At 6:30 pm -0400 12/10/03, Bruce P Barrett wrote:
Hi,
I am looking for surname ISRAEL. Family legend is that two brothers
came to America from Wales. Don't know where but seems that
Benjamin and Buckner along with Benjamins wife Polly migrated in the
late 1700s or early 1800s. They had a son born in Tennessee about
1815. Two known brothers Amos and Mose(s) stayed in Wales. Would
appreciate any information.
Thanks
Bruce P. Barrett
brucepbarrett(a)adelphia.net
Heath, OH USA
The religious Reformation in the sixteenth century, with the
consequent reading of the bible by lay-people, led to a larger pool
of Old Testament given names in both Wales and England. By this time
England had fixed surnames but Wales did not, so these Old Testament
given names (from Aaron to Zacchaeus) added to the relative small
stock of Welsh surnames.
Whilst Old Testament surnames can be found in all parts of Wales,
they occur far more frequently in South Wales because the main
nonconformist denominations in South Wales were the Independents and
Baptists. In North Wales the dominant nonconformist denomination was
Calvinistic Methodism which had its roots in the Anglican church.
Anglican given names were usually taken from the New Testament, from
the saints of the Christian church or from those used by the monarchy.
In order to find where the greatest incidence of ISRAEL lies you
could try searching for ISRAEL deaths in FreeBMD
http://FreeBMD.rootsweb.com/ from say, 1837 to 1847 or 1857 (civil
registration only started in July 1837). Make a note of the
frequencies of the ISRAEL name in the counties of Anglesey,
Breconshire, Carnarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire,
Denbighshire, Flintshire, Glamorgan, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire,
Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire. You could also note the
District names.
You could do a more specific search for the deaths of Amos and Moses
assuming that they were alive up to end of June 1837. But note that
the FreeBMD database is not yet complete.
--
Regards
Dick Jones Leigh-on-Sea Essex UK
rcjones(a)rmplc.co.uk