SWITZERLAND: Does anyone have access to "Swiss Surnames: A Complete Register"

[Manchester Rambler]

I am looking for info on my great great gf Frederick Buser born in Switzerland in 1816.

As mentioned above, I don't have access to Swiss parish registers (except for the canton of Neuchâtel), so can't look up baptisms etc, but the surname BUSER originated in the village of Buus in the canton of Basel District (BL) - the earliest form of the name was "von Bus", and goes back to 1288.

You may be able to find some more information here: http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/kant/baallg-e.htm - among other things there is a link to the Basel genealogical society and the Basel District archives (Staatsarchiv Basel-Landschaft).

Hope this helps,

Rambler

[Manchester Rambler]

One of my ggmothers was Swiss and until fairly recently that was the extent of my knowledge of her.
However have discovered that she came from Canton Vaud in CH.   Born about 1820s.

Surname is variously given as Rousseau and Rossier.

ROSSIER and ROUSSEAU are two different families, which doesn't help matters!  ROSSIER originates either in the canton of Fribourg or in the canton of Vaud - the earliest mention there is in Bussigny in 1372.

The ROUSSEAU family came to Geneva from France in 1549, the most famous descendant being the writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778).

There isn't much for Vaud on the SwissGen site unfortunately, but here's the link: http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/kant/vdallg-e.htm - it does have a small map of the canton, which lies imediately north of Lake Geneva.  (Lausanne is the "county town".)

The local genealogy society is Cercle Vaudois de Généalogie: http://www.ancetres.ch/

Rambler

[action49]

Dear MR - I wonder if you would be able to do a lookup for me too please - the name I am after is HEPP in the Ruti/Zurich area.  Thanks!

[waybackSwiss]

If anyone has a copy of Swiss Surnames: A Complete Register, would he or she please look up the
following surnames:

Maurer (Mauer?)

Forster

Torsche

Bertsch

These would all be mid 1600's.

Thank you very much!
Tom

[Manchester Rambler]

HEPP - my apologies, as I completely missed this one when you posted it!  But beter late than never...   

This surname is originally from Gächlingen in the canton of Schaffhausen, where it goes back to at least 1510.

A Johannes Hepp (b. 1879) was director of the Zürich school for the blind, deaf and dumb in 1918, and wrote a couple of books about teaching.

Unfortunately, Schaffhausen doesn't have a local FHS; this is the link for Zürich: http://www.ghgz.ch/

(Proviso as mentioned above - my info is from the Dictionnaire Historique et Biographique de la Suisse, not the SSR.  I don't have access to parish registers for these areas.)

Rambler

[Manchester Rambler]

MAURER - the surname means "mason", and there are separate families originating from the cantons of Aargau, Bern, Glaris, Lucern, St-Gall, Schaffhausen and Zürich.

FORSTER - again, several separate families from Bern, Lucern, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Thurgau and Zürich.

TORSCHE - no reference in my source.

BERTSCH - the surname comes from the given name "Berchtold", and is fairly widespread in the canton of St-Gall, particularly around Mels and Sargans.  The East Switzerland FHS covers St-Gall: http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/ver/sginfo-e.htm

(Proviso as mentioned above - my info is from the Dictionnaire Historique et Biographique de la Suisse, not the SSR.  I don't have access to parish registers for these areas.)

Hope this helps a little!

Rambler   

[action49]

Thanks MR - the Hepp you mentioned is definitely in the family!

[waybackSwiss]

Thank you, Manchester Rambler!  This information is great and does indeed help!
Thanks again!
Tom

[waybackSwiss]

MAURER - the surname means "mason", and there are separate families originating from the cantons of Aargau, Bern, Glaris, Lucern, St-Gall, Schaffhausen and Zürich.

FORSTER - again, several separate families from Bern, Lucern, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Thurgau and Zürich.

TORSCHE - no reference in my source.

BERTSCH - the surname comes from the given name "Berchtold", and is fairly widespread in the canton of St-Gall, particularly around Mels and Sargans.  The East Switzerland FHS covers St-Gall: http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/ver/sginfo-e.htm

(Proviso as mentioned above - my info is from the Dictionnaire Historique et Biographique de la Suisse, not the SSR.  I don't have access to parish registers for these areas.)

Hope this helps a little!

Rambler   

Rambler,
I apologize for neglecting to include the following info regarding these surnames:

Maurer - Seftigen (canton Bern)
Forster - Basadingen (canton Thurgau)

Again, my apologies and thanks!
Tom