I have read this thread with interest, one of the first things which drew me in to an interest in family history was a small family tree recorded by my mother in my Baby book, a record she had made at the time of my birth. It included my paternal Great grandfather one Squire King LOWND(E)S and as a child I was sure that there would be a interesting story to go along with his name, involving a grand house, money etc, especially as the name had been passed on through the family and my father, brother and subsequently nephew all carried the middle name of SQUIRE. A couple of decades later when I had the time and opportunity to begin my research in earnest I discovered initially to my disappointment that Squire King Lownds was most definately not a "gentleman" but a bare knuckle fighter and his history all the more fascinating. His name was not a fabrication however, KING proved to be his mother's maiden name and Squire was a name from his Irish grandmother and handed on through the generations. My father on a recent visit to Ireland found that Squire was a common name on shopfronts throughout Ireland. So although the name Squire attracted my attention for all the wrong "romantic" reasons, I'm actually much more delighted now that he turned out to be bit of a rogue and altogether unconventional. I suppose the moral is to never assume the easy answer but research all the facts. Regards Beverley Richards -- beverley richards [email protected]