William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Hi,
I just found out that William Iiams (b. 1640, m. Elizabeth Cheney) is my ancestor. Does anyone have proof or documentation that Robert I'Ans was his father? I've seen a lot of messages discussing it and wondered if anyone reached a conclusion --
Lisa
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
No conclusions to my knowledge. I have serious doubts that it si true. I received a coy of a very old famil chart for a DRURY line (my main maternla line; to which the Iiams/Ijams/Iams connect). The cousin who sent me the copy believed it is from around 1900 an based on oral history within the family. To the right of the chart near the Iiams line conencton is a small note that they were Danish~ Sounds more likely, at least from a phonetic point fo view :)
I am now residing back in Anne Arundel Co and hope to be able to do more research on this line. the only thing is theyare so far back and I have been looking closely (and filling info gaps, documentation, etc) on more recent generations.
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Hi Kathleen. Welcome back to winter. Keep me in mind if you find anything about Richard Iiams son of William Jr. and Lizzy Plummer, or Richard Ijams Jr. <Rich<William Sr. I may not believe the I'Ans stuff, but I do think Richard son of William Jr.lead the migration west and my GGGG-Grandpappy William Iiams (1750-1834) of the Town Creek area was either his son or grandson. BTW Was it the hurricanes that blew you back this way or the smell of blue claws steaming and Seamus Kennedy shows that did it?
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
So Kathleen, have you had any luck with the Iams ancestry since returning to Anne Arundel County???
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Nope. :-) I live right down the road from where they all lived, too. My life is so very very busy right now. I am not sure if A. A. Co. will have more than I already have ro we all know as the records have been transcribed for All Hallows, and county records are avialable through the MD Archives, even at a distance. I really do have to get to the Archives one of these days and see if there are some items missed is some fashion. I think the answer will ultimately come from wherever the Iiams/Ijams/Iams, etc., emigrated from... I maintain kathleen.bowen@gmail.com as my main email address and kbowen@hotmail.com will forever be my backup.
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Google Lady Grizel Stewart(Stuart) and you can raed a history of her marriage to Robert. She is the daughter of Elizabeth of Moray and James Stewart.I believe that if you look up the" Bonny Earl of Moray"also you will se the relativity.
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Thanks for that information, much appreciated --
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
So Kathleen... have you been able to research this any further at the MD archives... I made a trip there in 2007, but did not find anything enlightning... I think we may never know...
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Just some varied info here for all the posters that replied to your original topic about the Ijams/Iames/Ijames/Iiams, etc.surname, and the folks who have questioned about, a) the connection back to Sir Robert I'ans, as well as questioned about b) the ethnicity of origin for this surname.
Here's a couple of ways to "logic-out" some answers.
Firstly when William came to America, the clerk wrote down his last name as "Eyoms". One today would pronounce that Eye-ums--but in those days, we still had British accents, which would have said that spelling (of Eyoms) as Eeee-yums.
Now Eeee-yums (w/ long E sound) is not a very big stretch at all to that of I'ans (we today say Eye-ans,like first name Ian(eye-an), but again, back then in 1600s we said I'ans as the British did (and still do today)say it--which is Eeee-yans(as theyalso say the 1st name of Ian---as Eeee-yan (w/long e)).
So using logic Obviously William Eyoms, the progenitor of our Ijams/Iiams/Ijames/Iams/Iiames, etc etc Surname in America----was OF the I'ans clan (and certainly NOT of the INNES family--as the clerk would have written down Inis, Ennis,or Innes itself (as that surname was very well known in America in that era).
Also people have long confused Sir Robert INNES,the "Quar- termaster General" for QE1 with that of Sir Robert I'ans, the "Master of the Ordnance" for Queen Liz,the first, but it is of the latter that I'ans folk come down from.
This also is supported by spelling which reflects ethnicity as well as area I'ans clan was from in Britain.
For example, Innes is Scots/Saxon. I'ans is Welsh/Norman. This goes along with what every Ijams/Ijames/Iiames/Iams/etc person has ever said of their ethnic ancestry.... that they were/ are WELSH.
Yes DANISH has a "y-sounding" letter "j",as does Swedish- but this is Not WHY the Ijams or Ijames, etc has the "j".
In the English spoken of the era (1600s or before) the use of an "i" or "j" were Interchangeable, as their sounds were not yet fixed & differentiated as they are today.
So you started out w/ say,I'ans,which sounded(then), as (long e) Eee-yuns, then the clerk spelled William's name as Eyoms (said w/long e,then), then later Will and his issue used "i" in the spelling---as folks just spelled things as THEY thought they should be written (as no "fixed" way to do, til standardized schooling began early 1900s!).
So they wrote Ijams, meaning Iiams (ie-sounded Eee-yans) --and in fact people today who have the Ijames spelling do Not SAY "eye-james" they pronounce it- "eye-ams"!!)
So this is how the J got in the mix--NOT from any Scandi-navian heritage,as one might think.
Further supporting the WELSH ethnicity issue--is the fact that all the early Ijams/Ijames/Iiams/Iiames/Iams,etc per- sons all said they were Welsh--and established in America work they'd done (that was traditional to them) back in Wales(and/or Cornwall--of the Cornish people),which was slate mining. (Sir I'ans was in Cornwall, and the Welsh and Cornish peoples are related and have mutually understood languages).
Also when you look at pix of all those early Ijams/Iiams, etc etc they all have the dark Welsh looks of that race, not the features/coloring of the Teutonic Saxons.
I hope this information helps shed some light on the mis- conceptions a lot of people have been under, esp. as wrong info is often just copied online and repeated forever, w/ often no basis in fact, what-so-ever.
Best wishes to all in getting back to our original patriarch!
Take care,
Vienna
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Re: William Iiams (1640 -1703)/Robert I'Ans connection
Hi Vienna,
Thank you for your well-thought out and analytical answer, it makes a lot of sense, I appreciate it!
Best wishes, Lisa C.
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