Toplis

Toplis One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Toplis

Variants: Toplas, Topless, Topleys, Topliss, Toplisse

Category: 2 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way, but currently in some countries only.

DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/public/Toplis

Contact: Mr Alan Toplis

About the study

I have been studying my family history for over thirty years and like many others I found that I was accumulating a vast amount of data about people with my family name who were apparently not on my direct tree. I have therefore started to compile a one name study with the objective of determining if any of the data I have is in any way related.

In addition to my own tree I currently have about 50 smaller trees where there would appear to be some possible direct relationship and I am working to determine if there is indeed a relationship. DNA is a major contributor to this part of my research.

I have catalogued all occurrences of the name TOPLIS and TOPLISS from the GRO registers from 1837 to 1983 as a first stage in my ONS project. I have transcribed every TOPLIS entry in the Probate Calendars from 1858 - 2019 and have copies of about 80% of the wills.

Variant names

I am currently studying the name Toplis and Topliss but I am aware that there are other variants which might well be linked. I am therefore collecting data on the variants Toplas, Topless, Toplesse and Topleys to test if these are genuine variants.

Name origin

Historical occurrences of the name

There are a few Toplis's who have achieved notoriety in history. These include

- William Arthur Toplis (1857 - 1942) an accomplished marine artist who illustrated the Book of Sark (published in 1908). In 2008 his work and life was the subject of a major exhibition in the Candy Gallery, Guernsey, Channel Islands.

- Francis Percy Toplis (1896 - 1920) aka The Monocled Mutineer. The subject of a book and major film series on BBC television, he was shot by police in Cumbria after being pursued the length and breadth of the UK.

- Claude Martineau Toplis (1871 - 1961) a mechanical engineer who invented and patented the Toplis Level Luffing Crane built by Stother & Pitt Ltd. Until the advent of containerisation this crane was the only method of safely lifting goods to and from the holds of ships

- David John ("Toppo") Topliss (1949 - 2008) Hull Rugby League Football Club legend. Member of the World Cup winning team 1972. Captain of the GB team in 1982.

Name frequency

From the index of the 1881 census produced by the Church of Latter Day Saints, there were 577 TOPLIS name holders recorded in that census.

According to an Office of National Statistics database there were some 774 TOPLIS name holders as of September 2002. This gives a frequency of 1 in 72,222 of the population. This makes it the 8134th most common name in England and Wales.

Distribution of the name

The Toplis name appears to originate in Derbyshire and I have records of the name occurring in the Wirksworth and Matlock area from at least the 1600's. My own family tree currently starts from within the city of Derby with branches out to Sheffield, London and Liverpool.

DNA

I started a DNA project for this ONS in December 2008 and so far I have ten contributors. If you are a male TOPLIS or TOPLISS name holder or know someone who is then you may be interested in contributing. I have a number of FREE Y-DNA test kits which have been donated specifically to assist me in joining up some of the trees which I have so far traced and to find the origin of our name. If you are a male TOPLIS or TOPLISS or one of the variants I am researching why not contact me for details of these kits and to see if I have already started to trace the origin of your part of the family.

You can find our results to date at:

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/toplis/dna-results

Contact Details

Mr Alan Toplis

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Toplis in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 708
Global Marriages (members)* 750
Probate Index* 7
Datastores 13
References to the name Toplis in the Guild Journal 1

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