One Name Studies

A one-name study is a project researching all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple). Some 'one-namers' may restrict their research geographically, perhaps to one country, but true one-namers collect all occurrences world-wide. A one-name study may concentrate on aspects such as geographical distribution of the name and the changes in that distribution over the centuries, or may attempt to reconstruct the genealogy of as many lines as possible bearing the name. A frequent aim is to identify a single original location of the name, especially if the name appears to derive from a place name. The Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS) outlines specific criteria that must be met to classify as a one name study.

During the course of my family research, I have found myself researching names where it appeared I found everyone else but my relatives. In some cases, I found my self documenting large trees in the hope of identifying a relative, either by naming pattern or location. In some cases I found my 'missing link', in others I found relatives researching the same trees. I don't pretend that any of these are comprehensive one-name studies, but in the case of the Bashfords and the Shoobridges they are VERY comprehensive.

Knowing how difficult it was when I started my research finding lots of dead ends and trying to work out how my family fit with others of the same name, so, I thought I would make these databases - some of which contain members of my family - available in the hope I might make someone elses life easier.

I have over 10 separate databases of people based on name, but at this time, there are really only 3 that are in such as state as to be made public. All of these database are hosted on Gencircles, as is my own family tree.

• Shoobridge/Shoebridge/Shubridge/Shewbridge
• Bedingfield/Beddingfield/Bedingfeld
• Bashford
• Jessops of East Anglia