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Family
history
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The
Parker(1) family line is most likely directly or very closely related to
our Parker(2) line as both Parker
grandmothers married Bleasdale men in Lancashire, England during
the 15th and 16th centuries. The earliest known ancestor is John Johannes Parker, our 15th great-grandfather,
who may have been the grandfather of James Parker
as noted in the Parker(2) line. Our
14th great-grandmother, Margaret Parker,
a daughter of Johannes, was born circa 1466 and married William Bleasdale around 1485. At least five known off-spring were
produce of this marriage. It is most
likely that Margaret and her family lived their entire lives in Lancashire
probably in the area known as Forest of Bowland. |
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Origins of the
surname
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An Introduction to the Surname
The practice of inherited
family surnames began in England and France during the late part of the 11th century. With the passing of generations and
the movement of families from place to place many of the original identifying
names were altered into some of the versions that we are familiar with
today. Over the centuries, most of our
European ancestors accepted their surname as an
unchangeable part of their lives. Thus
people rarely changed their surname.
Variations of most surnames were usually the result of an involuntary
act such as when a government official wrote a name phonetically or made an error in
transcription. Research into the record of this Parker family line indicates that the
variations, meanings and history of this surname is most likely linked to
that area of Europe where English linguistic traditions are commonly found. |
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Source(s) & Meaning(s) of
the Surname
Most modern family names are a
means conveying lineage. For the most part, Anglo-Saxon
surnames
were developed from the following major sources: (1) patronym or matronym, names based on the name of one's father,
mother or ancestor, (Johnson, Wilson); (2) occupation (i.e., Carpenter, Cooper, Brewer, Mason); (3) habitational
or locational (Middleton, Sidney, or Ireland);
(4) topographical (i.e. Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale); (5) nicknames (i.e., Moody Freeholder, Wise, Armstrong); (6) status (i.e. Freeman, Bond,
Knight); and (7) acquired ornamental names
that were simply made up. Parker
is a derivative of the name Park. The English word park comes from
the Middle English, and Old French word
parc ‘park’. As a surname this has come to be a metonymic
occupational name for someone employed in a park or a topographic name for
someone who lived in or near a park. In medieval England a park was a large enclosed area where the
landowner could hunt game. Thus Parker is an English
occupational name for an
official in charge of the extensive hunting parks of a king or wealthy
landowner. The derivation is from the words "parchier" or
"parquier" meaning "park- keeper". |
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History of the Surname
Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th century. They were not in use in England or Scotland, before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and were first found in the Domesday Book of 1086. The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans who had adopted the custom just prior to this time. Soon thereafter it became a mark of a generally higher socio-economic status and thus seen as disgraceful for a well-bred man to have only one name. It was not until the middle of the 14th century that surnames became general practice among all people in the British Isles. The Parker
name was brought to England in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is found in early registers throughout
England is one of the very
earliest surnames on record. Only five
percent of the entries in the great Domesday Book of 1086 show people having
surnames, and this is one of them. The
Parker name is extremely widespread and influential throughout the British
Isles as well as in Ireland. For
example a well-known family was established in
Cheshire, where their ancestors were keepers of the royal park; a Parker
family is known to have been established for centuries in Lancashire; and
Browsholme Hall, near Clitheroe, was first built by Richard le Parker in
1380, and is still the family seat.
The Parker
surname is also found very early in Derbyshire as the Earls of Morley and Macclesfield as well as the Barons of
Boringdon and Monteagle. The first recorded
spelling of the family name is shown in the aforementioned Domesday Book to
be Anschetil Parcher of the county of Somerset. Other examples of very early recordings are
Geoffrey Parchier, in the book of 'Seals' for the county of Northumberland,
dated 1145. John Parcar was documented in the 1273 records
of County Dorset and Adam le Parker of County Norfolk was recorded in the
same year. Martin le Parker of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll
Tax of 1379. A later record shows that
Hugh Parker and Alice Bateman were married in London in the year 1570. Matthew Parker (1504-75) was the
English prelate and the second Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, born in
Norwich. He became chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn in 1535, dean of a college
at Stoke in Suffolk, a royal chaplain, canon of Ely, and dean of Lincoln. The surname was one
of the very first into the new American colonies. Immigration
records show a number of people bearing the name of Parker, or one of its variants, as arriving
in North America during the
17th century. Some of these
immigrants were: William
Parker, aged 20, who arrived in the ship Charles of London, in the year 1616,
is shown in the records for January 23rd 1624 as being in the
"muster" of 'Elzabeth Cittie'; Edward
Parker, who arrived in Maryland in 1637; Captain George Parker who came to
Boston in 1635; and William Parker,
who settled in Hartford, Connecticut in 1635. Parker is the 51st
most popular surname in the United States and the 46th
most common surname in England. Today about 1,344 persons per
million in the United States have the Parker surname. The heaviest concentration of the name is
found in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina. In the United Kingdom almost about 1,703
persons per million have this surname. The most significant clustering of the
name is found in the eastern areas of England such as East Midlands,
Yorkshire and Humberside . |
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Variations of the
surname
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Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have
continued to unfold and expand often leading to an overwhelming number of
variants. As such one
can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early
times, spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet
standardized. Later on spellings would
change with the branching and movement of families. Spelling
variations of this family name include:
the patronymic names Parker,
Parkers, Parkeres,
Parkere
and many others. |
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The complexity of researching
records is compounded by the fact that in
many cases an ancestors surname may also have been misspelled. This is especially true when searching
census documents. The Soundex Indexing System was developed in an
effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given
surname. Soundex is a method of
indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in
their research. The Soundex Code for Parker is p626. Other
surnames sharing this Soundex Code: PARCHER | PARKARD | PARKER | PARKERSON | PARKHURST | PRAGER | PREACHERS | PRESSGROVE | PRICHARD | PRIKRYL | PROSSER |. |
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Searching for more Information about this and other surnames? |
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Then take a look at our: |
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Coat of arms
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In the Middle Ages heraldry came
into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to
distinguish the armored warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed
on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in
the middle of the 12th
century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries
of Western
Europe. In the British Isles the College of Arms, (founded in 1483), is the Royal corporation of heralds who record proved pedigrees and grant armorial bearings. |
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Fig. 1 |
Fig. 2 |
Fig. 3 |
Fig. 4 |
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Fig. 5 |
Fig. 6 |
Fig. 7 |
Fig. 8 |
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Fig. 9 |
Fig. 10 |
Fig. 11 |
Fig. 12 |
Fig. 13 |
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ARMORIAL BEARINGS There are over 60 associated
armorial bearings for Parker and close
variant spellings recorded in Reitstap’s
Armorial General and Sir
Bernard Burke’s General Armory. The additional information, presented
below, is offered with regard to the armorial bearings depicted above: |
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FIGURE 1: This coat-of-arms belongs to a Parker of Wales. The blue shield contains a chevron of
ermine between three acorns. The Crest (not shown) is a gold lion. FIGURE 2:
These
armorial bearings were conveyed, in 1669, to John
Parker, Archbishop
of Tuam from 1667-1679, and Archbishop
of Dublin from
1679 to 1682. FIGURE 3:
This
basic design of a red shield with a gold chevron between the faces of three
golden leopards is found among various Parkers in Derbyshire,
and Staffordshire, in England. FIGURE 4:
These
arms contain a crest that features a leopard’s head coming out of a red ducal
coronet (crown). The following Parkers have been granted
armorial bearings that incorporate the same shield design and the same or
similar design of the crest. Parker
of Norton
Lees in Derbyshire,
and Park
Hall in Staffordshire
which is a younger branch of the Norton Lees family and the senior line of
the noble house of Macclesfield. Thus these arms were sanctioned for use by
the Earl
of Macclesfield, whose motto is “Sapere aude”. These or very similar arms were also
granted to the Baronet
of Shenstone
Lodge in Litchfield,
and a Parker of Whitley
Hall in Lincolnshire.
FIGURE 5: This coat of arms was conveyed to Parker of Herstmonceux
in the English county of East
Sussex. The crest, (not
shown) is of a black bear’s head, with a gold muzzle, coming out of a
golden ducal coronet. The same arms
was granted to Sir Philip Parker, 1st
Baronet
of Arwarton,
in Suffolk.
The crest, (not shown), of his arms
features a stag on a green mountain. FIGURE 6: These armorial bearings were used by William
Parker Baron of Morley
and Monteagle, and his descendents. The crest as shown is of a golden
antelope standing the crest of William Parker would also include a blue ducal
coronet.
