RootsChat.Com
Some Special Interests => One Name Studies => Topic started by: joboy on Friday 15 April 05 01:56 BST (UK)
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The following is taken from a posting in this morning's soc.genealogy.britain newsgroup.
"What you may not be aware of is that the GOONS site does not list all
surnames that have been registered by a researcher that is no longer
subscribing to GOONS.
Sadly this in this sort of situation GOONS has seen fit not to be seen
to be helping other researchers by listing on line all surnames that
have been registered.
IMHO maybe it is time for a site that lists all surnames that have been
registered with GOONS that they no longer list due to no subscription or
maybe it is time GOONS lowered their subscription so that it is more
affordable to subscribe and research at the same time especially for
those that are international researchers and not based in England.
Yes I am one of those that registered a surname that is no longer listed
due to the fact that I felt it was better to spend my money of research
than spend it on the subscription.
Happy Ancestor hunting.
David."
I must confess that I tend very much to agree with the writer's sentiments
joboy
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Joboy,
thanks for that info,as a reconnaisance minded person,I've spent a long time sussing things jeanie logical out,not at all impressed with the minions of authority charged with +paid for,record keeping.
On the other hand not too pleased with ancestors who are prone to obfuscation!!
Were it not for this, and other similar open handed sites,and the people who freely and cheerfully provide info and support, my poor efforts would have withered on the vine!
Cheers,Goggy
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While I can empathise with the views expressed I do so with some caution.
Creating and maintaining a web site no matter how small can be costly and unless you have a dedicated band willing to give freely of time and resources you then have no option but to levy some kind of charge.
In the beginnings of many organisations/groups the willingness is there but as time progresses and people move on/ interests expand the volunteer aspect often disappears (practical experience :( )
While the first writer calls for a site listing names no longer listed with GOONS who would maintain that site and pay for its upkeep ? .... Unfortunately it is a sad world we live in and very few people are willing to go that extra step to help someone else.
(I of course exclude all rootschatters from that ;D )
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But if they continued to list the names, and there would be no one to contact, the lister having withdrawn, it may well encourage others interested in the name to join and subscribe in an effort to contact the 'old' member assuming they are still around.
My twopenn'orth.
Ray
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... and as I have recently found out, the person who was doing a One Name Study that I was interested in, has departed this world ::) :( ... how sad that nobody has "taken over" this wonderful job. All his wonderful work gone to pot.
I feel that it's now up to me to do it but I don't have access to that deceased person's (valuable) information. I'm starting from scratch, literally, and what astonishes me is the number of people that I contact with THAT particular surname ... some are helpful but most are NOT INTERESTED ... !!!!!!!!!!, thinking that I have an ulterior motive. :o :o :o ::) ::) I rest my case !!!
CP
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Possibly an answer might be to try to persuade the SOG to separately list all those names which have been deregistered as being deregistered and now available for reregistration by the first appropriate applicant on payment of the usual fee. This would I think solve the problem.
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I am not a member of the Guild of One Name Studies preferring to muddle through on my own.
The names TUTCHIN;TUTCHINand similar have been a concentration for several years as they do crop up at different periods in my family history.
redroger provided me with a link http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/ which opened my eyes with the following result;
Checking the 1881 census there were only 5 families comprising a total of 22 individuals with the name 'TUTCHINGS' and four of which the 'Heads' were born in Yeovil Somerset and the 5th in Petherton Somerset which places are only seven miles apart.
There were no TUTCHIN or TUTCHEN families at all in the 1881 census.
I thought that I would add this to perhaps stimulate more interest in the disappearance of family names ......... from what I see the names may have died out but the lines lived on with new surnames which have arisen because of better understanding of spelling and pronunciation due to better education.
In my one name study I have recorded the following Tutchin and variations;
1586 to 1901 there are 1767 in Somerset
1547 to 1759 there are 422 in Bucks
1557 to 1751 there are 395 in Devon
and after the end dates shown above the names slowly changed within the various families which I find fascinating and worthy of more research.
