I hope people do not assume that all Masseys were/are descended from dear old Hamon. A little thought will show that this is most unlikely: there are several possible sources of the name, and more than one could be correct. Unless he was the first to bear the surname, or was the only son of the first person to bear it, there could be others who crossed the channel/Atlantic at other times. See my web page for more detail: http://www.geocities.com/donaldmasseyuk/masseymore.html Donald Massey ----- Original Message ----- > If it's in the province of Savoy, it has at one time been French. Ouch! > > Actually, I understand that Hamon de Mascy came from northwestern France, > that is Normandy, which is quite a distance from Savoy.
Donald Massey wrote: >> I hope people do not assume that all Masseys were/are descended from dear old Hamon<< Bill Massey of TN had written: > > Actually, I understand that Hamon de Mascy came from northwestern France, that is Normandy ... < < I agree with you that the partrilineal line of many contemporary Masseys is not from Hamon nor even from co Chester. Bill is a very distant cousin of mine (something like 8th) and we do have an account done by a reputable medieval scholar showing a resonable account of our lineage going to back to the first Hamon in England. I ackowledge that the chain could be invalidated at any number of points between us and Hamon. BUT, the other consideration is that there is a very high probability that all Caucasians and maybe everyone are at least 15th cousins and very likely ALL of us are descended from the first Hamon - even more certain is that we're all descended from William the Conqueror - doesn't matter whether we can trace it or not. I can trace my wife to William the Conquoror, but not myself, but I'm rather certain he is an (undocumented) ancestor of mine also.. Whether I have any genes belonging to either William or Hamon is a totally different proposition! Best regards to all, Theron Smith (I almost signed as Theron Massey - my grandmother was a Massey.)