Dear Gail, Good to hear from someone "down under." I note that your Templetons are from Scotland. My understanding is that Templeton started in Scotland, then went to Ireland, England, and other places due to persecution. Here's what I picked up about the name out on the web somewhere. Templeton is a Scottish place name from Templeton near Dundonald in the former county Ayreshire, now part of Strathclyde. It was so-named for Middle English "temple" (meaning house of the Knights Templar) and "toun" (meaning "settlement"). There are also places named Templeton in Wales and other locations, but they likely derived their names from someone with the surname, rather than the other way around. Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry notes the following on the name "Templar:" A member of the order called Templars, Knights Templar, Knights of the Temple, etc. It was founded in 1118 or 1119 by nine Christian knights, the original object of the organization being to maintain free passage for the pilgrims visiting the Holy Land. Baldwin II King of Jerusalem gave them part of his palace, and they kept their arms in the Temple, hence their name of Templars. -- Harold Templeton Hoffman Estates, IL cfp@iwc.net CT: Barnes, Geer, Horsford, Lamb, Merritt, Richardson. KY: Shields. MA: Lamb, Merritt. NH: Lindsay, Morse, Templeton. NJ: Beam, Riker. NY: Austin, Blakeney, Gardinier, Mayo, Shields, Van Woert. VT: Davis, Geer, Johnson, Mayo, Templeton. Canada: Bonett, Elsey, Mayo. Rod & Gail wrote: > > Hi everyone > I will be adding som Scottish-Australian Templetons soon.hope i get a connection > gail at Wagga > Australia > Good searching