Faulkner

Dear Everyone,

A few questions which I would greatly appreciate any help with. Firstly is
a couple of origin of surname questions. Whilst I have bought the family
history certificate from the house of names, telling me my surname is of

Peter Goodey...

We'll gloss over that.

British heritage (Faulkner), I'm wondering is it predominantly

Eve McLaughlin...

Falconer, hunter with a falcon. Commonly found as a servant in baronial
or knightly entourages all over the place (England, Scotland, wherever,
in mediaeval times. There are rather a lot of them around -over the
border in Bucks, for example, but unless you supply a date and location,
advising is difficult.

hedleyh...

I hope it's more accurate than their idea of the origin of my surname.
All their statements were 100% WRONG! I wrote to them about it but was
never favoured with a reply.

Scottish/English??? Who knows....?

Saffy...

I couldn't say for certain, but up here (Scotland) there seems to be more
Falconers and the spelling Faulkner is more unusual (I am alwasy having to
spell my surname out). Most of our Faulkners seem to come from the
Manchester area but as my husband hasn't traced hi family very far back we
have no way of knowing if thats where they originated.

Saffy (married to a Faulkner)

Lesley Robertson...

I'm afraid that the information given on such certificates is so general as
to have little or no application in family history. People moved around a
lot, name spellings changed. This is a surname associated with an
occupation, so there's like;y to be a number of unrelated families by the
same name. For example, there's at least 3 lines of Falconer in my databases
for the Berwickshire parish of Whitsome & Hilton - I've not found a
relationship yet.

Secondly, my maternal grandmother is called Belsey. I was unable to get any
origin of surname for this surname. I have had a couple of suggestions that

Peter Goodey...

Kent, I believe.

it might be French, but who knows...???

Lesley Robertson...

My favourite trick when wondering about the distribution of a surname is to
feed it to the IGI without a forename and see what comes up. The first
hundred (there's a LOT of hits) are all in England and seem to be equally
divided between Kent and Northumberland. It's likely that more hits for the
counties in between would turn up if I looked further.

Finally, I have traced my family name back to oxfordshire, but beyond my
great, great, great grandfather, Matthew Faulkner, I can't go any further.

Peter Goodey...

Give us the details and we may be able to help.

What happens when you hit a rut like this....???

Eve McLaughlin...

Hunt around the parish where you have him. According to date, there may
be a settlement certificate or examination as to settlement.

Fenny...

Have you tried alternate spellings? My grandmother's name was Falkner,
but going back, this was often spelled Faulkner and in at least one case
an ancestor was recorded as Falconer.

Lesley Robertson...

It seems that you've answered at least part of your question - your
Faulkners are probably english.
Lesley Robertson

CWatters...

You could try telling us what you know about Matthew already.

Admittingly, I have used marriage certificates, censuses back to 1851, but

Eve McLaughlin...

As late as this, the birthplace stated in 1851 or ealier is an obvious
lead. The IGI may supply a posibility, which you can follow up -Matthew
is not the commonest forename, so you have a good chance of being sure
when you have him. (not like tracing a John Smith).
His job may give a clue - and if he is reasobly properous, then there
should be family wills.

then it seems really hards What comes next when you reach this point...??
Any help with any information is gladly received and I will always happily
share information about my family tree.

Simon Faulkner.

Pat P...

The next road to us is Faulkener`s Way - this is Trimley, Felixstowe,
Suffolk, so there may have been more of your ancestors/relatives here in
East Anglia.

andrew...

Pat -

Now ain't that strange. Many years ago I had a colleague living in your
Faulkener's Way; had to pick her up / drop her off there on many occasions.

Yours Aye Andrew Sellon

Pat Porter