Surname Study - Q&A time

My post last week on Surname Studies elicited a long reply containing a few questions which I will attempt to address here.

So.....was your choice of ONS host price-based, or do all the ONS websites do basically the same thing as far as support?

My choice of The Surname Society was not just cost based but that was a big factor. The cost to register each surname study with the Guild is 12GBP on top of your subscription, there is no extra cost with The Surname Society. I had been a member of the Guild for a number of years but realised that The Surname Society was a better fit for my purposes. 

I did not need a body to host my study I needed somewhere to list, describe and promote my study. The Surname Society provides that facility for me.

The Guild may provide more resources but, as The Surname Society is new, it  has fewer resources but the collection is growing. There is immediate help available via the Surname Society Facebook Members' Group.

Have you advertised the study in any magazines or any online methods?

I initially advertised my study via several social media channels and received some helpful responses from genies with Curry connections. I have a Wordpress blog/website for the study which I hope will act as "Name Bait" for anyone doing searches on the internet. Having my blog preserved on The National Library of Australia's Pandora Archive will ensure that the Curry stories are preserved. I have added the Curry surname in Australia to a few Members' Interests lists.

http://curryaus.wordpress.com

Because I am still at the data gathering stage and there are lots of resources, both print and online with Curry information available, I don't see the need to promote widely yet. I need to organise  the mountain of data that I have recorded before I start sharing. I've yet to decide how and if I will publish the database I am developing.

With a less common surname with fewer resources available I would probably promote to find connections at an earlier stage. For this I would consider non-genie print publications like major newspaper RSVP columns and any magazines that would provide free or low-cost advertisements.

Have you written to all the Curry names in the White Pages (for eg) to attract other family members who might have information?

With a less common surname with fewer resources available I would probably contact potential family members via the White Pages etc. but for the foreseeable future I will deal with the list of resources I have and organise the information I have gathered from them. There is so much on Trove that I don't think I'll get much further than the organising stage in my lifetime, that is why I chose the CurryAus blog for my A-Z blogging challenge. 

What are you hoping to find out from other Curry family members? In my case I'd like to fill in some blanks back in Ireland, just before the Catholic records start.

Before I move offshore I want to sort out the various Curry families in Australia and record their stories so that they are not forgotten. Another reason I chose The Surname Society to register my study is because their rules aren't as prescriptive as the Guild (although I think the Guild  has loosened up recently).

Are you combining your ONS with any DNA testing? 

Not yet but definitely on the cards. I found my first potential Curry match just this week and have a few possibles who also have Curry in their trees - I may yet just find some Irish cousins..

I just spent $AU9.35

Quite a few years ago I had a website called Too Hot to Handle: a cyberhome for Australian Currys.

It was a pretty ugly and basic site on which had over 8,000 references to Currys, not necessarily related to me, but who were descended from Australians who shared my maiden name - Curry. I took the site down about ten years ago but kept a copy of  the site and all associated files and spreadsheets.

My old website

I have always wanted to carry on with this surname study but felt that I could not undertake a worldwide study on Curry, a name that is relatively common. I joined the Guild of One-Name Studies thinking that I would register another less common name in my tree for a world wide study (and I might still do that) as I couldn't register my Curry interest with their current guidelines..

This week I learnt of the launch of the new Surname Society that had been mooted on social media, when I read their press release and visited their website I was impressed by how much work the committee had done prior to launching the Society. I like the way that the group is using social media and hangouts to connect with members around the globe and that its committtee is international.  When I saw the names behind the Society I knew that it was in good hands so tonight I coughed up  $AU9.35 or Five GBP to join. Within a minute I had received an activation code  to enter the Members' area on the site which I have yet to explore.

As the requirements to register a surname with this group are not as prescriptive as those of the Guild I think I will resurrect my Australian Curry study and register it with The Surname Society.

Offer from the GOONS

Yorkshire Family History Fair Special Offer

 The Guild of One-Name Studies is offering a special extended membership offer to new members. The offer is available from June 24th to June 26th only at www.one-name.org/yorkoffer.html.

The GOONS at Hawkesbury

Karen Rogers

Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine were nowhere in sight when the GOONS came to The Hawkesbury Family History Group today.

 Karen Rogers, the NSW/ACT regional representative for the GOONS (The Guild of One-Name Studies) in Australia talked about surnames, their history and distribution and one-name studies at the meeting this morning.

After hearing Karen explain that a one-name study is a project researching one surname and all the people who have held it in the world I realised that my idea for researching the Curry surname in Australia did not fit the criteria for a study as a member of  "The Guild of One-Name Studies". I'll put my excel spreadsheets in mothballs and if I ever get around to doing the Currys I will go it alone.

We learnt that here are over 2,000 members studying around 7,850 surnames worldwide. One can check online to see if there is a study underway for one's family names. Karen explained the requirements  for those conducting studies; a great deal of research and preparation is needed before a study is accepted and then a considerable amount of work is required of  a study coordinator who has certain responsibilities such as becoming the world expert on a surname, ongoing research and answering queries within three weeks.

The seven aspects of a study are:

• Data collection
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Publicising the study
• Responding to enquiries
• Publication of results
• Preserving the study

Karen suggested that one needed to be a bit obsessive to conduct a study but that medium size studies are a lot of fun. She said that "after a while people in your study become your family".

Karen also explained that one does not have to conduct a study to join The Guild of One-Name Studies. One can join as an ordinary member and reap the benefits that membership of the society brings.

It's taken me a while to get around to attending a meeting at this society, I was pleased that I chose today to visit. I found Karen's talk fascinating and wished that she would have had more time to further explore the information on her slides.