In search of beneficiaries…

We had been researching what seemed to be a particularly straightforward family: we needed to find the descendents of Lewis Lewis. With such an unusual name, it was easy to identify his marriage. You can imagine the endless joy his peers would have given him throughout his schooldays with such a name, which makes it all the more remarkable that when he had his first son, he named him after himself, with an additional middle name of Lewis. This Lewis Lewis Lewis was shortly joined by a brother who Lewis Lewis named Lewis Moore Lewis. It should come as no surprise, that these two – along with other family members – actually lived by another name. It was by their assumed names that we contacted them to tell them of their entitlement.

British surnames were introduced for most of the population from the 11th Century to make tax collection easier for the Normans. They fell into four main categories:

Patronymic and matronymic surnames: Anderson, Peterson and Roseman;
Locative surnames: Byfield, Atwell, Marsh and Forrest, or towns and villages such as Maltby;
Surnames from nicknames based on appearance: Little or Armstrong – although the name Little sometimes was used in a sarcastic way to signify that actually the person was very large;
Occupational surnames: Carter, Baker and Forrester. Throughout our research, we have found nobody with the surname ‘Solicitor’ or ‘Barrister’, although we have found the odd ‘Lawyer’!

In Mongolia, surnames were banned for more than 70 years by the communist government, in their attempt to loosen the grip of feudal clans. In 1997 a democratic government lifted the ban and allowed people to choose their surname. The government considered the change to be a vital step towards progress, without which phone books, newspaper bylines and credit cards would not be possible. The legislation, however, did not have the desired effect; by June 2005 over half the population had registered to use the surname ‘Borjigin’, the name of the clan of Genghis Khan.

Written by Philippe Fraser from Fraser & Fraser Genealogists and International Probate Researchers 020 7832 1430 www.lostkin.co.uk. DX 53304 CLERKENWELL