Ties That Bind

S as in SPEED SPEED FAMILY OF FIFE In a previous post I’d mentioned that my husband’s grandmother was the one who got me hooked on genealogy. Her maiden name was SPEED. Her father William Marshall SPEED was killed in … Continue reading →

R as in RODGER Our Rodger family connection starts with Margaret RODGER born in 1813 who married James MATTHEW on the 14th of June, 1835 in Longforgan, Perthshire, Scotland. When Margaret married James he was listed as a ploughman in … Continue reading →

Q! Not many have a surname starting with Q. We are one of them! So I will talk about our ancestor John QUARTZ Moore. What a cool middle name! It has to be a surname because I’ve never, ever heard … Continue reading →

P for PAGOTTO My maiden name is PAGOTTO…. My father was Luigi PAGOTTO born August 23, 1933 in Azzano Decimo, Pordenone, Italy. I spent the better part of my childhood wishing I had a different last name. Growing up as a … Continue reading →

Oh Oh! No O’s!!! With over 1,000 people in my family tree I have NO “O” surnames!! So on that note….I’ve decided to talk about something that starts with O that is very important for any family historian … Continue reading →

NORMAND As a surname of English, Irish (in Ulster), Scottish and Dutch origin the name was used to denote someone of Scandinavian ancestry or someone from Normandy (northern France). During the Dark Ages Scandinavian Vikings called themselves norðmenn (“men from … Continue reading →

MACDONALD OF BOISDALE Where do I start? In the early 90s, I received a birth certificate of an ancestor that would change my life. John Henry Cornelius BOISDALE HENDER MOFFATT was my husband’s great grandfather. He was born in 1875 … Continue reading →

LEONARD LEONARD is a surname that married into our family. One of Hugh Macdonald IV of Boisdale’s daughters, Georgina, married John Charles Leonard on February 28th, 1862 in Liverpool. A little back history on the Macdonald family, Hugh IV was … Continue reading →

Kinnaird or Kinnear John Kinnaird married Betty (or Bessie) Nickle (or Nicholl, Nichol) on September 26th, 1748 in Leslie, Fife, Scotland. The only 2 children I can find for this couple are John Kinnaird born in 1749 and Margaret Kinnaird … Continue reading →