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 & Sandiway, Cheshire, UK

Maps montage 

Speakers include:

Mark Bayley: Pinning Down Your Ancestors

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.

Paul Hindle: Maps for Local History

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).

Howard Benbrook: Most Surnames Come from Somewhere

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.

Members' Maps

Would you like to bring a display or give a short presentation about 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

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Price: £27.50, including a buffet lunch.

Online booking expected to open week commencing 29 June 2026.

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.