Mapping your One-Name Study

In-Person Seminar: Where did they come from? Where did they go? How did they get there? Tools and resources for plotting and visualising a One-Name Study.
Location: Cuddington and Sandiway, Cheshire, UK

Speakers include:

Pinning Down Your Ancestors - Mark Bayley 

Mark is the Head of Development at TheGenealogist.  In this visually engaging talk, Mark Bayley explores how the latest map-based records can transform the way you research your family history. Moving beyond names and dates, he demonstrates how to use tools such as surname mapping and heat maps to uncover where families lived, how they moved over time, and how communities were shaped.  

Discover how to use georeferenced census records, land surveys, and other location-based resources to place your ancestors in their exact streets, properties, and neighbourhoods. By combining powerful search techniques with detailed cartography, this session shows how geography can provide the missing context that brings your ancestors’ lives into sharper focus.

Maps for Local History - Paul Hindle

Paul looks at the availability, coverage and accuracy of county, estate, enclosure, tithe, town, transport and Ordnance Survey maps. He discusses the use and value of maps as evidence in local history.  A retired university Senior Lecturer in Geography, Paul is the author of books including Maps for Historians (Phillimore, 1998), Medieval Town Plans ( Shire, 2002), and Road & Tracks for Historians (Phillimore, 2001). See Paul Hindle: Home

Most Surnames Come from Somewhere - Howard Benbrook

Can you identify the origin of a name like MURPHY, or LLEWELYNN? Is that an obvious question? Have you considered why that is? Probably because most of the people you know with that name come from those places - but what about other surnames that might also be identified as belonging to a specific place? In this talk, Howard will demonstrate that surnames, transferred over many years in British culture through the male line, can often be shown to have a distinct ‘footprint’ that can help to identify its origin. And, of course, there raises the prospect of a parallel with Y-DNA studies…

Howard is President of the Guild of One-Name Studies. His study name is BENBROOK.

Beyond the Map: What place can reveal about a one-name study - Paul Carter

Maps are often used to show where people lived. Used well, they can become a powerful research tool.

This presentation explores how place data can reveal surname origins, migration patterns, family clusters, occupational communities and unexpected connections within a one-name study.

Using examples drawn from real one-name studies and practical demonstrations from Name & Place, Paul Carter shows how structured place information can transform simple maps into analytical tools that help researchers ask new questions and identify new lines of enquiry.

The session explores practical approaches to recording place data, understanding place hierarchies and identifying geographic hotspots, showing how geography can become an important part of one-name study methodology rather than simply a way of displaying results.

Paul Carter is a software developer and genealogist, the creator of Name &Place (www.nameandplace.com), the ground-breaking software solution for researchers of one-name studies, one-place studies, house and local history projects. Paul is a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies, studying FOOKES.

Mapping Families using Google My Maps - Melody McKay Burton

Melody will demonstrate how she uses this free software to map families in her TICKLE study.  Melody is Production Manager for the Guild. Melody began work in the newspaper industry before taking a degree in Computer Science. She became an IT and Marketing lecturer and consultant, especially focused on the internet from its early days. She retired over 20 years ago to go sailing but still likes to play with websites and software (and boats…)

Members' Maps

Would you like to bring a poster display or give a short presentation or demonstration of how you have used or created maps for your One-Name Study? Please get in touch with us at chairman-seminar-team@one-name.org

Timetable

Time	Title	Speaker
09.30 – 10.00	Registration and Coffee
10.00 – 10.10	Welcome	Mary McCarthy (8675)
10.10 – 11.10	Pinning Down Your Ancestors (live via Zoom, with Q&A)	Mark Bayley  (The Genealogist)
11.10 – 11.15	Comfort break
11.15 – 12.15	Maps for Local History	Paul Hindle (Historical Geographer)
12.15 – 13.15	Lunch & Poster Displays/Bookstall
13.15 – 14.15	Most Surnames Come from Somewhere	Howard Benbrook (3112)
14.15 – 14.20	Comfort break
14.20 – 15.20	Beyond the Map: what place can reveal about a One-Name study	Paul Carter (6064, Name and Place)
15.20 – 15.45	Tea & Poster Displays/Bookstall
15.45 – 16.45	Mapping families using Google My Maps	Melody McKay Burton (7997)
16.45	Close

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Price: £27.50, including a buffet lunch.

Online booking expected to open week commencing 29 June 2026 here: Seminar Events: Mapping your One-Name Study

Venue:

Cuddington and Sandiway Village Hall, 93 Norley Rd, Cuddington, Northwich CW8 2LA  

• Wheelchair accessible
• Free car park
• Wi-Fi available
• Public transport options available

Public Transport: Cuddington & Sandiway Village Hall is 0.2 miles from Cuddington Station, on the line from Manchester Piccadilly to Chester; hourly service, 1 h 5 m journey.  Alternatively for North / South travel (Runcorn/Liverpool & Crewe) use Hartford station (to the southwest of Northwich) then Number 82 bus (18 minutes) or taxi/lift (6 minutes).

Road: 11.6 miles (21 minutes) from M6 Junction 18/19 Knutsford, via A556. 12.2 miles (29 minutes) from Warrington via A49. Shell petrol station at the A49/A556 junction.  View in Map