The family history - Villingen and the German cousins
Derek Distel's family history, typed narrative. Derek discusses his genealogical research methodology, family surname changes (Blundel to Webb through marriage), estate disputes involving overseas brothers in Germany, court proceedings led by his father, and the depth of family records traced back to the 1500s.
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What the page says
DEREK DISTEL
THE FAMILY HISTORY
I've done a lot of research into the family history and in my family some of it varies a little; some of the accounts are questionable. Blundels turn into Webbs, etc. through marriage and were designed to keep the family name going. In one case the line ran out into a girl and we probably had, shall we say, a claim on the estate but it never went through; but it has to be recorded at this stage. One of the brothers over there, in Germany, challenged the estate. Three overseas brothers claimed that they should get a share; but their father had divided things equally. The overseas brothers had perhaps gotten a little less. My father had gotten snooty about it and fought it through the courts; the courts won. As an outsider he had no hope. That's about it. It's the family that we come from; you have to record that sort of thing, it's wrong not to.
You'll find I've recorded lines coming in and going out. I've tried to be very inclusive. I've been able to trace back to the 1500's. The cousins are terribly embarrassed. They said, "The church burnt down!"
People: Derek DISTEL, Blundel, Webb
Places: Germany
Interesting facts
Why a surname drifts. Before spelling was standardised a name was whatever a clerk, priest or census-taker heard and wrote. One family could carry three spellings at once, and the version that stuck is often just the one a registrar preferred.
Genealogy before the internet. In the 1990s this meant writing to parish and record offices and waiting weeks for a reply, or winding through microfilm at a library. The searchable indexes that make it look easy now arrived after 2000, after most of this work was done.
