea