Seven Pillars Webinars

Watch a 20 minute presentation about one-name studies, then listen to a round table discussion with Peggy Chapman, Paul Featherstone, Julie Goucher and Karen Rogers, who share a bit about their studies.

This talk gives an overview of the history and distribution of surnames, with a particular focus on surnames originating in the British Isles. The one-name study approach can sometimes provide breakthroughs that would not be possible by restricting research to your own family tree. Learn how genealogists can discover more about their own surnames and make a major contribution to the field of surname research. 

Learning how others go about gathering, organising, and using data is helpful in deciding what approach you might want to take. Two Guild members describe how they work their one-name studies, including the resources and software they use, how they organisee their studies and share their work with the genealogy community.

Now What? Do Something with Your Data, Howard Mathieson

This presentation by Howard Mathieson demonstrates the approach used by surname researchers to trace a surname to its origin. Learn about the methodology of determining the origin of surnames so you can apply that methodology to your own surname – wherever it originated in the world. 

This webinar focuses on how including a study of Y-DNA can be a very useful addition to a one-name Study or surname research. Learn how a Y-DNA Project can add an extra dimension to any One-Name Study. 

Whether you are just beginning your one-name study or you are years in, there are many things you can do to share your study – newsletters, blogs, social media posts and pages, websites, surname family trees on free and subscription websites, articles, and events & reunions. Find out how two Guild members go about sharing their research, family reconstructions, and stories with the world. 

An overview of how two Guild members preserve and publish their one-name studies, plus a discussion of methods Guild members can use to publish their own studies. Jim Benedict and Jim Culbert provide tips, share best practices, and answer questions about safeguarding and publishing your study.

New members often worry about how to start or what to focus on first. This webinar is a great tutorial for those who have not yet registered a surname, members who have registered a surname but are still at the beginning stages, and long-term members who might want to share their experiences.

Is the surname that you want to research a “foreign” one? Perhaps you don’t speak the language or you wonder how you will handle translations, foreign record offices and websites, or putting your study together for a world-wide audience. Michael Cassara and Julie Goucher explain how they each do Italian surname research and work on their Italian one-name studies. 

No matter how much we think we know, our studies can always be improved by a refresh – whether that is delving into a new record set, taking our research to a new country, or perhaps learning more about DNA to include it as part of our study. Tessa Keough provides tips and suggestions on the educational opportunities that are available to help you.