The Family Tree

For years I have been fascinated with my family heritage and I always wanted to research my lineage. It began when I found the origins of my family names Slade and Johnson some years back while I was at college. I was born in Liverpool in the UK and my research has the British Isles in mind as far as conquests and immigration is concerned. Slade being an Anglo-Saxon name that came over with the Germanic Vikings and Johnson a Norman name which possibly came over around the time of the battle of 1066, the names included in this blog mainly concern families that are from or that have settled here in the UK and names created through settlement and conquest.

In recent days I have begun building a family tree on the web site, Myheritage, My search has come up with some interesting family names, some of which I have been able to trace back to the late 1700's, including some names such as Ormsby, Williams, Kearns, Lawie, Dwyer, Metcalf,and Hood.

The one name I have had trouble researching is the name Bellis, which as far as I know, originates with two of my ancestors, Jacob and Issac Bellis, who were of Jewish Sicilian/Italian decent, hence the biblical given/first names. As the names of some immigrants are usually altered or shortened on arrival at their destination, tracing our particular family name Bellis back to Sicily, has proven problematic to say the least. I am still researching. I have posted some of the family names here for posterity. On the Slade side of the family, which is my fathers side, I have managed to trace the family name Dwyer to a John O'Dwyer 1795 and on the Johnson side of my family, which is my Mothers side, to Jacob Bellis, born in 1821 and James Kearns 1799.

One name I am particularly fascinated with is the Scottish name Ormsby, which originates from a Viking named Orm, who whilst in battle with the Scotts, had his leg severed off with a broad sword. Orm threw his severed leg on to the Scottish land being fought over, in order to claim it as his own. A severed leg appears on the Ormsby coat of arms. Here I have posted some research of a number of the names found and a lengthy description of the Ormsby story. I have also posted a family history and the Genealogy of my family. I will continue to update each post as I research further.