Updated Name Index

I have updated the Name Index on my website to include names of parents and (first) spouse. This is a downloadable Excel Spreadsheet.

Sarah Elizabeth Hollier b.1860

Peter Copsey sent through the lastest Marriage Challenge results from Pancras, which included an 1893 marriage for Sarah Elizabeth Hollier, until now a mystery to me. She married William Chapman, but she states no father on the marriage certificate. From her stated age and the 1901 census entry, I realized she was the Sarah Hollier born 1860 and originally thought to be a late child of Richard and Amelia Hollier at Sydenham. However, I already knew that the 1861 census shows her as a grandaughter, not daughter. A bit more digging shows her in the 1871 census as Sarah Jones, living with her mother Adelaide, by then married to Alfred Jones. I also found Sarah Hollier as a servant at Thame in 1881 and Bloomsbury in 1891. Another puzzle solved.

Interactive Map

I have created a new interactive map of Britain which shows Hollyer, Hollier and Holyer locations, using Microsoft's Virtual Earth. You can view this here.

Deddington Holliers

I have now added the Deddington Hollier family trees to the website, see here.

New Art Gallery

I have now produced a new Art Gallery on my website. The old Art Gallery was becoming too large to manage easily. The new one is database driven and much easier to add new items.

This made it much easier to add Mary Hill's new image.

Gregory Hollyer's signature

Mary Hill contacted me via the website saying that she thought she owned an original Gregory Hollyer painting but wanted to check the signature against any I had. His signature did change over the years, but was for most of the time very stylised and left-leaning, see below.

Lewis Samuel Hollier b.1853 Illinois

A post on the Ancestry Hollier Message Board has highlighted the biography of this individual, who rose to prominence in Montana in the 19th century, though he was born in Illinois. His father went by the name of Christopher Columbus Hollier and was also born in Illinois, but in the 1880 census states that his father was born in England. So it seems we have a previously unknown emigration of an English Hollier to the USA. I wonder if any modern day Holliers descend from this line?

Reuben Holyer again

David Scott came back to me with more information about his grandfather's brothers and this has helped complete his family tree. Apparantly, he got a lot of family information from a Family Bible owned by his great grandparents, Stephen and Fanny Holyer.

DNA Project - Hollyer, Hollier and Holyer

This is to announce a major new venture for the One-Name Study. I have started a DNA Project with Family Tree DNA. Information about the DNA project is available here.

In terms of the Hollyer, Hollier and Holyer One-Name Study, the objective of the DNA study is to confirm or otherwise the possibility of common ancestral links between branches where the paper records have not yet established a link and may never do, as well as confirming that many of the southern instances of the name are entirely independent of the groups in the Midlands.

So, I'm hoping that over time we can answer the following sort of questions:

• Do the two groups of Holliers from Leicestershire link to those in Warwickshire?
• Likewise, with the separate groups of Holliers in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Oxfordshire;
• In particular, do the three groups of Oxfordshire Holliers from Deddington, Sydenham and Lewknor have a common origin, as the paper records are beginning to suggest?
• Do the Coventry Hollyers link to the main group of Warwickshire Holliers?
• Do the large group of Somerset Holliers, which first appeared as late as the mid 18th century, relate to any others?
• Are the Kent Holyer/Hollyers and the Hampshire Holliers completely separate lines?
• If you are a US Hollier, are you part of the large group from Louisiana that originally came from France, or are your origins elsewhere, such as England, Germany or Sweden?

If you are male and have the surname Hollyer, Hollier or Holyer, you can take part. If you are female, perhaps you can find a male family member who could participate?

I'm hoping that as many of you as possible will support this exciting new venture, which I expect will provide many fascinating insights into our early ancestral origins.

Peter Walker

Reuben William Holyer 1902-1978

David Scott, grandson of Reuben Holyer contacted me and confirmed that his grandfather Reuben was from the large family of Stephen Holyer and Fanny (née Baker). I now need to confirm the rest of this family of 13.

Sharnford Hollier family tree now online

In addition to the Sydenham Hollier family tree, I have now added the tree for the Sharnford Hollier family from Leicesterhsire. You can access it here.

Genes Reunited again

I found a couple of new contacts via Genes Reunited: David Lawrence (St Lukes/London Holliers) and Harry Lee (Kent Holyers). As usual, sent them information on their ancestry. David was able to provide information to complete one branch of this family.

Harry Amos Hollier, elder and younger

John Hollier e-mailed me concerning his ancestry. He had previously contacted me in 2001, but I was not able to be much help to him then, as I hadn't got so much data collected as I have now.

His father was Harry Amos Hollier (1926-1973) and he thinks his grandfather was Harry Amos Hollier (1884-1965). But it seems as if Harry (elder) married twice and his first wife was still alive when the second marriage in 1924 occurred. Interestingly, the first marriage was one of the few Hollier events in Scotland, at Aberdeen in 1908. I've recommended that buying the 1924 marriage certificate is the only way to be sure.