Hi, Caroline -- The trick to genealogy is to try and collect all the documents and information you can on your people in the KNOWN places they lived. Each item you find will supply a missing clue. Occasionally you need to ask the help of a historical society in the area in question in return for a donation to their society to get a "jump start." I have done this with amazing results. One of the best resources can be living members of your families - oral histories, notations on backs of snapshots in albums, old letters, newspaper clippings. Contact some of those relatives you haven't been in touch with for years for their input. Surname books (Irish and otherwise) in your local genealogy library will provide history behind a name, variations, and distribution in a country. Some surnames are particular to one or two areas. Some surnames found in Ireland can be traced back to a particular area or town in England, Scotland etc., in the case of families "planted" in Ireland. ****May not apply to your case, but in Ireland the given name Owen and Eugene are often interchangeable. Some given names in Ireland are found in particular counties or provinces. Some common given names even have slight spelling differences that place then in particular counties or provinces. Given names tended to be repeated generation after generation. Often the first son and daughter carried the given names of paternal grandparents, the second son and daughter the maternal grandparents. An unusual first or middle name in a family may be an important surname in a family - i.e. mother's maiden name, etc. I have also read that the given name William was so popular that it may not have been one carried from an earlier generation. While the title and author escapes me, I am aware of a genealogical library surname book that lists Gaelic surnames and the "anglicized" versions many were forced to adopt in Ireland. While most families complied, others did not. The book I am thinking about lists Gaelic surnames and their anglicized form/s and how they most commonly appeared both in Ireland, but also in England. Anglicized surnames may have been so radically changed that you would not recognize the two as having a common history. (The book may have been by author McLysaght, an Irish surname expert). Finally, even surname experts occasionally disagree on origins of surnames. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Mannix" <caroline.mannix@ntlworld.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 4:52 AM Subject: [IGW] Missing MANNIX! You wrote: I am at a total dead end at the moment. I am looking for my father in laws father OWEN MANNIX. He is named on my fil's birth certificate which also states that he was married to his mother (I know that they weren't). I have been to FRC and can find no trace of Owen at all. No births after 1900 and no marriages to anyone, in fact no OWEN Mannix's anywhere! > Would SKS be able to look at some Irish records for me to establish whether an Owen Mannix existed at all as I am starting to wonder whether it was a false name. > I have been told that he was already married when he became involved with my fil's mother (London 1926) and an email I read yesterday was talking about some men that moved away from their families, changed their names and started afresh in another town. I wonder if this could be the case. > I hope that this all makes sense. If anyone can find Owen that would be marvellous, if not if anyone knows of someone that just upped and disappeared in the 1920's then you never know! > TIA > Regards > Caroline > Researching: > ALDRIDGE, ROSE, JEWSON, WATERS, WORSFOLD, BOXALL, CHEESEMAN, UZZELL - Surrey > MANNIX - London/Ireland? > FIELD - Herts/London? > RANDALL - London/Wiltshire? > LAST - Essex/London > ALLAM - Herts/Surrey > WILLDER - Kent