Hi Folks. First up, I am NOT experienced and have no real knowledge of surname research. However, I have been researching my roots in Durham and it seems to focus on the Lamesley and possibly Gateshead regions. Winds are dotted all over Durham county but my trail seems to point to this region. My family name has transformed from "Wind" and variations to its current "Winn".
Many of our family were in the Lamesley, Lumley, Gateshead and Whickham in the 1700s, mostly as miners. But the trail goes coldish at the beginning of the 1700s (for my family at least).
Now, I understand from my reading that "Newcastle/Gateshead" in the mid-late 1600s and early 1700s had a series of plagues and even went through the Royalist conflicts. All these must have killed or displaced many people and records went out the window. Some 50% of Newcastle died of plague in the mid 1600s. The incredible numbers dying of plague etc in the area also meant few records of births or deaths on top of any complication of record keeping in the 16-1700s means guesswork.
However, I have begun speculating on the origin of my family. As a topographical name (Wind/e etc), it may refer to a "windy place". It could also come from Dutch (De Winde) from settlers that came in the 1600s..... and of course the Wynds from Yorkshire/Lancashire etc - lots of possibilities. But I am wondering - there is a history of milling, evident by the "Windy Hill Mills" near Gateshead. I believe even in the 1600s there were mills (in windy places) and it may be a simplistic view, but, can it be a possible "place of origin" for families living there and their names, eg the "Winds" of the Windy Mills etc. I also assume there may be an old-English name trail for Wind or Wind Mill - Or? Let's face it, Lamesley is only about 5km as the crow flies from Gateshead.
Does anyone have an idea of how to test that as a hypothesis? Or, if I am WAY off track and should just keep looking for connections via records of birth, marriage and DNA etc?
In other words, is this just an interesting red herring?
