January 2011 - Hows that?

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mardler
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Joined: October 4th, 2009, 6:28 pm

January 2011 - Hows that?

Post by mardler »

5 letters, but 7 syllables!
Ever heard of the “seven-syllable surname”? Those were the words of Jim from Iowa who registered just after the new year. Seven syllables: count'em: h,o,w,e,s! They say it takes a genius to state the obvious. You qualified, Jim! I hear myself doing it now, every time I give anyone my surname! Are we alone? I don't think so. I bet most of us have that experience. Am I wrong?

Data Entry
It's been a quieter month for data entry, this month. I've been spending a lot of time correcting errors on the file, reducing and standardizing the number of different sources to make the program run more smoothly. I have now fixed about one-half of the incorrect links for current certificates and added about twenty additional certificates. Thanks to those who sent them in.

However, we've still added about 500 new people to the file even while we have eliminated some duplicates. Total is now 33,700. Most of the action has taken place in the West Midlands of England, where we've been pursuing a family of butchers who originated in the Cirencester area, and in Bristol, where I am still working through a large number of facsimile certificates from the Guild of One-Name Studies. Even though only a few Guild members are signed up for our newsletters, I do want to acknowledge the work of those who take on these marriage challenges sometimes looking up the details of over 1,000 marriages for other Guild members, doing it in their own time for the benefit of others, such as us. Marvellous, or marvelous if you're American!

Other developments in the month:
Diversity
Our list of Howes-oriented websites continues to grow and is reaching close to fifty. The current list is here: http://www.howesfamilies.com/histories/feature5.php. We are now much more diverse because during the month we added a private chef, a piano making firm and a golf-course designer! Check'em out! Do you know of other Howes/House/Hows or Howse websites?

Centenarian
A Lloyd Howes of Vankleek Hill, Ontario became 100 years old last week. Congratulations to him and his family, They had 650 guests at the celebration apparently. Were he in our database, he'd be able to look himself up on-line now! Obviously, we'd like to have him in our database. Does anyone know this family?

Pulitzer Prize
Every year a journalist wins this prize for excellence in their craft. Back in 1955, it was won by Royce Bucknam Howes, a descendent of Thomas and Mary Howes who sailed to the US in 1637. I found his Wikipedia page by accident.

Brett Howes, RIP
Finally, many of us watched the floods in Queensland, Australia with a mixture of sympathy and horror. It was made all the more real to me when I found that one of those who died was a Brett Howes, aged just 38. Our thoughts go out to his family.
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