On 21 Feb 2010 at 12:04, LiverpoolLady wrote: > This is a complaint! and as nothing was done about it the other times > I am sending to the list. Roy Stockdill you are a very arrogant, > bullying individual indeed. Lesley > Oh dear - some people are rather over-touchy and seem unable to take a joke! As I pointed out, you yourself confessed that your question was somewhat badly phrased in your initial message. You also seem to have ignored the very good advice I gave you about where to find information about the origins of surnames, i.e. at the spatial literacy website and the Surnames Atlas CD. I also gave a general warning to listers not to have anything to do with those "bucket shop genealogy" outfits who try and sell you a so-called "family coat of arms" and the alleged history of your surname. I suspect others will see you as being a little over sensitive, dear, especially if you are unable to accept advice from a professional. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

Good morning list For new researchers finding their way:- I have to agree with Roy's warning to be careful about those <<snip>>"shop genealogy" outfits who try and sell you a so-called "family coat of arms" and the alleged history of your surname<<unsnip>>. I walked into one many, many years ago in a shopping centre just to see what they had. The information they had for me was nowhere near the mark. One should stick to the FHS centres/libraries etc. where the people (fair dinkum volunteers :) ) are interested only in helping us find the correct information. Kind regards Ann Spiro Perth, Western Australia research@sbse.net.au http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blacksmiths/ Surname BASKETT is registered with GOONS http://www.one-name.org/ Rootsweb surname list for NUTTY.

On 22 Feb 2010 at 11:21, SBS Engineers Genealogy wrote: > Good morning list > > For new researchers finding their way:- I have to agree with Roy's > warning to be careful about those <<snip>>"shop genealogy" outfits who > try and sell you a so-called "family coat of arms" and the alleged > history of your surname<<unsnip>>. I walked into one many, many years > ago in a shopping centre just to see what they had. The information > they had for me was nowhere near the mark. One should stick to the > FHS centres/libraries etc. where the people (fair dinkum volunteers :) > ) are interested only in helping us find the correct information. > Thank you for that. I found one very large website - no names, no pack drill but it's based in Canada - that purported to have my Stockdill coat of arms. I checked with the College of Arms and, though there are several arms for StockDALE, the much more common version of my name, there has never been one for anyone called Stockdill (and I wouldn't qualify by claiming my name is a variant of the main root surname). I also found they had linked my name with others beginning with "Stock" etc, and claimed it was the same name as Stokesley. I pointed out to them via e-mail that while the first element of the names was the same, i.e. "stoc" deriving from the Old Norse for a tree stump, the second elements "lea" and "dale" (or dael) are clearly quite different, lea meaning a clearing or meadow and dale meaning a valley. To be fair, they changed their surname meaning after several exchanges and accepted my word. For the benefit of newcomers here who may be tempted to fall for the whiles of these people and think they are buying their "family coat of arms", perhaps I could spell out the pitfalls? There is NO such thing as a family coat of arms, nor is there a coat of arms for a particular surname. With a few exceptions, a coat of arms is issued only to an individual and his heirs in the direct male line and they have to make what are called "differences". Sometimes females can also use it. This is a very brief, potted explanation and I do not claim to be an expert on heraldry, so no doubt someone who is an expert will be able to expand on this. However, just because there is in existence a genuine coat of arms for someone of your surname it doesn't mean you are allowed to use it! Indeed, if you used it illegally for the purposes of what is known to the law as "obtaining a pecuniary advantage", i.e. getting a loan or mortgage, you could be committing a criminal offence. So let's be careful out there ! -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE