William C. Wonders

Geordies, Yankees, and Canucks: the Wonders in England, the United States, and Canada William C. Wonders

The "Wonders" surname is not a common one and when encountered, it frequently arouses curiosity as to its origin. The author has spent over three decades attempting to solve this puzzle. Its earliest documented presence is in Northumberland in Northeastern England in the mid-seventeenth century. However, he is convinced that it evolved from a much earlier presence as "Winders" with an origin in Cumbria in Northwestern England, dating as far back as the twelfth century. It is likely that it was originally derived from an Irish-Norse place name. He also includes other sources in mainland Europe which form an entirely separate group of "Wonders" today.

The author sets out the nature of the various areas in which his ancestors lived and the conditions which prevailed at the time, as he follows their known movements from Northumberland to County Durham and emigration to the United States. For some two centuries, these were linked to the coal mining industry but from the latter part of the 19th century increasing numbers of them moved into agriculture and subsequently into widely varied careers. This took them across the U. S. A. to the Midwest and finally to the Pacific coast, with the author's grandparents ultimately moving north to Southern Ontario.

Wonders draws on a wide spectrum of material--official records, church and archival documents, contemporary newspapers and published accounts, family records, letters, questionnaires and interviews--to provide a vivid backdrop for the lives of his Wonders family over time. Material and information has been collected by him in England, the United States and Canada.

58 maps/diagrams

91 photos

published 2006