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? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?22 March 2017

Dear Justin, Chris and all,

Chris is quite correct. ?My posting on S.6881 surnames in the 19th Century?

census returns for the Lancashire villages of Upholland and Standish is just a simple spot check intended as a start point to help distant Y-DNA S6881 cousins who may welcome a start for searching in the UK. ?It is not intended to be exhaustive.

The surname Latham and variants is quite common in West Lancashire and just South in the Wirral area of Cheshire (intriguing since this is where many Vikings settled when expelled from Dublin in about 902 AD and Latham is the dative case for an old Norse word for a Barn).

The name Leatham is quite common historically in parts of Scotland and there is another Latham group in Yorkshire. ?I know nothing about their Y-DNA.

Justin may be on to something with linking his surname Horrell with the village of Orrell. ?Orrell is only about one mile from Upholland and many of my proved ancestors in the Nineteenth Century lived around Orrell although their baptisms and burials were at the Upholland parish church of St Thomas the Martyr, and marriages were either there or at Wigan Parish Church. ?Earlier St Thomas the Martyr was a subsidiary chapel of Wigan All Saints Parish Church. There is a Latham Lane and a Latham House Farm just outside Orrell with parts of the building going back to the 16th Century. ?There is another fine 16th Century Elizabethan stone built house in Orrell that was formerly owned by Latham family Yeomen members known then as 'Latham de Orrell'. ?If you wish I can look out my old research notes and send you details.

When the Earl of Stanley (who owned the nearby village of Lathom estate) was executed for treason by Oliver Cromwell after the English Civil War for supporting the King his lands around Upholland were seized by the Commonwealth Government. ?A list of the names of all the tenants survives. ?It does not include the name Latham. ?So we either owned our own land as freeholders or copyholders - or were landless labourers ! ?I can check whether the family name Orrell (or variant) is listed if you wish.

I hope this is some help.

I am very grateful for all the recent posts by Dr Iain Mcdonald and Chris Noble both for DNA tree updates and for their explanations. ?These are a great help in slowly getting up to speed on understanding the DNA technology.

I agree with Ian's list of reasons for pursuing the DNA story. ?I also agree with those who are glad to contribute to the science for the benefit of our descendants. ?When I started to take a layman's interest in silicon chip computers in about 1965 we could not then guess how are lives would come to be transformed by the everyday applications we now use.

Best wishes, ? ? ? ? ? ?Peter Latham.