On 22 Feb 2010 at 20:02, carole williams wrote: > > Hi Listers > > I'd like to recommend "Family Names and Family History" by David Hey, > for an excellent exposition on various writers, theories and > methodologies used to identify the source of names, usually 13th > century. > > Amazon has some used copies at very affordable prices. > > Best wishes Carole > No disrespect to David Hey, who is good, but in my humble opinion George Redmonds leaves him well behind when it comes to the theory and study of surnames. I especially recommend George's book "Surnames and Genealogy: A New Approach", though it may now be out of print. If you can find a copy in a library, borrow it and read from cover to cover! I have chaired George Redmonds' lectures a couple of times and he is a superb speaker as well. As I explained in a previous message, he holds the view that each and every surname belonging to each and every individual is unique in itself and that the surname dictionaries are too simplistic in their approach, often being based purely on etymology and plain guesswork. George believes you can only explain a surname by tracing it back to the original holder in written records - which very few of us can do. -- 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

Hello Roy Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look at that book and see if I too find his work superior to David Hey's, who is Emeritus (retired) Professor of Local and Family History, University of Sheffield. I attended a couple of David's lectures a few years ago and found him an excellent and knowledgeable speaker, with a highly accessible style. He seems to hold a similar approach to George Redmonds, as in the particular book (2000) of his that I recommended (which is not a dictionary), he recommends a multidisciplinary approach. He critically reviews a wide variety of philologists' methodologies and recommends that these should be considered alongside the work of family historians. He praises the work of George Redmonds especially the 1997 book you recommend, making many citations to it. The exact derivations and suggested etymologies of individual surnames are still mysterious and hypothetical in the vast majority of cases and/or lost in the annals of time, but we'll never know what we'll find on our quest to dicover if 'ours' are there to be found - an absolutely fascinating hobby isn't it.... I now look forward to some more fascinating winter nights of reading with this new book, thanks. Best wishes Carole > From: roy.stockdill@btinternet.com > To: isle-of-wight@rootsweb.com > Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:12:58 +0000 > Subject: Re: [IoW] SURNAME ATLAS > > On 22 Feb 2010 at 20:02, carole williams wrote: > >> >> Hi Listers >> >> I'd like to recommend "Family Names and Family History" by David Hey, >> for an excellent exposition on various writers, theories and >> methodologies used to identify the source of names, usually 13th >> century. >> >> Amazon has some used copies at very affordable prices. >> >> Best wishes Carole> > > No disrespect to David Hey, who is good, but in my humble opinion George > Redmonds leaves him well behind when it comes to the theory and study of > surnames. > > I especially recommend George's book "Surnames and Genealogy: A New Approach", > though it may now be out of print. If you can find a copy in a library, borrow it and read > from cover to cover! I have chaired George Redmonds' lectures a couple of times and > he is a superb speaker as well. > > As I explained in a previous message, he holds the view that each and every surname > belonging to each and every individual is unique in itself and that the surname > dictionaries are too simplistic in their approach, often being based purely on etymology > and plain guesswork. George believes you can only explain a surname by tracing it > back to the original holder in written records - which very few of us can do. > > -- > 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 > > > > ************************************** > You can contact the Isle of Wight List Administrator by emailing: > Isle-of-Wight-Admin@rootsweb.com > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ISLE-OF-WIGHT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ Tell us your greatest, weirdest and funniest Hotmail stories http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/195013117/direct/01/