Selected correspondence to the WFHS

May 25, 2006

Did you know that Dudley D Watkins of Scotland listed in the Famous 
Watkins People was actually the brother-in-law of Arthur V Watkins 
the senator from Utah?  Dudley's sister Dorothy Watkins married 
Arthur (also in the Famous Watkins people list) and moved from 
England to Utah. I am Dudley's grandson.

Regards,

Philip Watkins   

Hello Merryn

 

Nice name, "Keldyn".  My grand-daughter's name is Anwyn.  And indeed, these are all Welsh-derived names.  There are some in Wales that claim that WATKINS was originally WATCYN (as there are no K nor I in Welsh).  The theory that we seem to favor is the one that attributes this "Kin" or "Kins" thing to the Flemish settlement (or invasion, as you may prefer) in south Wales around 1100-1200, and their peculiar habit of nick-naming folks they were familiar with.  Much as we might use Danny for Daniel, or Bobby for Robert in the Anglicized language, they apparently used "kin" after a formal name (probably the family name at this early date, although that's unclear), such that all throughout the south of Wales in the early years of surname formation there appeared not only Watkins, but Perkins, Hopkins, and several others.

 

From Ancestry.com:

 

Watkins

English (also frequent in Wales): patronymic from the personal name Watkin.

Watkin

English: from a pet form of Wat(t), a short form of Walter.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

Watkins — used at one time as a personal name in some parts; a dim. of Walters. Gwatkin, Watkiss.

 

In addition to the above aberrant spellings, I have seen some even crazier ones.  I believe this is largely due to our ancestors being somewhat illiterate (as was the majority of humanity, except for an elite class), or the census enumerators taking liberties, along with filing clerks in counties and townships where vital statistics were first recorded.  Some well meaning person may have run across a Watkins cousin, and was supposed to document the name, but used some form of phonetic spelling, such that we find Watcinge, Wadkiss, Wadkins, Watkyns, and so on.  I think I counted 23 varieties at one time.

 

Hope this sort of answers your question.  Have a nice naming party!

 

Best Regards

 

Buzz Watkins

Georgia, USA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Buzz in Georgia - this is Merryn in St Andrews Beach, Vic, Australia.  Just wanted to thank you so very much for your little contribution and assistance regarding the name Watkins that you sent us last week.  We had a lovely naming day for our little one Keldyn Flynn Watkins (born july 16 2005). It was great to be able to confirm and embellish a little more about the surname at the ceremony.  Love your grand daughter's name too by the way.

Kind regards, Merryn

 

April 30, 2006

My name is Paola Adriazola and I am a Journalism and Political 
Science student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. This 
is the first time I visit your Web site and I really like the work 
you are doing. I am writing because I read your list of famous 
Watkins people and I think you are missing one very important 
individual. You mention Elizabeth Miller Watkins, the wife of J.B. 
Watkins, in his bibliography, but you don\'t really go deeper into 
her role in the Lawrence and KU communities. I have to say that my 
life has been very influenced by her work, even if she lived back in 
the 19th and early 20th century. I live in Watkins Scholarship Hall, 
a communitarian housing unit on campus, where other 48 female 
students of great academic and leadership potential live. Elizabeth 
Miller Watkins built Watkins Hall in 1926 and in 1936 she built a 
second scholarship Hall called Miller. In her will, she left great 
contributions for non-profit organization such as Lawrence Memorial 
Hospital, First Presbyterian Church of Lawrence, the Presbyterian 
Tuberculosis Sanitarium in New Mexico, Father Flanagan’s Home for 
Homeless Boys in Nebraska, and Bethel College in Newton, Kan.
I think (and I am sure at least 90 women living in Watkins and Miller 
Halls would completely agree) that she is a wonderful member of the 
Watkins family we should remember and be proud of.

Sincerely,
Paola Adriazola
 

March, 2006

I have an extensive family history that may help many Watkins 
families trace their history.
I have gone to the archives in both Virginia and Maryland to document 
my findings. An earlier researcher had made mistakes in recording the 
family history thereby omitting an important base for many of 
Americas first English settlers. Because of the many deaths that took 
place during the settlement period, many lines have been lost. Is 
there an actual snail mail sight that I can send this important work 
to?   Watkins_88@hotmail.com