In a message dated 29/09/2003 03:12:35 GMT Daylight Time,
LBouchard7416(a)rogers.com writes:
Is anyone researching Evans in the Criccieth area?
Thanks, Lynda from Canada
Hello Lynda,
Fixed surnames were rarely used in the north West of Wales until after the
1840's, so a person who's surname was Evans may have had a father called
Williams and a grandfather called Davies. When fixed surnames became the norm in the
area those used were chosen from a very small selection, so a lot of familles
would have used the same surname despite not being related whereas siblings
might end up using different surnames. Evans is a very common surname in north
Wales, used by 5 per cent of the indigenous population.
If researching family history in areas of England where surnames were adopted
between 400 to 800 years ago and where there are thousands of variants, it is
useful to ask on lists similar to this for those searching for a surname
found in your family to contact you, because there is a good chance that they may
be related. Unfortunately the same is not true in north west Wales, unless you
are looking for an uncommon name. The chances that other researchers tracing
their Evans, Jones, Williams, etc. lines will be related to your family of the
same name are very slim.
Because of the difficulties caused by common surnames in this area it might
be more fruitful if you can tell us a bit about the Evans of Criceth who
interest you. What are their full names, do you have names of cousins, aunts, uncles
or others who might help show where they fitted in to their family grouping?
Do you have any dates for them or addresses, occupations and so on? If you
have found them in a census or on a certificate or in a register let us know what
the documents say.
The more information that you can supply, the more likely that a list member
will be able to help with local resources but more importantly it is much more
likely to ring a bell with another list member who may have details about
that Evans family in their own research.
All the best
Alwyn