This index page lists the surnames I've been able to find belonging to my (and my wife's) ancestors, with an indication of time, place and sometimes occupation or other family characteristic. Where I give a location, it is in England unless otherwise noted.
If you click on a surname, it will take you through to a page listing the generations of ancestors in that line. I number the generations for reference and to help see where each line fits in the tree. The generation numbers run down from about 16 for the earliest known ancestors to 3 for our great-grandparents (to protect the privacy of living people there is no information about any later generations on this site).
Most of the outline pages are fairly brief; some details are unproven, but I have usually written my best guess, with a minimum of cumbersome ifs and buts - in some cases where I have much to say about the evidence and/or uncertainties, I've put links to click for more information. If you have a link to or interest in any of these lines, please contact me using the mailto links and I may be able to tell you more.
Recent updates December 2020 to Swainson and Dennison
Abendana (also Abandana, Bendahan, etc.) - A Spanish/Portuguese Jewish family from London (particularly the east end) in the 18th to 19th centuries
Allason (1) - A yeoman family of Mosser Gate in the parish of Brigham, Cumberland in the 18th and 19th
centuries. They were Quakers belonging to the meeting at nearby Pardshaw Hall.
Allason (2) - From Whinfell Hall, Lorton, Cumberland in the 16th to 18th centuries. At least my ancestor in this line became a Quaker belonging to the meeting at nearby Pardshaw Hall.
Anthony - Originating in south Devon in the early 1800s but moving to London in Victorian times and continuing to the 20th century. Pursued various occupations. (NB I've discovered that the Devon generations of this line may not in fact be genetically ancestral - details on the line page)
Appleby - A family from Middleton near Leeds in the earlier 19th century - related to ATKINSON, no page of its own yet
Ashburner (1) - A possible line from Whitehaven on the west Cumberland coast around 1800
Ashburner (2) - An ancestor probably from in or around Haile in south-west Cumberland in the 18th century
Atkinson - From the Leeds area of Yorkshire in the later 19th and earlier 20th centuries, in earlier generations working in the stone industry
Barn - Probably from near to Pardshaw in the western Lake District in the 17-18th centuries
Bedson - From Stoke-on-Trent (and adjacent Staffordshire towns), in the first half of the 19th century.
Beeby - An entrepreneurial family on the west coast of Cumberland (Allonby in the parish of Bromfield,
also nearby Wolsty) in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were Quakers belonging to the Allonby meeting.
Bendon - an anglicisation of ABENDANA (see above)
Beswick - the maiden name of a female ancestor, from Pendlebury in Lancashire in the mid 19th century
Bowes - From Tallentire (parish of Bridekirk), west Cumberland in the 17th century
Briggs - Labouring family of Worlingham, north-east Suffolk in early 19th century
Caldbeck (also Calbeck, etc.) - Variant of COLEBANK - see below
Carruthers - Family originating in Dumfriesshire, Scotland; our ancestors mentioned in St Mungo and Tundergarth in that county
Colebank (also Coalbank etc.) - A line of several generations from Gosforth in south-west Cumberland, mainly 18th century
Cooper - From Buckinghamshire in the 18th century, moving to London in the 19th - initially in the city centre and later in the northern suburbs
Craig - From Whitehaven on the west coast of Cumberland, mid 19th century
Crakeplace - A possible ancestor probably from Dean or thereabouts in the western Lake District, Cumberland in the 16th century.
Dennison - From Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, in the 17th century
Donald - An ancestor in the SWAINSON branch, without a line page as yet
Freeman - A line with entrepreneurial Hampshire roots back at least to the 18th century, then skilled tradesmen near Leeds in the 19th and 20th centuries
Frier - A possible ancestor in Lamplugh, Cumberland (western Lake District), mid 18th century
Garrood - First found in Jersey then Guernsey, though not originating from there I don't think; moved to London in the mid 19th century
Glaister - A Quaker family from the west coast of Cumberland in the 18th century
Grave - An ancestor in the SWAINSON branch, without a line page as yet
Hallas - Apparently a well-off family active in the cloth trade and finance, from the Leeds area of Yorkshire in the 19th and early 20th centuries
Hammond - A labouring family from north-east Suffolk in the 19th century
Harris - Of the parish of Brigham, Cumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were Quakers belonging to the meeting at nearby Pardshaw Hall.
