Genealogy Chat

I am sad, I know, but this made my day. I was at the dentist earlier and as I was paying, the receptionist said 'Mr Dorian, are you from Northern Ireland?'. I was amazed. My name is quite rare and I've never come across anyone who knew of it and its origins. I'm not Irish (so she wasn't asking about my accent) but my family came from Co. Down about 150 years ago. The lady was from Dongegal herself and knew of people with my surname in her area. Has anyone else with a rare surname or surname local to a particular area had an experience like that? Matt

Hi Matthew I see that you have added your name to the 'Who are we looking for in Ireland' thread. In the BVRI there are 183 civil birth regs in County Down between 1864 and 1875 for the surnames Dorian, Doran, Dorrian, Dorrain. I can do a look up for you. Maureen

Oh yes, my biggest ever breakthrough came from chatting on the phone to the very helpful lady at Blackburn Register Office. She was being very helpful, trying to eliminate various James Holdens for me, without me having to pay for the info, lol, when she said 'Are you a Holden yourself?' 'Well, it was my maiden name, yes' 'Do you know there is an unpublished manuscript in Darwen Library about the Holdens of Darwen?' No, I didnt, but managed to track it down - what a wonderful gem this was, absolutely 100% accurate, with reams of sources etc - wonderful. Another occasion, spotting a very rare surname whilst I was handling a credit card transaction, led me straight to my ex husband, father of my eldest daughter - untraceable for the last 27 years! OC

Thank you for the offer, Maureen. That would be great if you could. OC: I can imagine you must have been over the moon to find a mine of information like that out of the blue. Things like that can really make your day.

I moved from London to Essex in 1967 and one day I went to a Tupperwear and the lady who`s house it was held in had also invited her mother. Her mother kept looking at me and i felt quite uncomfortable, she then asked me how long I had lived in Essex. Well one subject lead to another and we discovered that we had both come from the same area of London. She said she had relatives in Canning Town, I said i had relatives in Canning Town,.......she said my relatives live in Crediton Road, i said my relatives live in Crediton Road.....she said her relative was her uncle Bill who lived at number xxxx, I said my granddad was called Bill and he lived at number xxxx. It seems that she was my mothers first cousin and had lost contact in 1944 as our house had been bombed and we had moved to Lincolnshire. She said I reminded her so much of someone she knew but could not put her finger on exactly who.. Small world. Kathlyn

Hi Matthew Let me know the christian names of anybody that you are looking for and I will see what I can find for you.As much info as you can. Maureen

My Great Aunt, my only living source of family history (further back than my now deceased grandmother), discovered that she was living next door to the granddaughter of her grandfather and his third wife where my g.aunt is the grandaughter of him and his second wife. She told us this when we started in on the tree more fully, and this woman's daughter has done their tree so when we hook up with her (hopefully soon) I should be able to double the size of my tree from one side. It is amazing where you find links.

Hi Maureen, Sorry for not replying sooner. Thinking about it, my ancestors left Ireland around 1850, so the information you could look up would could only be for the ancestors who stayed in Ireland. Thanks for the offer though. Matt