Re: Hermanston

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

At 20:12 10/10/00 -0400, you wrote:
> Niven,
>
>     It seems as though many of the names seem to be
> spelled various ways,
> indicating phonetic spellings.  In the middle 1800's my Kentucky
> branch began to
> use the St. Clair spelling, as if they always knew that was how it was
> spelled.
> I've seen it Sinclair, but only on land records and other official
> documents, which
> were recorded by the clerk.  When they arrived it was often spelled
> Sinkler so I
> figure the spelling would be arbitrary, since they had no control over
> that.  Other
> names that exist in this branch are Thomas, Alexander, Mary, Margaret,
> and
> Elizabeth.  Do you have any suggestions regarding my research, short
> of coming to
> Scotland?


Church Records or the Archivist of the respective places i.e.

        

        

        

        

The
Archivist, Dundee City Council, Dundee, Scotland

        

        

        

        

The
Archivist, Glasgow City Council, Glasgow, Scotland

        

        

        

        

The
Archivist, Midlothian District Council, Edinburgh, Scotland

These are broad brushes but your enquiry would be passed on to the person
concerned.

A visit to Scotland would be a "follow up" exercise. 
Tracing family trees is a time-consuming
business - so much so that I have never attempted my own although other
members of my family
are endeavouring to do it for me.  My father said that we were all
"cattle thieves and tinkers" and,
although I never believed that in its entirety, he was, at least, half
right.    

Some were the offspring of red-blooded Vikings who became Normans (i.e.
those who came to
Britain via Normandy) but, by far the majority, remained Norse (i.e.
those who came to Orkney
and Shetland as renegade Vikings who had been thrown out of Norway and
who, when Henry
Sinclair, received the 'jarldom' of Orkney adopted the name of St
Clair/Sinclair/Sinkler because
they were essentially of the same blood).  The route was different,
the 'schooling' was different
but they were all at one with eachother in their genes.

As you know, surnames (in the long haul of history) are a
comparatively recent innovation.
Previously, people were described because of some physical characteristic
(a descriptive
epithet) or simply as the 'son of someone' or 'as belonging to someplace'
e.g. William of Gloucester
etc.etc.

Good luck with your research.

Niven Sinclair 


Niven Sinclair




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