Take me onwards to the LANCHBURY HomePage...
Take me to learn the Basics of Genealogy...What is a Surname Study?
A Surname Study, also called a One Name Study (or O.N.S. in genealogical circles), is as
expected a study on a particular surname group. I say surname group
because in the early days of record keeping, church parish registers were often kept by
men of very limited literacy. This led to some very creative spellings of names.
Eventually when the general population began to be schooled these spellings were accepted
and adopted by the families concerned.
When you look at a name like LANCHBURY, pronounced in all the possible accents that central southern England can provide, combined with phonetic spellings, it is no wonder that I have collected so many different spellings of the name so far. The main alternative spelling is most definitely LAINCHBURY, and I have actually found more of those than my own LANCHBURY.
Just a quick note, that you have probably noticed already; when writing a surname for genealogical purposes it is the preferred convention to always write the name in UPPERCASE LETTERS. There are thousands of email 'lists' for genealogy, and when you begin discussing surnames that can also be first names like JAMES, or everyday words or items like LIGHT, there has to be some quick and easy way of distinguishing the important feature. It also has the added bonus of making the words leap out from a full page of information so that you can find them more easily.
I hope that you enjoy my Study.
Take me onwards to the LANCHBURY HomePage...
Take me to learn the Basics of Genealogy...