| Geograph British Isles Project | Aims to collect at geograph.org.uk geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland
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| Local Nostalgia |
Historical Images & Maps. Photographic Publishers since 1860
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| Use of Images |
Images from either the Francis Frith Collection or Geograph.org.uk sites(above), or from FreeFoto.com (link below) may be posted in Smith Chat Topics, but subject to correct source copyright.
Large collection of modern-day photographs. Free to private non-commercial individual users.
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| For the Interest of our Users - Not affiliated | E-Card of the Month by J.Lawson
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| | ** A Selection of SMITH postings ** some old / some new |
This list is changed once every few weeks. So most recent postings
are not always included here.
by Eileen
by j1001k2412 & rintinlynn
by julian
by tiggerpunt
by dawnelyndadawe
by mareeh
by suronda
by alistrsmff
by stark2008
by smithstick...
by sirromy...
by dawnelyndadawe
by Karin
by robert smith |
| UK Vital Records: Free Online Transcriptions |
Heartfelt thanks from everyone at Smith Project to those volunteer transcribers who enable the following databases for the
benefit of us all.
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The FreeUKGEN Projects
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UKBMD.org
BMDs, Census, MI's and
OPC (Parish Registers)
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More Essential and Useful links at
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| | Surname Origin | Smith~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recorded in the spellings of Smith, Smithe, Smythe, and the patronymics Smiths, and Smithson, this is the most popular surname in the English speaking world by a considerable margin. Of pre 7th century Anglo-Saxon origins, it derives from the word 'smitan' meaning 'to smite' and as such is believed to have described not a worker in iron, but a soldier, one who smote. That he also probably wore armour, which he would have been required to repair, may have lead to the secondary meaning. The famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicles sometimes known as the first newspaper, in the 9th century a.d. uses the expression 'War-Smith' to describe a valiant warrior, whilst the later medieval Guild List of specialist trades has blacksmith, whitesmith, tinsmith, goldsmith and silversmith amongst its many members, but no trade of 'smith'. These descriptions of the skilled workers of the Middle Ages were exact, and it is our opinion after studying many early records that the original smiths were probably the guards of the local lord of the manor. This would account for the singular popularity of the name, as the early social records indicate that the trades of tailor and baker were much more prevalent than that of Smith in any form. What is certain is that over five hundred coats of arms have been granted to Smith nameholders, surely an indication of the soldier background, rather than a humble ironworker. The great family Smith is 'first' in all major cities of the English speaking world, yet curiously the greatest concentration of Smith's are in Aberdeenshire, Scotland! Why this should be so is far from clear. Not surprisingly the Smith name was one of the very first into the New American colonies, being held by the famous John Smith (1580 - 1631), explorer and writer, who helped to found the state of Virginia. He was reputedly saved from execution by Pocahontas, the Indian chief's daughter, who died in England in 1622. The first recorded spelling of the family name, and probably the first surname recorded anywhere in the world, is that of Eceard Smid. This was dated 975 a.d., in the English Surname Register for County Durham, during the reign of King Edward of England, known as "The Martyr", 975 - 979 a.d.
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Copyright: Name Origin Research
Surname Scroll
Printed in Olde English script
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