Ed and Barbara's Life Histories Ed and Barbara have each done a life history. Barbara's is much more comprehensive and has been recently updated with more pictures and a better look. Ed's is essentially an outline. Coming soon! Barbara's Life History (6 MB) Uncle Dick's Genealogy Including Kate's Updates This is the beast! A full 10 MB file of all of Dick's Genealogy. This is obviously only the Gunn line of the family, but it goes WAY back. You need personal ancestral file to read it, which is available for a free download here under the "Order/ Download Products" link. Uncle Dick's Gunn / Ensign / Woodruff Family History For you family history buffs, enjoy! 2nd Generation History - Benjamin Leroy and Fanny Louise Ensign Gunn (212 pages) (22 MB) Parker Family Histories 2nd Generation - George Proctor Parker and Nellie Oliver ParkerGeorge Proctor Parker Patriarchal Blessing (4 pages) (104 KB)3rd Generation - Thomas Battersby and Elizabeth Proctor Parker
(From Parker Family Crest Webpage) The distinguished surname Parker is one of the most notable Anglo/Saxon surnames, and its historical trail has emerged from the mists of time to become an influential surname of the middle ages and of the present day. In an in-depth research of such ancient manuscripts as the Domesday Book compiled in 1086 A.D. by Duke William of Normandy, the Ragman Rolls (1291-1296) collected by King Edward 1st of England, the Curia Regis Rolls, the Pipe Rolls, the Hearth Rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records and other ancient documents, researchers found the first record of the name Parker in Derbyshire, England where they had been seated from very ancient times. Confusing to most, there have been several different spellings in the archives researched. Although the name Parker occurred in many manuscripts, from time to time the surname was also spelt Parker, Parkers, Parkeres, and these changes in spelling frequently occurred between father and son. There is one record of a father and eight sons. In the graveyard where they are buried, all nine have different spellings of their surnames. Many reasons were revealed for these spelling variations but mainly church officials and scribes spelled the names as they were told to them. The family name Parker is one of the most notable of the ancient Anglo/Saxon race. This founding race of England, a fair skinned people led by the Saxon Generals/Commanders Hengist and Horsa, settled in Kent from about the year 400 A.D. The Angles, on the other hand, occupied the eastern coast. The Anglo/Saxon five-century domination of English society was an uncertain time, with the nation being divided into five separate kingdoms, a high king being elected as supreme ruler. By 1066, King Harold came to the throne of England which was enjoying reasonable peace and prosperity. However, the Norman invasion from France and their victory at the Battle of Hastings, found many of the vanquished Saxon land owners forfeiting their land to Duke William and his invading nobles. The became oppressed under Norman rule, and some moved northward to the midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire, even into Scotland. The family name Parker emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Derbyshire. One of the first records of the name was about 1380 during the reign of King Richard II when Thomas Parker of Bulwell is recorded on the border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. The name had been seated there since ancient times. The senior line descending from Thomas Parker, however, became extinct about the sixteenth century. The junior lines produced the Earls of Macclesfield, and the Baronies of Morley and Monteagle, but these latter two baronies have been in abeyance since 1685. Largely from the midland of England the name flourished in the counties of Derby, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Norringham. By the 14th century an important branch evolved in Devonshire at a place called Whiteway. They settled at North Moulton in Devon. They also moved northward to Scotland and William Parker of Kilmon, Perthshire, a parson, rendered homage in 1296, to King Edward I of England on his brief conquest of Scotland. The name continued to flourish in both England and Scotland for the next two or three centuries, particularly in Scotland where the family name acquired lands in Dundee and became associated the Ogilvies. Notable amongst the family at these times was the Earl of Macclesfield. For the next two or three centuries bearers of the surname Parker flourished and played a significant role in the political development of England. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries England was ravaged by religious and political conflict. Puritanism, Catholicism, Royalist and parliamentary forces shed much blood. Many families were freely encouraged to migrate to Ireland, or to the colonies. Some were rewarded with grants of lands, others were banished. In Ireland, settlers became known as the Adventurers seeking land in Ireland. Called "undertakers" they undertook to maintain the Protestant faith. In Ireland this distinguished family were recorded in the 1659 census in all the provinces. Meanwhile the New World beckoned and migration continued, some voluntarily from Ireland, but mostly directly from England or Scotland, their home territories. Some clans and families even moved to the European continent. Kinsman of the family name Parker were among those who sailed aboard the armada of small sailing ships know as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships were pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the passenger list never reaching their destination, their numbers were reduced by sickness of the elements. Principal amongst the settlers which could be considered a kinsman of the surname Parker, or a variable spelling of that family name was Captain George Parker who settled in Accomac Co. 1654; William Parker, who settled in Hartford, Connecticut in 1635; and Neilson Parker who settled in New Jersey. The trek from the port of entry was also arduous and many joined the wagon trains to the prairies or to the west coast. During the American War of Independence, many loyalists made their way north to Canada about 1790, and became known as the United Empire Loyalists. 20th century notables of this surname, Parker, include many distinguished persons, Barrett Parker, American diplomat; Clifford Parker, British lawyer; Sir Edmund Parker, British Company Director; Glenn Parker, American Supreme Court Judge; Raymond Parker, Artist. Research has determined the above Coat of Arms to be the most ancient recorded for the family surname of Parker. Parker Family Links Browsholme Hall - Ancient Home of the Parker Family Clan Gunn Uncle Dick's History of the Gunn Family - Sagebrush and Grass (3.27 MB) Briefly, the Gunn Clan's ancestral tree is mixed in origin with the earliest know inhabitants of the area, the Picts. Later the Celts, Scots, Teutons, Normans, Norse and others intergrated to extend the ancestral tree.Practically without exception, the Highland Clans chieflylaines claim descent from the Norse Vikings. Gunn Clan is no exception; tracing its beginning to King Olaf the Black of Norway. The surname Gunn derives from Gun, Gunnar, or Gunni (depending upon the intepretation of historian) who was a grandson of Sweyn the Pirate of Freswick whose family ruled the earldoms of Orkney and Caithness during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. The modern lineage and Sept families stem from George Gunn, the Crowner of Caithness, born in the first decade of the 15th century and slain with several of his clansmen at the Chapel of St. Tears, near Ackergil, in July 1478. Clans have existed in many parts of the world but n was in the Highlands of Scotland that the clan system developed most fully as a way of life. It ended with the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highlanders on the moors of Culloden, near Inverness, on April 16, 1746. Following this defeat, the Clan system was abolished by law and for many years all weapons were forbidden to the Highlanders, as were the tartans, clan dress, clan symbols and paraphernalia, clan music and gatherings. Even the bagpipe was forbidden as it was considered an instrument of war. At the same time a program known as the "clearances" was carried out with the stated objective of "clearing the Highlanders from the land to make it fit for the raising sheep". It was this program that was largely responsible for the scattering of the Highlanders to the far reaches of the world. When the proscription of the Clans was lifted and King George IV toured Scotland in the 1820's (he was the first monarch to visit Scotland in 175 years), he and his court were adorned in full Highland regalia. Tartans blossomed everywhere, the Clans were revitalized and Clan societies were organized in an attrept to re-establish family ties. The first Gunn Clan Society was founded in 1821 but drifted in the doldrums for the next century and a quarter. About 35 years ago the Gunn Clan Society was reactivated in Scotland and the United Kingdom. In 1969, the Gunn Clan Society was organized in the United States with membership open to all Gunns residing in North America. In 1979 the Gunn Clan Society of Canada was organized. Undoubtedly, other Gunn Clan societies will be organized in the Australia/New Zealand area and possibly in South Africa. This very brief background information is courtesy of the Gunn Clan Society of North America. Clan Gunn Society of North America |
