Yorkshire 1700s

[Wulfsige]

According to Rev David Young's book "The Origin and History of Methodism in Wales" (1893), when the iron works in Merthyr Tydfil were opened in the late 1700s, the workers came principally from Yorkshire. It seems my forebears came to Merthyr at that time and for that reason, but I can't discover where they came from. They were surnamed Gamson (also spelled Gameson), and the 1841 surname distribution map gives a high concentration of Gamsons in Yorkshire; but the digitised archives (ancestry, myheritage, findmypast, familysearch) have almost no Gamsons at all anywhere in Yorkshire in all the 1700s. This seems odd: can you suggest why? It implies that all the Gamsons moved into Yorkshire after 1800; or they all got born, christened, and buried without record; or no records were kept; or they have all be lost; or they have never been digitised. None of this seems al all likely.

[Annie65115]

There was clearly quite a prolific family of Gamsons in Gringley - on - the Hill in Nottinghamshire in the 17/18 centuries, and that part of Notts is not far from the Yorkshire border.

If you look at the marriage cert of Benjamin Gamson to Mary Stringer in Hull in 1836, it says that Benjamin was of the parish of Gringley on the Hill. Is this your Gamson line?

It's an unusual name and not outwith the realms of possibility that all current Gamsons descend from one family (such is the case with my Holylands which are similarly rare - there are records of the surname appearing in 4 different UK locations in the 16/17 centuries, but only 1 of these family lines has continued). So it would only take 1 family to move into Yorkshire for them to be the progenitors of successive generations. I'm not sure how clear I'm making myself, but that would mean that sure, there may have been no Gamsons in Yorkshire in earlier years, and one successful family moved in and perpetuated the line where other family lines discontinued the name.

[Wulfsige]

It's an unusual name and not outwith the realms of possibility that all current Gamsons descend from one family ... it would only take 1 family to move into Yorkshire for them to be the progenitors of successive generations.

Hmmm... much to consider here, for further exploration. Thank you.

[StefanD99]

Hello, Wulfsige,
I'm sorry if I'm teaching Grandma to suck eggs, forgive me.
I would include other alternative spellings as searches don't seem to include them automatically.
One of my family names is Gilson. I have spellings that include Ghilson, Jilson, and Jelson.
Another is Murten. I have spellings that include Merton, Marten, and Martin.
Errors can arise from misreading an entry being transcribed, or can happen when it is misheard or transcribed phonetically. This is especially likely if the local accents involved are different.

Family Search returns a good number of Jamsons born in Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland in the 18th century.

"Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance".

Stefan

Stefan

[Wulfsige]

Hello, Wulfsige,

I would include other alternative spellings as searches don't seem to include them automatically.

"Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance".

Stefan

Thanks. Yes, There is more than one spelling. Gamson and Gameson alternate even for the same person, and one person now deceased was told by a relative that Gameson used to be pronounced Gamson. One occasionally sees Gamison, which is probably because the e has a small mark on the paper about it, which makes a reader see it as Gamison.