Week 41: And now for something completely different

I could not begin to tell you how many times I have been asked are you/we related to Michael Palin of Monty Python fame or Sarah Palin ex-Governor of Alaska.  

 Here is the scoop!

NO! 

I want to give everyone a explanation.

I started off researching my maternal Grandfather, Charles Stapleford Palin, family’s history.  After 20 years of research, I guess it is natural that it went backwards and sideways.

When I see a family tree that is let’s say in Australia, I will look to see if that tree goes back to England and if it does,  I will then look to see if it links to our current tree.

I am constantly referring to my "Palin Guru" who has been a great asset and source of information.  Bob Palin, started researching his family tree many, many years ago while living in England.   He went to the local parishes and copied every mention of Palin mentioned in the records.  Bob had graciously shared those records with me, which have been a tremendous help.

Bob, also researched into other “branches” to see if they would hook up to his branch.  He has shared those unrelated trees with me as well. 

One of the greatest tools of Ancestry.com is that if you select a record and attach to a person in a tree it remembers who you have attached it to.  So if you go to attach the same record to someone else, it lets you know you have already attached it to someone else.

With that in mind, I started to upload all the trees that I had.  Somewhere along the line this has become a one name study.

I now have 16 different Palin trees on Ancestry.com and only one is the tree I am related to.   There are so many other lines, that I just have not done yet.  I spend the majority of time researching my own tree.

I have taken the Michael Palin tree back to a Richard Palin and Sarah Durden in the mid 1700’s in Surrey and can’t seem to go back any further. 

I have taken the Sarah Palin – well really her husband Todd Palin’s tree back to 1773 to a Henry Palin and Catherine Whitaker in Nantwich.  There is a strong possibility that we will find the connection to this tree – but until that link is found the answer is still no. 

I have a tree of Palin’s that seemed to be based around Seacombe, Cheshire – no connection found. 

Then of course there is the tree that my Palin “Guru” belongs to that goes back to a John Palin and Mary Gregory in Davenham, Cheshire.  And without that primary source of who is John’s father we can’t link the two branches.  I have a strong suspicion who the link might be – but we need the proof!

Then there is a tree going back to Runcorn in 1732 – no links found.

I have another tree going back to a Robert Palin born 1812 in Middlesex – no link found.

There is also a tree that goes back to a Stephen Palin married in Chester in 1693.  Again I can’t seem to go back any further.  

There is also a Palin tree based in Durham and the earliest marriage is between a John Palin and Elizabeth Storey in Houghton Le Spring, Durham in 1724. 

I even have a Pierre Palin tree born in 1805 in Quebec and his parents came from France. 

There is a USA tree going back to a Thomas Palin born in Pasquotank, North Carolina in 1680.  His father was a Henry Palin that came from England – but I don’t know from where in England to make that connection. 

See, the issue is the records before the 1837 were kept individually by the parishes.  The people who kept and recorded the events were literate but most of the parishioners were not and had no way of knowing how to spell their name.

I have seen Palyn, Palen, Pailen, Paling, ect.

The biggest stumbling block and the “brick wall” that I have in most trees goes back to a marriage record around the 1700’s and there is no mention of the groom or brides parents and no mention of where they may have been born in that marriage record.  So without knowing for sure who the parents are, we can’t back another generation.  Sometimes I might get lucky and find a birth record in the same place as the marriage record – but that does not happen too often.

So until then, we just keep building up the trees we have and hopefully, one day we can find those missing links!

But if anyone knows of any links - please let me know!