Your First Smith?

[Rebecca Steele]

Reading this I was thinking 'don't think I've got any' then checked my family tree and realised I've got 2

First being my GGGGrandmother Elizabeth Kendrick (nee Smith) not gone down that route yet ..... and the second being my mum's cousins first wife.

Oh well, I think you're right Jill!

[kerryb]

What a great name Kerry, Lovekin, I'm stunned with a name like that that you can't find her family.

Sharon

Unfortunately I think they were a family of tinkers and therefore difficult to find, not every birth, marriage etc registered.  Also when the children were being born they called themselves Smith, by the time they married they became Lovekin, and that was sometimes translated Luffkin.

I've given up for the moment and doing some easier bits.

Kerry

[Keren]

  I have just started again on my family tree, gave up last year with tooooo many brick walls, and have discovered my gr gran smith.....is actually a clarke. so I can go back to 1820 on both sides of my dads family (including branches) and up to 1861 on both sides of my mums family and NOT have a smith brick wall!!  (However my missing gr gr gr grandmother could be one living in Ireland)

[jjq]

2 Smith lines so far - gt gt gt grandmother Ann Smith (1829 - 1881 Bushey, Herts) and on a completely different line  - gt gt gt grandmother Elizabeth Smith (died pre 1845 Chelsea, London)

The curious thing is that both married men with the surname Stone (Ann married James, Elizabeth married Noah).

Jan

[stonechat]

I was going to say there weren't may, but found 32!

No major lines have smth though.
I was trying to trace Canadian Line and have Dennis W Smith and Ernest Dennis W Smith.

The Double curse is if you have both names very common.

However in some areas an uncommon name can be impossible to trace as it locally the comonest name

Bob

[Lady Di]

Oh dear, dont start me on my Smith line.
My mother's maiden name was Smith. After a bit of a struggle I'm back to William Joseph Smith (son of John Smith) born Birmingham c. 1820 - and there endeth my story 

A whole side of the tree just begging for attention!

It will just have to wait - far easier roads to travel 

[Kezlyn]

Grandfather was John Smith. His father William died when he was a child so we had to trace him through military records. He said he was born and raised in Hampshire (and his brother John Thomas, k/a Tom said he was born in south west Surrey). Both of them were actually born and raised in Hackney. Bill and Tom's sibs were Arthur, George, Edith, and Daisy. I thought Daisy Smith might be the easiest one to trace. But, noooooooooo, only about 50,000 of them!

John's son (my uncle) is Peter Smith, and he named his three boys (my cousins) three of the most popular boy's names of the 1970's. Their descendants will NOT thank them!

Kez

[Burrow Digger]

Assuming that you're not actually called Smith, how far back in your family tree did you manage to get before you hit your first Smith?

I wonder if there is a Rootschatter out there who has actually gone back a few generations and has NOT found a Smith?

I'm not sure I'll believe you!!   

Jill

Um I was actually thinking about this.
So far I'm back to the 1760s and even 1685 on some of my lines, and I have absolutely NO Smiths whatsoever!!  (thank goodness)

Burrow Digger

[jillruss]

Bet you there'll be one in there somewhere - you're just not looking hard enough!   

Hallelujah! I've just found another one! Not only is she a SMITH but she's a SARAH SMITH and I've already got one of those in a completely separate line. Didn't really want another one! Oh well...

Jill