Harrison - Early 19th century, Manchester / south Lancashire
Hartley - From Gosforth in south-west Cumberland, early 19th century
Herd - A possible ancestor from Arlecdon in west Cumberland, early 18th century
Hodgson - From Westward near Carlisle in Cumberland in the early 18th century
Horrocks - From south Lancashire in the 19th century; a coal miner
Hunter - From Drigg in south-west Cumberland, 18th century
Irvine (also Irving) - From St Mungo, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in early the 19th century
Jackson (1) - From Ennerdale and Lamplugh, Cumberland in the 18th and 19th centuries
Jackson (2) - Possibly from near Burston, Norfolk, in the mid 19th century.
Jackson (3) - Similar to JACKSON (1) but further back, in the 18th century
Jackson (4) - From Drigg in south-west Cumberland in the late 18th century
Jefferson - From Westward, south of Carlisle in Cumberland, 18th to 19th centuries
Jones - In Hawarden, Broncoed and Mold, Flintshire, Wales, in the 19th century
Kitchin (also Kitchen) - A family from Gosforth, Seascale and Irton in south-west Cumberland in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Lancake (also Longcake etc.)- An ancestor in the OSTLE branch, without its own page as yet
Last - From Burston, near Diss in southern Norfolk, in the 19th century
Leigh - No page of its own, but a probable name marrying into SHAW, in the Stoke-on-Trent area, Staffordshire, early 19th century
Moscrop (1) - From south-west Cumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries
Moscrop (2) - From Gosforth, south-west Cumberland. If all the conjectural reconstructions are right, this goes back to the 16th century, 16 generations back and includes our remotest known ancestor so far.
Nicholson (1) - Aikton, west of Carlisle in Cumberland, 18th century
Nicholson (2) - From Eskdale and Gosforth, south-west Cumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries
Nicholson (3) - From Gosforth, south-west Cumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries
Orton - The maiden name of a bride in the COOPER branch and mentioned on that page. Born Northampton, early 19th century
Ostle - A Quaker family from north-west Cumberland researched by one of their own, from the 16th century through the connection with our family in the 18th century, to the present day.
Pattinson - From Blennerhasset/Torpenhow and Whinfell in west Cumberland in the 19th century
Pearson (1) - A family in Grisedale/Satterthwaite/Hawkshead, north Lancashire, in the late 18th century, Gosforth, south-west Cumberland in the early 19th century and Ennerdale, Cumberland in the mid-19th century - they got about a bit
Pearson (2) - A possible ancestor from Dean in the western Lake District, Cumberland in the late 16th/early 17th century.
Pearson (3) - Perhaps related to Pearson (2), also a possible ancestral family from Dean, this time in the mid to late 16th century.
Pearson (4) - From Wythop in Cumberland in the 17th century.
Petty of Bardsea in the parish of Ulverstone, Lancashire in the 17th to 18th century. Not ancestral but related to my Dennison ancestors and with a fair bit of information on the Dennison page
Ponsonby - From Ennerdale, and possibly elsewhere in the large parish of St Bees, western Cumberland, in the 18th and 19th centuries
Prime - From Aslacton and Gissing in southern Norfolk in the 19th century, later moving to the north-east corner of Suffolk in Lowestoft and Carlton Colville
Rawling (or Rawlen, Rallings, etc.) - One of those families that has been on the same farm for hundreds of years - in Lamplugh in the western Lake District in Cumberland from the late 16th century, with some of my more recent ancestors being on other nearby farms
Read - A prolific family, initially labourers but in a later generation producing many fishermen and boat captains, from Suffolk from the 18th to 20th centuries
Ridges - From the Southampton area in the early 19th century - no page of its own yet; related to ROBINSON (4)
Rigby - From Leyland in central Lancashire in the early 19th century, then Liverpool, Skelmersdale and Ormskirk, all in south Lancashire, in the 19th and 20th centuries - labourers, coal miners and later haulage contractors
Robinson (1) - A farming family from Tarleton, west Lancashire in the 19th century
Robinson (2) - From various locations in the parishes of Dean and Brigham (Pardshaw Quaker meeting) in Cumberland from the 17th to 19th centuries
Robinson (3) - From Pardshaw in the parish of Dean, Cumberland in the 16th to 18th centuries
Robinson (4) - From the Southampton area in the early 19th century, then the suburbs of London in the later 19th and 20th centuries
Robson - From Thurstonfield in Burgh-upon-Sands parish to the west of Carlisle in Cumberland, 18th century.
