Family History and Surnames

Fundraising Lecture on 25 September by Professor David Hey.

Every part of England still has its distinctive surnames, formed locally several hundred years ago despite all the mobility of recent years. Professor Hey’s research, combining linguistics with genealogy and DNA, has enabled a firmer understanding of the places where surnames originated, which are often different to the meanings given in dictionaries. Professor Hey has also agreed to provide the winner of a special prize draw with a personal description of the meaning and origin of a chosen surname – but excluding obvious foreign names.

David Hey, who is well known to family and local historians is currently President of the British Association of Local History and before his retirement was Professor of Local History at the University of Sheffield. He has written widely on the subject, including The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. He believes there is not much satisfaction for the family historian in simply finding names and dates – our ancestors only becoming real people when we discover their homes, their places of work, leisure and worship and the peculiar nature of the towns, villages and wider neighbourhoods that they knew so well.
‘Family History and Surnames’ is the topic of the Annual Fundraising Lecture to be given by Professor David Hey on Saturday 25 September at the Corn Exchange Devizes, on behalf of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum.

Every part of England still has its distinctive surnames, formed locally several hundred years ago despite all the mobility of recent years. Professor Hey’s research, combining linguistics with genealogy and DNA, has enabled a firmer understanding of the places where surnames originated, which are often different to the meanings given in dictionaries. Professor Hey has also agreed to provide the winner of a special prize draw with a personal description of the meaning and origin of a chosen surname – but excluding obvious foreign names.

David Hey, who is well known to family and local historians is currently President of the British Association of Local History and before his retirement was Professor of Local History at the University of Sheffield. He has written widely on the subject, including The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. He believes there is not much satisfaction for the family historian in simply finding names and dates – our ancestors only becoming real people when we discover their homes, their places of work, leisure and worship and the peculiar nature of the towns, villages and wider neighbourhoods that they knew so well.

The Lecture will be held in the Corn Exchange, Devizes on Saturday 25 September at 2.30pm.
Tickets cost £10 and are available from the Wiltshire Heritage Museum shop or on-line at www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk .