Threlkeld Name Study

Profile managers: Edison Williams [send private message] and One Name Studies WikiTree [send private message]

The Threlkeld Name Study is also registered with the Guild of One Name Studies.

Overview

If you have the ancient English surname Threlkeld—or any common variant spellings including, but not limited to, Thrailkill, Threlkel, Thurlkill, and Threldkeld—in your family tree, I hope you will join our Study and help build a valuable resource for people studying direct or related lines.

WikiTree is the for-record repository of family tree information (individuals and their ancestors and descendants). The Threlkeld One-Name Study website at ThrelkeldFamily.org is operated concurrently and is the repository for reference materials, unique family artifacts like photographs and bible records, and project activities related to the Study.

You can view a list of all WikiTree profiles that have been added to the Threlkeld One-Name Study at our Category page.

The Threlkeld Study is registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies

In keeping with principles of the Guild of One-Name Studies, the Threlkeld One-Name Study is global in scope, and it seeks to examine all instances of the surname and associated variant spellings in all timeframes.

Participation

There is no obligatory time commitment or work responsibility required. Contribute as you like, when you can. Researching and refining the documentation of your own Threlkeld ancestry is obviously of enormous value.

To keep abreast of WikiTree communications dealing with the Study, add the G2G tag "Threlkeld" or "Thrailkill," the two most prevalent spellings of the surname.

To view individual WikiTree profiles currently associated with the effort, please visit the Study's WikiTree Category page.

Category Code

To get started as a Study participant, all you need to do is add the Study's WikiTree Category Code to the profiles of people you manage who were born with the surname or any of its variant spellings:

[[Category:Threlkeld Name Study]]

Just copy and paste that line immediately above the "== Biography ==" line of the relevant profiles that you manage. Simple and easy. This adds the profile automatically to the page that maintains a list of all associated profiles. If you don't wish to have the ONS sticker displayed near the top of the biography section of a profile, using only this Category code will include the profile in the Study in an unobtrusive way.

Profile Stickers

Optionally, there are two WikiTree "stickers" you can use to highlight your Threlkeld profiles.

Sticker for Ancestral Profiles

This profile is part of the Threlkeld Name Study.

The first is specifically for Threlkeld (and related variant) lineages. It can be used in place of the Category code shown above: including the sticker automatically adds a profile to the Category. Category information now appears at the very bottom of the profile page, so if you wish to better highlight that the profile is part of the Study you can add this sticker directly underneath the "== Biography ==" line:

{{One Name Study|name=Threlkeld}}

The result—with a unique icon designed for the Study—will look like the small box at right, above.

Sticker for Your Own Profile

... ... ... is a member of the Threlkeld Name Study Project.

The second sticker is for use only on the profiles of living people who are participating in the Study. Like you! Again, paste it underneath the "== Biography ==" line:

{{Member|ONS|name=Threlkeld}}

It will look something like the second box on the right, but your name will be inserted automatically in place of the dots that you see.

Associated Guild of One-Name Studies Program

The Village of Threlkeld at the southern base of Blencathra. The course of Kilnhow Beck, which the village was built around, is clearly seen through the mountain. The first documented use of Threlkeld as a place-name was in 1220, but the village has likely existed in some form since the time of the Danelaw, circa 900 AD.

The Study is operated in conjunction with a registered Guild of One-Name Studies effort. A for-purpose, extensive website has been built that includes, among other features, a curated and collaborative repository of reference and source materials. See an overview of the Study and what's available at the Study website.

At the Study's website, you can also read about the etymology and origins of the Threlkeld surname, dating back to the time of the Danelaw in circa 10th century England, and read a 19th century article summarizing some of the earliest known appearances of the surname in written records.

In association with the Study, we also administer the Threlkeld Surname DNA Project at Family Tree DNA. Y-chromosome testing results are updated there; autosomal testing information is maintained, where appropriate, at WikiTree and at the Study website. As significant atDNA triangulation groups are identified, a new feature will be added to illustrate these for easier reference.

I hope you'll join us in our collaborative initiative to improve knowledge globally about this ancient surname of English knights and lords. Please contact me via WikiTree or from the Study's website if you have any questions or comments about the Threlkeld One-Name Study or the Threlkeld Surname DNA Project.

Surname Variants

A portion of the ancient Castlerigg Stone Circle viewed at dawn. Two miles southwest of the Village of Threlkeld, the standing stones were erected around 3200 BC, making them centuries older than Stonehenge.

The primary surname of the Study, Threlkeld, was first in documented use by 1282 in northern England, but as a place-name it was extant at least century or more prior to that. Phonetically, the name has lent itself to a broad number of variant and deviant spellings (deviant is a term coined by the Guild of One-Name Studies to describe a surname spelling that is simply accidental or an aberration, one that was never commonly adopted and used for an extended period).