Rogers - Of the parish of Brigham, Cumberland in the 17th century. Probably Quaker belonging to the meeting at nearby Pardshaw Hall.
Rowbottom (or Robotham, etc.) - From Upholland in south Lancashire in the mid 19th century
Rowling (or Rowlan, etc.) – variants of RAWLING - see above
Saul - A Quaker family from Wolsty on the west coast of Cumberland in the 17th and 18th centuries
Shaw - From around Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire in the early 19th century, moving around the midlands and south of England mid-century and settling near Southampton, Hampshire later on.
Sherwen - From Gosforth, south-west Cumberland in the early 18th century
Smith - An ancestor in the SWAINSON branch, without its own page as yet
Steel (1) - A family from Ennerdale in the western Lake District, Cumberland, in the 18th century
Steel (2) - A family from Greythwaite in the parish of Brigham in the north-western Lake District, Cumberland, in the 17th century
Stordy - An ancestor in the OSTLE branch, without its own page as yet
Sumpton - A family from Dean, Lamplugh, Arlecdon and Ennerdale in the western Lake District, Cumberland, from the 16th to 19th centuries
Swaile - An ancestor in the OSTLE branch, without its own page as yet
Swainson - A line of educated and skilled men who lived in successive generations in various parts of what is now Cumbria and in north Wales from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Taylor (1) - Probable line in Westleton, Suffolk, early 19th century
Taylor (2) - Probably from near Whitehaven on the west coast of Cumberland, 18th century - the name is notable in later SWAINSON generations as a first or middle name.
Thorpe (also Thoarp, etc.) - From Aslacton in southern Norfolk in the 19th century - descendants went by the name also in nearby Gissing and Carlton Colville over the border in Suffolk.
Thynne (also Thynn) - A line of metal-workers in the 19th century, originating near Sunderland in county Durham and moving to the Leeds area of West Yorkshire.
Tickell - From Thornthwaite in the 17th century. Thornthwaite is probably the place near Keswick, in the parish of Crosthwaite in Cumberland.
Tiffin - A family from Eaglesfield in the western Lake District, Cumberland, in the 17th to 18th centuries
Tomlinson - From Cumberland in the 19th century
Tovill (also Tovel, etc.) - From Westleton and Middleton in eastern Suffolk in the early 19th century
Vicars - From Haile in south-west Cumberland in the 18th century
Walker - Probably from in or near the parish of Dean, Cumberland, late 18th to early 19th century.
Warnes - From Aslacton in Norfolk, 18th century
Watkinson - A line of labourers and farmers who moved between various places in south Lancashire in the 19th and 20th centuries
Webster - From south Lancashire (mostly near Ormskirk) in the 19th century
Wetherald (also Weatherall, etc.) - From Sunderland, County Durham, in the 19th century. Connected to FREEMAN and not having a page of its own yet.
Williamson (1) - From Cumberland (various locations around the west and centre of the county) from the 17th century (and maybe earlier) onwards. They were Quakers from about 1700 - the fairly early days of the Society.
Williamson (2) (not too sure of this connection) - Early 19th century, probably in or near Whitehaven on the west coast of Cumberland
Wilson (1) - Quakers from Greythwaite, near Mosser in the parish of Brigham; pillars of Pardshaw Quaker meeting, Cumberland, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Wilson (2) - From Whinfell in the parish of Brigham near Cockermouth in Cumberland, 18th century
Wilson (3) - From in and near Hunslet, near Leeds in Yorkshire in the 19th century.
Wright - From Warton in Lancashire in the early 19th century
Youngman - Early 19th century, probably from near Aslacton in southern Norfolk
If you are interested in any of these lines I'll be pleased to hear from you. Click to email me at deletethis.ianwilliamson161@gmail.com but amend the email address before sending - delete everything up to and including the first dot, leaving just my name and number @ service provider.