OK, I gotta ask. Just how does Hugh d'Avranches actually tie into the surname RICHARDSON? Way back no one had a surname. In many places around the world some form of "son" was tacked onto the end of the paternal name to indicate just who the father was within the village. [ Sorry I can't remember the tag for the girl children off the top of my head this morning. ] So, if you have a Richard in....Oxford [ for example] and he had a son named David he would have been called David Richardson, or David, son of Richard. Now another Richard in London might have a son named Ben. He would have been Ben Richardson, Ben, son of Richard. Neither of these people might be related in any way but when "sirname"'s [ sire names] became standard in everyday life they would have shared the same surname. Quite often surnames were taken from the work they did. Smith could have been a blacksmith. Wright might have been a wheel wright. Other surnames were taken from the area in which they lived. There is some peculation that at least some part of the Hadley line took it's name from Hadleigh in England. In some cases Walsh means "one from Wales" but that doesn't explain the variations that came from Germany. (o;]>*HUGGLES*<[:o) Billie Walsh The three best words in the English Language: "I LOVE YOU" Pass them on!