A TO Z BLOGGING CHALLENGE 2019

CELEBRATING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE A2Z BLOGGING CHALLENGE

I have not participated in the A2Z Blogging Challenge for a few years, due to health issues and other commitments, but I have decided that I should not miss this year's special TENTH ANNIVERSARY A2Z blogging challenge. This is my first post of the 2019 challenge and since while attending the Rootstech Conference in Salt Lake City in February, I joined the Surname Society, I have decided to make the theme of my A2Z challenge Surnames on my Family Tree. 

I will list, according to the alphabet letter of the day, the surnames of my ancestors (and relatives) that begin with that letter. For the second part of each blog I will choose an ancestor's name that begins with the appropriate letter and write a little about that ancestor and the surname itself.

Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Licence

SURNAMES ON MY FAMILY TREE BEGINNING WITH 'A'

• Abbott - Ingham, Australia
• Abraham - England
• Absolom - London, England
• Adcock - New Zealand
• Addison - Scoonie, Leven, Fifeshire, Scotland
• Ade - Germany
• Aigle - Konnigsbronn, Baden- Wurrtemberg, Germany
• 
  

Konnigsbronn, Baden-Wurrtemberg, Germany. Wikimedia creative Commons Licence.

• Aiglin - Itzelberg, Heidenheim, Baden - Wurrtemberg, Germany
• Airley - Ireland
• Akers - Nottinghamshire, England
• Albrecht - Konnigsbronn, Baden- Wurrtemberg, Germany
• Allis - Lincolnshire, England
• Alliss - Newark Upon Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
• Allison - Embleton Northumberland
• 
  

Embleton Bay, Northumberland, England. Wikimedia Creative Commons Licence.

• Alvarez - New Mexico
• Anderson - County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
• Anderton - Lincolnshire, England
• Arbib - Tiploi, Libya
• Armcoat - Chesterfield, Derbyshire
• Arthur - Cumbernauld, Scotland
• Augle - Konnigsbronn, Baden - Wurrtemberg, Germany
• Ault - Leicester, England

SURNAME ALLISON

The earliest known place of my Allison family is Embleton, Northumberland. My sixth great grandfather, George Allison married Mary Rawfield on 1 July 1731[1]. The marriage record for George Allison and Mary Rawfield state that Mary was born in Warkworth, which is around three hours south of Embleton[2] (on foot).

Warkworth to Embleton Northumberland Google Maps

George and Mary Allison had four children, William, George, Isabell and Mary. The youngest child, named for her mother Mary, was born in early 1742 and baptised in Embleton, Northumberland on February 13 of that same year [4]. 
Mary Allison married Roger Gair (born Embleton 1742 [5]) on 21 April 1771 and became my fifth great grandmother, leaving the carrying on of the Allison surname to her brothers, William and George.

POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF THE SURNAME ALLISON

It is unclear where my family surname of ALLISON originated. According to different sources, the surname Allison is believed to have several origins both English and Scottish. Since Northumberland borders Scotland I can not rule out that my Allisons came from Scotland but as yet I have traced them to the early 1700's in Northumberland. 

Ancestry.com gives the following explanation of the name Allison - 

• English and Scottish: patronymic from a Middle English male personal name: in most cases probably Allen, but other possibilities include a variant of Ellis or a short form of Alexander. In some instances, it may be from a female personal name, Alise or Alice (see Allis).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press [6]

The Forebears website gives an alternate theory -

Allison Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Alice.'

Richard fil. Alice, Oxfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Nicholas fil. Alicie, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Isabel fil. Alice, Oxfordshire, ibid.[7]

The House of Names website states the following origins for the Scottish surname Allison -

The Clan from whom the Allison family descends began among the ancient Dalriadan kingdom of the west coast ofScotland. Their name comes from the name for the son of "Ellis" or Ellis' son. Conversely, the surname could be is derived from "Alice" as in "the son of Alice." It is likely though that the name was derived from "Ellis" rather than the femalepersonal name. [8]

English Surname Allison -

The surname Allison was first found in the county of Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow, where they acquired some time before 1300 the territories of their family seat at Loupe. They were descended from Angus Mor MacDonnell, Lord of the Isles, their Gaelic name was MacAllister, and it is difficult through history to distinguish one name from the other. [8]

FOOTNOTES
1. Marriage of George Allison and Mary Rawfield, England Select Marriages, 1538-1973, Ancestry.com.
2. Warkworth to Embleton, Northumberland, Google Maps, April 2019.
3. Births of children to George Allison and Mary Rawfield, Familysearch.
4, Baptism of Mary Allison, 13 february 1742, England and Wales Christening Records 1530-1906, Ancestry.com.
5. Baptism of Roger Gair, 19 August 1742, England and Wales Christening Records 1530-1906, Ancestry.com.
6. Surname Allison, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/name-origin?surname=allison, accessed April 2019
7. Allison Surname Meanings, Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames/allison, accessed April 2019.
8. Early origins of the Allison Family, thehouseofnames.com, https://www.houseofnames.com/allison-family-crest, accessed April 2019.