Joe
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I've got to say, I came across this thread and thought the comment from the soc.genealogy.britain group sounded slightly disingenuous. People will cease to subscribe to the G.O.O.N.S. for a variety of reasons, not all of them because they have decided to go it alone or become dissatisified with the Guild. People may also have competing family or job commitments, suffer ill health, lose interest ...or die. A lot of the one-name-studies no longer listed may no longer exist.
G.O.O.N.S. members are encouraged to make provision for the eventuality they can no longer continue their study. Some of them do, some of them evidently don't. Unfortunately that may mean that many years of information and research is lying gathering dust. I've seen reports of some members depositing their research with the S.O.G., but some whose deaths have been recently announced, well, let's hope someone, somewhere, takes over the passion.
I'm not a spokesperson for GOONS. In fact I hesitated in joining for a long time. I eventually joined because I found their resources, tailored for my specific type of study, extremely useful. In comparison with the time and expense involved with genealogy the £15 subscription is quite bearable.
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If it has not already been asked I pose the question "How would the GOONs respond to a question whether a specific surname had in fact been registered with them at any time?"
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If it has not already been asked I pose the question "How would the GOONs respond to a question whether a specific surname had in fact been registered with them at any time?"
The easiest way to find an answer to that is to contact the Guild. Through the contact address on their website. ( reading the website content does not, unfortunately, provide an answer )
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Will try that Falkryn, and report the outcome (if any)
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You will also note that on the Guild's website they announce:
'Currently, over 2,400 people have registered over 7,900 study surnames with us '
When someone joins the Guild they are allocated a unique member number (you will see mine is 5000, I joined in 2008) and these are not reallocated after someone leaves. The last person to register in 2010 was given number 5577.
That would suggest to me approximately 3,200 members have lapsed for one reason or another, over the last 32 years.
I don't think I've given away any great secrets by telling you this ;D
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So, ultimately, the real question that needs to be asked is
'What happened to these 3,200 one-name studies?'
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True, will attempt to contact the guild tomorrow, and as promised advice the outcome to this thread
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The Guild did a survey last year to look at membership retention. People who have been with the Guild for a long time tend to stay, though there is inevitably a churn rate through sickness and death. Almost 25% of the members who originally joined in 1979 are still with the Guild today.
One of the problems that the survey highlighted was that members were unaware of all the services we offer, and those who didn't use the many services were the ones most likely to leave. Measures are now in hand to remedy this, but one of the important services that so many members were seemingly unaware of is the facility to archive one-name study material with the Guild. The material has to be available in digital format though exceptions are sometimes made for long-standing members where no other home can be found.
There are some one-name studies that are archived with the Guild. These are known as librarian studies. If you search for one of these surnames in the online register you will get a message to say that the Guild Librarian has some material on the surname. Try searching for the surname Heppenstall as an example. The Librarian studies are also listed on the back page of the current edition of the printed register which is sent out to all members. There only appear to be a couple of hundred Librarian studies and it is a great pity that the work of so many former members has been lost, though I imagine some studies have been deposited at the SOG instead, especially in the yearly years before the digital archiving option became available.
If a surname does not show up as a Librarian study, the Registrar will be able to tell you whether or not a surname has been registered previously and he would also be able to supply the contact details of the previous registrant. You can write to the registrar at: registrar {--at--} one-name.org.
Moderator Comment: e-mail edited, to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please replace {--at--} with @
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My back-of-a-postcard calculation of the lapsed membership figure is wrong, it will be lower because there are a significant number of Guild members who have not registered a surname with the Guild. I understand this may be for a variety of practical reasons.
But thanks for responding to this thread, Debbie.
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Nothing to report I fear, my surname is not registered and does not appear to have been previously. I have however bookmarked the page as there are other interesting sites regarding surnames mentioned in the links.