Dear Willie, Although I do not have info on the Sabiston family you were inquiring about, there were many in the Sabiston family who went from Orkney to the Great Lakes area bordering US and Canada. In fact the James Groat below, was likely one of those Orcadian men. The often worked the Great Lakes during the summer and wintered in OK. Of the list of people I would like the passport pictures of the following two, if you have them. John Mainland was my Gr-grandmother's first cousin. I am thinking that the passport pix may help me identify some of the untitled photos I have. I believe that the James Goat is part of my Barbara Groats family, with the R possibly standing for ROSIE? 1. Match quality: 1 out of 5 John Mainland 4 Jul 1874 Orkney, Scotland 24 Feb 1921 La Porte, Indiana 2. Match quality: 1 out of 5 James T R Groat 28 Aug 1880 Orkney Isles, Scotland 13 Apr 1920 Chicago, Illinois View Record Thanks, Marilyn **************New year...new news. Be the first to know what is making headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)

I don't know what research has been done into the origins of the Sabiston surname but I once heard it said that it possibly originated from a survivor of the Spanish Armada named Sebastian whose ship was wrecked in Orkney. Just how much credence you'd care to place on this theory is up to you :-) -- Happy New Year Mike Clouston

Mike Clouston wrote: > I don't know what research has been done into the origins of the > Sabiston surname but I once heard it said that it possibly originated > from a survivor of the Spanish Armada named Sebastian whose ship was > wrecked in Orkney. > > Just how much credence you'd care to place on this theory is up to you :-) > In "The Surnames of Scotland" by George F. Black there is this: "SABISTON: From the udal land of Sabistane in the parish of Birsay, Orkney. Henry Sabistane was retoured heir of Robert Sabistane in part of the lands, 1662 (Retours, Orkney, 94). John Sabiston, a Scots piper in New York, 1935." In "Orkney Family Names", Gregor Lamb says: "Sabiston: Andrew Sabiston, servant, Housegarth, Sandiwck, 1611, pronounced 'Sabbeeston' by older people but more generally 'Saybeeston' today; from the tunship of Sabiston in Birsay; the Sabistons are almost certainly a branch of the Rowlands of Sandwick; Sabiston is also written Sabister and Shabister in old records, alternative forms of the tunship name; a common family name scattered lightly throughout Orkney; Birsay and Kirkwall account for half the Sabiston families; this family name is recorded in USA and in Australia where it has been corrupted to the written form 'Sebastian'." The "-ton" suffix certainly looks pretty much like the common ending of many tunship place-names. Interesting that Lamb suggests that the name Sabiston became Sebastian after it travelled to Australia rather than the other way round, with Sebastian having been corrupted to Sabiston within Orkney! The influence of the Armada is said to be evident in Westray. Charles Tait in his Orkney Guidebook says that in 1588 "one small boatload of survivors from a ship of the Spanish Armada is said to have reached Pierowall [on Westray]. Their ship, which had lost its rudder and mainmast in a storm, sank in the Dennis Röst off North Ronaldsay, "The Dons, as they were called, settled along the North Shore and married local girls, taking Orkney surnames. The mixture of Norse and Spanish blood seems to have produced very good seamen and some of the traits — dark hair and eyes and a quick wit — can still be seen in Westray people today." Again, though, that could be just a myth! Norman T.