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| The England/Great Britain Theory Home |
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(I see no family resemblance! LOL) This theory gains credibility when you find out that his son Thomas Monkes (his spelling) came to the US before our William was born. Also, George Monks was granted land in thanks for helping bring the Stuarts back onto the throne. (Stuart was sometimes called the pretender. Look it up, it's an interesting story!) This story loses credibility when you realize that there were MONCUS' in England (with that spelling) before Thomas Monkes was even born.
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According to the History of Northwest Missouri and information given by James Franklin Munkres the Munkers family originated from Cornwall, England. I was also told by several people from different branches of the family that they came from somewhere in Europe, then Ireland and Scotland, then England and then to the United States. In the Historical Index of Virginia and also in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography our family name is spelled Munkers.
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| To Give Credibility to the Irish theory |
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| My dad, Ronnie Theo Moncus, told me that his dad, Kermit Roosevelt Moncus, said that his great-grandaddy, James Logan Moncus, had such a brogue when he was angry that you could not understand him. (Ronnie> Kermit> Andrew Jackson> James Logan> Benjamin> Old William) This may not make sense considering he was at least two generations removed from the original immigration. Consider this, even today (and moreso in the earlier years of the US) people live in areas where everyone talks like them, like Germans might live in Germantown. Also, children tend to talk like their parents. Now does the theory gain more credibility? I have also pointed out to my dad that the accent could have been Scottish, since my Grandaddy was just a little boy at the time he could have been mistaken, wouldn't they both sound alike to a little boy? On the other hand, he might have been told by someone else (like his mom or dad) that the accent was Irish, because he always said that it was Irish. |
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| This is a letter I got from Bob Monks, who has extensive Monk material. |
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Hi Kim,
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| So far I haven't found any relationship to your Moncus |
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| family. If I do, I'll let you know. |
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| Thanks for the inquiry, and happy hunting. |
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| Well, maybe this leads us further towards the England Theory! I just found this 1/21/2000 |
The Origin of Monkus
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| The very first record of the family name Monkus was found in Northumberland , which is located in the English and Scotttish Border Ridings. The Monkus family traces their ancestral roots back to Norman origin before the year 1100. From here they branched and migrated, gaining prosperity as a notable family of the English and Scotttish Border Ridings and later other countries. AND Yes, there is a coat of arms recorded for this family name. |
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| Components of the monkus Family Name Coat of Arms |
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| The Shield is: Purple and green with a silver horizontal stripe on which there is a monastery and in base three monks. |
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| The Crest is: An arm holding a sword emerging from a tower. |
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| The motto is: "Monachus Salvador" |
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| Northumberland is the most northerly county of England. It lies next to Scotland, on the German Ocean, and is bounded by Durham and Cumberland. It extends about 70 miles in length, and 50 in breadth; and contains 12 market towns, and 460 parishes. The air is not so cold as might be imagined from the latitude in which it lies; and the snow seldom lies long in Northumberland, except on the tops of the hills, some of which are above 2000 feet high. The soil is various; the eastern part being fruitful, having very good wheat and most sorts of corn, with rich meadows on the banks of the rivers; but the western part is generally barren, it being mostly heathy and mountainous. It yields lead; and is one of the most productive and best coal-fields in England. Iron and glass-works are its principal manufactories; and it has some fisheries. This county is well watered by rivers, the principal of which are the Tyne, Tweed, and Coquet. Alnwick is the county-town, but the largest and richest is Newcastle. Population, 250,278. It returns 8 members to parliament." [From Barclay's Complete and Universal English Dictionary, 1842] |
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| I also got a letter from a member of the Monkhouse family (she sent me a copy of our coat of arms) |
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| She had this to say about our name, if you go along with the fact that our name was originally |
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| Munkus/Monkus, then it would lead you to believe the Great Britain theory. |
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| (with a touch of Scottish, maybe, since we're from the border?) |
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The origin of the Monkhouse name is Munkus, until the very late 1600s, although, obviously, the name is still being used. I have traced my line back to 1713 for sure, and possibly to about 1570. William is a very popular name among the Monkhouses, etc. I have no way to know where your William fits in. My line originates in Cumbria, near Hadrian's wall. Actually, I believe that most of the family
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| originated there. However, you would be amazed to learn how popular the name really is in England. It is definately from the north. I have learned that the Monkhouses were either very well off or very poor. Mine were the poor ones. One strain The family owned the land they farmed and left estates. |
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| Mine were shepherds in the 18th century in Dacre, then weavers and miners in Ulverston in the 19th Century. My great-great grandparents came to NJ in 1866. |
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