While other spellings are both acknowledged and welcomed, the following surnames, in alphabetical order, are the ones most closely associated with the Study:

• Thrailkeld
• Thrailkill
• Threldkeld
• Threlkel
• Threlkeld
• Thurlkill

To date, we have cataloged 29 valid variant spellings. Another grouping of surnames that may well be associated based on etymology and location of origin are categorized as Threlfall/Threlfell/Threfall; we have seven of these spellings cataloged.

Perhaps the surnames most often incorrectly associated with Threlkeld we categorize as Threadgill/Threadgold/Treadgold. While there certainly may have been instances where the names Threadgill and Threlkeld were confused or intermingled, Threadgill is etymologically very different and almost certainly unrelated in origin. These surnames don't even stem from Old Norse roots as do Threlkeld and Threlfall. We have 17 Threadgill/Threadgold/Treadgold variants cataloged.

The Threlkeld One-Name Study website at ThrelkeldFamily.org

Similar is a group of surnames we categorize as Thirkell/Thirkettle/Thirkill. We've cataloged 29 variant spellings in this group. This too is a dithematic name composed of two Old Norse roots, but they differ significantly from those that originated Threlkeld. In this case, the surname is a direct derivation of an Old Norse personal name, Thorketill, combining the name of Thor, god of thunder in Scandinavian mythology, with ketill, meaning a cauldron, specifically one intended for sacrificial purposes.

Examples of deviant spellings include Trellkeld, Threlekelde, and Threlikeld. These types of instances are likely simple mistakes occuring from phonetic spelling. While they do appear in genealogical source documents, when they do so only once or twice.

Free Reference Resources from the Threlkeld One-Name Study Website

• Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (1888) Series 1, Volume IX. "The Threlkelds of Threlkeld, Yanwath, and Crosby Ravensworth." William Jackson. F.S.A. (pp. 298-317). PDF format, searchable, 4.4 MB. This is a seminal paper about the first documented uses of the Threlkeld surname by an esteemed and prolific researcher of northwest England. (Note: This article is being left in place permanently as a resource for members of the Threlkeld One-Name Study.)

• "Index of Threlkeld Records Available at FreeBMD, 25 July 2020" compiled and sorted by the Threlkeld One-Name Study. This is an index-only report of the searchable records available at FreeBMD (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/). Pulled from the 2 July 2020 update, the index can help you locate a specific record of interest among FreeBMD's transcriptions and images of the Civil Registration index of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales dating back to Q1 1837. The index contains 1,422 entries; PDF format, 785KB.

Interactive Map from Aleš Trtnik and WikiTree+

This interactive world map can be adjusted to filter for various options, and you can pan around the map and even zoom in to display the names of the individuals whose profiles are categorized as part of the WikiTree Threlkeld One-Name Study. The image below is, of course, only a static example.

Example Interactive Map from Aleš Trtnik and WikiTree+. Click here for full map.

Here is the URL to view the fully-interactive map: https://plus.wikitree.com/findmap.htm?aid=Threlkeld_Name_Study&grouptype=C. You can use the URL to link to the map from any WikiTree profile or FreeSpace page you wish. The map content is updated automatically as new profiles are added to the Threlkeld One-Name Study.

Geographic/Structural Features Using the Name Threlkeld

Summary of Relevant Links

• The WikiTree FreeSpace page for the Study (this page)

• The Study's WikiTree Category page, showing linked profiles

• The Study's primary website

• The Threlkeld Surname DNA Project at Family Tree DNA

• The Study's profile page at the Guild of One-Name Studies

• A summary table of all the features of, and tools used in, the Threlkeld One-Name Study

• CountingChromosomes.com/blog, the blog written in conjunction with the Study

• TheTribune.news, a daily aggregate of news and articles from around the world related to genetics, genealogy, history, and linguistics

• We're @ThrelkeldStudy and @Geneanetics on Twitter

Latest News & Updates

5 FEB 2023 — Family Tree DNA have added a nifty—and much requested—feature to their DNA Group Projects. This is based upon the relatively new Time Tree feature. This augments the valuable Block Tree (designed by Alex Williamson) which gives us a modular grouping of ancestral and derived SNPs for individual test takers. The Time Tree extends that to provide us a chronological view, estimating the coalescence points along the yDNA genetic tree:

FTDNA Big Y Block Tree vs. Time Tree

It's important to note that the Group Project Time Trees display only those participants who have taken a Big Y test. Lower resolution results are not sufficient to arrive at reasonably accurate chronological estimates. It's also worth mentioning that there are, so far, very few Big Y test-takers in the Threlkeld DNA Project. We need more! If you're a patrilineal-line Threlkeld, please consider taking a Big Y test and joining the project.

When you first access the project's Time Tree it will show only the earliest known SNP: the coalescence point of all test-takers to date. There are checkboxes and a slider to the left of the display window where you can elect to view all results for every Big Y test-taker in the project, or only display results for select subgroups.

Click here to view the Threlkeld DNA Project Time Tree at FTDNA.

18 FEB 2022 — Courtesy of Aleš Trtnik and WikiTree+, we've added a nifty new feature to the Threlkeld One-Name Study: an interactive map that provides geolocation information for birth, death, and movement paths for all profiles Categorized as part of the ONS. The map can be adjusted to filter for various options, and you can pan around the map and even zoom in to display the names of the individuals shown. The list of profiles is pulled from the Category listing, so the display is dynamic: adding the study's Category or profile sticker will automatically include a profile in the map.

2 FEB 2022 — Not on the genealogy side of things, but as an item of additional interest we've added a table of over 20 geographic locations that use the name Threlkeld in England, Australia, and the United States. We start, of course, with the township of Threlkeld in Cumbria. Each entry provides a location hierarchy, the approximate latitude and longitude, and a link to the area on Google Maps. Some of these are unexpected, like Threlkeld Pass (near which meanders Cumberland Creek, Cumberland being the county name in England that was changed to Cumbria), elevation 10,862 feet, in the southeast sector of the Bridger-Teton National forest in Wyoming, overall a part of Yellowstone National Park.

26 JUL 2020 — Thanks to the fine folks at FreeBMD (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/), we've added another reference resource for the Threlkeld ONS: "Index of Threlkeld Records Available at FreeBMD, 25 July 2020." This an index-only compilation of the searchable records available among FreeBMD's transcriptions and images of the Civil Registration index of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales dating back to Jan-Mar 1837. In Adobe Acrobat PDF format, the index contains 1,422 entries, each providing enough detail to allow you to easily search for and view the associated full record at FreeBMD.

26 SEP 2019 — Changes have been made to the use of profile stickers in WikiTree One-Name Studies. The modifications have been incorporated into this page in the Participation section.

In addition to adding the Category to Threlkeld profiles that you manage, now that Categories appear only at the bottom of profile pages you can add a sticker directly under the profile's Biography heading to clearly show that "This profile is part of the Threlkeld Name Study." We've even designed a unique, new icon just for the purpose.

And now there's also a sticker you can add to your own profile to show that you are a member of the Study.

19 JUN 2019 — Registration is open (deadline 10 July) for the first annual Connect-a-Thon that will run from 8 a.m. (EDT) Friday, 12 July 2019 through 8 a.m. (EDT) Monday, 15 July. This event is all about adding new (and properly sourced) profiles that connect with profiles already in the tree. For example (speaking from personal experience, ahem) say you entered your 3g-grandparents two years ago, but only filled-in your direct line of descent, leaving the families of all those 2g- and 3g-grand aunts and uncles hanging. There could be scores of them and their offspring!

Now is a perfect time to join a team and add those profiles. A personal recommendation: since this is a competition, you won't be providing complete source citations or writing nice biographies for all those folks. I'll be keeping a spreadsheet as a future task list so I can go back and complete the new profiles over the subsequent several weeks.

It's also the perfect time to make sure all your folks born with the Threlkeld, Thrailkill, or Thurlkill surname are categorized in the One-Name Study. Just copy and paste the following line immediately above the "== Biography ==" line of the profiles:

[[Category:Threlkeld Name Study]]

Read all about the Connect-a-Thon on its Help page, and register for the Thon on this G2G topic.

12 JAN 2019 — One of the previous Random File of the Week posts has been uploaded to WikiTree as a permanent resource for Threlkeld researchers. Appearing in Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (1888) Series 1, Volume IX (pp. 298-317), William Jackson's paper, "The Threlkelds of Threlkeld, Yanwath, and Crosby Ravensworth," was one of the first compiled works that researched the Threlkeld surname and its earliest appearances in northwest England. This article is in PDF format, is searchable, and is 4.4 MB in size.

7 DEC 2018 — At least through the end of January, we'll offer a Random File of the Week here on the Study's WikiTree page. Tried to come up with a decent acronym for Random File of the Week, but I got nuthin' good. RAFOW? RANFIW? RAFIOTWEEK? Er...no. <cough cough>

On the Threlkeld One-Name Study's external website we have over 3 gigabytes of books, articles, white papers, source material, photographs, and other items in the private Assets & Archives area. These are not strictly surname-specific, so there'll be a smattering of various things, but all are germane in some way to Threlkeld history.

Each week, generally on the weekend, I'll select one file (public domain or republication permitted) and offer it from the Study's WikiTree Space page. The link to the file will only be valid during the time it's posted, so don't bookmark it for later reference; you'll get a 404 "File No Found" error. If you'd like to keep the file, right-click on the link and choose to "Save Link As" or "Save Target As."