johnadams.org.uk

OK, I realise I have not blogged for a little while, so here are a few pictures of the nieces and nephews from our recent trips to Andover and Ireland.

Andover

Running around The Vyne…

Ballymoney

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands…”

“Sisters, sisters…”

More on Flickr for the family!

My father, John Adams, was a wonderful gardener, but sadly died 9 years ago at the age of 64. On his last day he spent over eight hours in his garden. Not a bad way to go.

The garden has been kept tidy since then but has not had the same effort, love and care lavished on it. Nature is trying to take over again.

For example, this Belfast sink was planted by Dad with a series of perennials and annuals. Now the perennials have taken over and have reverted to type.

His shed is still in the same condition as he left it. My garage (i.e. large garden shed) looks much the same, maybe it’s genetic!

I often wish he was still around to share gardening tips and stories.

More pictures are in my Neglected Garden set on Flickr.

Jacqueline got a letter from the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh today stating that her application to be an Irish citizen by post-nuptual declaration has been approved. She now needs to send €127.62 so that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform can issue her certificate of citizenship.

So it will be a double celebration of St Paddy’s Day in the Adams household this year!

A new website was launched yesterday: www.spatial-literacy.org/uclnames/. This shows the geographical distribution of people with particular surnames in 1881 and 1998.

I looked up some family names:

Adams | Full profile | Hide Adams maps

Adams 1998

Adams 1881

The 1881 map shows a strong concentration in NE Scotland, as well as in the south of England. I always thought that the Adamses originally moved to Ireland from Scotland, but I may be wrong.

The present-day geographic distribution within Britain and Ireland is interesting. Northern Ireland has 118% of the GB occurrence of the Adams name, while the Republic of Ireland only has 25% of the GB occurrence. This probably reflects the strong ethnic bias of the Adams name in the Ulster-Scots population.

Thompson | Full profile | Show Thompson maps

Thompson1998

Thompson1881

Again, I had thought that the Thompson name was mainly Scottish, but from these maps it looks like it is predominantly from Northern England.

Reid | Full profile | Show Reid maps

Reid 1998

Reid 1881

Predominantly Scotland, as expected.

Morrison | Full profile | Show Morrison maps

Morrison 1998

Morrison 1881

Strong concentration in the NW Highlands and in the Outer Hebrides. This is not the normal catchment for migration to Ulster in the 17th and 18th centuries, but there may be a link following the Clearances?

Pinchbeck | Full profile | Show Pinchbeck maps

Pinchbeck 1998

Pinchbeck 1881

As expected, the main Pinchbeck concentration is near Lincolnshire (the village of Pinchbeck is near Spalding).

Unfortunately the maps for Ireland are not yet available on the site. It would be interesting to see the distribution of the names in Ireland.

We went to the Glasgow Science Centre yesterday. Some excellent exhibits and activities, including a good section on nanotechnology and the ability to make an animation morphing between photos of Britney Spears and me (OK, that’s weird).

One of my favourite exhibits is the infrared camera. Everyone had been complaining how cold our house was so we tried to find out who had the coldest extremities. I had my phone with me so we took a few pictures: