To add insult to injury here - on researching the NZ Death Indexes at the Registrar General's Office - all Mc and Mac names are spelled Mac e.g. McKay would appear as Mackay. I would have thought in the 1990's we would have paid more attention to detail. Mary-Ann Farr Jimfowler3@aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 31/03/2001 20:34:48 GMT Daylight Time, robinvb@home.com > writes: > > << The last name in question is Jestings, at first we thought > the name was from Scotland but I am quite sure that it is not. While > searching the IGI the name Jestings come's up only 6 time's, but on the same > page of the IGI there are other name's that are quite similar but may have > some small spelling differences ie: Jestyn, Jesting, Gestin etc. There are > at least 30 variations to choose from, how does one go about finding the > original spelling. >> > > I have a similar situation in my direct family line of FOWLER which has at > least ten variations through the line both in spelling and pronounciation. As > most of the early records of any name will be phonetic attempts at best - > never forget that Shakespeare spelled his own name at least three different > ways and Robert Burns' father was William Burnes - there will be no correct > version as such only the version that any given clerk or minister chose to > use on any given day. It can be well into the nineteenth century , with the > increase in general literacy and education, before some spellings of surnames > settle down into what we might call the accepted or received version. The > simple answer I suppose would be to say that the earliest version you can > find is the original version and everything after that is a variation. > > I enjoy the challenge and the variety. This family history game wouldn't be > as much fun if our ancestors had all played by our rules. > > A' the best to you and yours > > Jim Fowler Gateshead UK > > http://members.aol.com/chieflymurder > > ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== > You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB

Hello Mary-Ann, I don't find any problem with either Mac or Mc, as Mc is nothing more (or less) than an abbreviation for Mac. In the days of quill pens dipped in ink, abbreviations were the norm - as in Rbt for Robert; this does not mean that Rbt is the 'correct' spelling for Robert. The same logic applies to Mac and Mc. In this day and age, there is less pressure to use abbreviations and the Registrar-General's office is simply using the full form. Lyndall Canberra ----- Original Message ----- To add insult to injury here - on researching the NZ Death Indexes at the Registrar General's Office - all Mc and Mac names are spelled Mac e.g. McKay would appear as Mackay. I would have thought in the 1990's we would have paid more attention to detail. Mary-Ann Farr Jimfowler3@aol.com wrote: