Re: Lairds

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@mids.org>]

Niven,

>If we look at the names of those who have contributed most to the Sinclair 
>cause, you will find few Sinclairs but a great many paragenetic Sinclairs.

For some time I've been wondering what you mean by paragenetic Sinclairs.
This posting I think clarifies it: you mean people whose surname is not
Sinclair (or St. Clair or Sinkler or other spelling) but who are nonetheless
related to Sinclairs somehow.  Correct me if I've got that wrong.

I agree completely with everything you said in your message.

It seems to me that there may be some confusion going on because of two
different interpretations of the word "crossposting".

When I say crossposting I am referring to sending an electronic mail message
to two different mailing lists at the same time.  This is a well-known
complication of mailing lists that can lead to poor performance of the
lists involved, for a variety of reasons including confusion about where
to send responses.  That is what I want to discourage except in exceptional
cases such as announcements of new features, where to find more information,
and the like.

Some other people seem to say crossposting and mean posting messages to
the Sinclair discussion list that is about people with other surnames.
We want to encourage messages related to Sinclairs regardless of whether
the specific people mentioned have the surname Sinclair or not.
There never has been any prohibition on that that I'm aware of; we've
all been doing it for years.  People marry and sometimes change their
names for other reasons.  People associate for reasons other than
simple ancestry: work, geography, religion, scholarship, fun, whatever.
Frequently it's difficult to find ones own patronymic ancestors without
looking at what their neighbors and cousins did and were.  For example,
how could anyone understand Sinclairs in the early 14th century without
mentioning Bruce and Wallace?  For that matter, we've discussed quite a
bit of ancestry from back before surnames were used.  And, as you point
out, most of the people on this list (at least the ones who post the
most) do not have surnames Sinclair, St. Clair, etc.  Actual
genealogical and historical connections of families aren't neatly
organized solely by surname.

The introduction to the list says:
 It is a mailing list for the extended Sinclair family.
 All relatives of the Sinclair family, including those
 with surnames spelled St. Clair, Sinkler, and
 other related families throughout the world
 are invited to participate.

The clause "other related families" was intended to make this clear.
Apparently it isn't clear enough.  I think I'll rephrase it as
 other related families and people throughout the world,
 regardless of their surnames,

Suggestions?

Ah, here's an idea: how about if I append your message, Niven,
to the Genealogy page and add a link to it from the list intro page?

John S. Quarterman <jsq@mids.org>
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html