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FIGURE 7:
This or very similar arms belong to a Parker of Lambeth,
in Surrey, England. They were originally were granted by Sir Gilbert Dethick, the Garter Principal King of
Arms, in
1569, to Matthew Parker then the Archbishop of Canterbury. His arms feature a red shield containing a
chevron between three silver keys and three golden stars. The crest (not shown) is a gold elephant's head
with red tusks. FIGURE 8:
This
coat-of-arms has been attributed to a Parker of Wales. FIGURE 9: These arms belonged to Henry Parker 10th
Baron of Morely and
his descendents. It presents a black
stag’s head
between two silver flaunches. The
crest, as shown, is slightly different in that the Morely crest has the
arm,
holding a red stag's antler, in an erect position. Similar arms have also been granted to several
Parkers of Devon. One of these is a Parker of White Way, in Devon
whose motto is found to be “Fideli certa merces”. Others having similar arms Another is a
Parker of Plympton,
St. Mary's, in Devon, as well as Henry Parker
of Honington Hall,
in Warwickshire.
FIGURE
10: This illustration of a shield with a golden star
may have belonged to Anthony
Parker who in 1876 was the High Sheriff of county Tipperary, now in the Irish Republic. FIGURE
11: This coat-of-arms containing the black stag’s head between two silver flaunches has a crest
showing a silver stag’s head. It is
attributed to an unknown Parker. FIGURE 12: These armorial bearing were granted to a
Parker of Norfolk county, in England. It features a silver shield containing
three bezants on the black fesse. FIGURE 13:
This
coat-of-arms has been attributed to a Parker of Scotland. |
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MOTTO(ES) A motto is a word or
sentence usually written upon a scroll and generally placed below the shield,
but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the
crest. Many ancient mottoes were war-cries such as the
Douglas motto of “Forward.”
Many mottoes refer to the name of the bearer, for example
“cole regem” for Coleridge. In
general most mottoes convey a sentiment, hope, or determination, such as
the Cotter motto “Dum spiro spero” where the meaning is “While I have breath
I hope“. Mottoes are often used by several successive
generations, but may be changed at any time by the grantee. The languages
most in use are Latin, French, and English.
Exceptions are seen in Scotland where they are often in the old
Lowland dialect, and in Wales, often in the language of the principality. The following listed mottoes and their
translations are attributed to Parker: “Fideli certa
merces” meaning “To the faithful there
is reward”; “Non fluctu nec flatu
movetur”, meaning “Moved by neither wind nor
wave”; “Sub
libertate quietem”, meaning “Rest under liberty”; Try”;
Try (no translation); “Veritas
vincit”, meaning “Truth conquers”;
“Virtutis alimentum honos”, meaning “Honour is the food of valour.” |
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A Coat of Arms
is defined as a group of emblems
and figures (heraldic bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and
serving as the special insignia of some person, family, or institution. Except for a few cases, there is really no
such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname. A coat of arms,
more properly called an armorial
achievement, armorial bearings
or often just arms for short,
is a design usually granted
only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular
surname. Coats of arms are inheritable
property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the
original arms grantee. The rules and
traditions regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a
Coat of Arms for an English family would differ from that of a German family
even when the surname is the same. The art of designing, displaying, describing, and
recording arms is called heraldry. The use of coats of arms by countries,
states, provinces, towns and villages is called civic heraldry. Some of the more prominent elements incorporated into
a coat of arms are : |
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Crest - The word crest
is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms. The crest was a later development
arising from the love of pageantry.
Initially the crest consisted of charges painted onto a ridge on top
of the helmet. Wreath
or Torse – The torse is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a crest. Always shown as
six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second
the tincture of the metal, and so on. Mantling – The mantling is a drapery
tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield. Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield
and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according
to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with
the development of actual military helmets. Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms. At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object. The items appearing on the shield are known as charges. Motto - The motto was originally a war cry,
but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment.
It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms. |
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Direct ancestors
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Descendant Register Generation 1 |
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Johannes Parker Sr.-1 was born on 1437 in
Forest Bowland, Lancashire, England. He died in Lancashire, England. He
married Mrs. Johannes Parker (nee?) on 1461 in Lancashire, England?. Children of Johannes
Parker Sr. and Mrs. Johannes Parker (nee?) are: Margaret Parker, B: Abt.
1466 in Lancashire, England, D: Lancashire, England.
William Parker, B:
Lancashire, England. Johannes Parker Jr., B: Lancashire, England. |
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Generation 2 |
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Margaret Parker-2(Johannes Parker Sr.-1)
was born on Abt. 1466 in Lancashire, England. She died in Lancashire,
England. She married William Bleasdale, son of (First Nm. Unk.)
Bleasdale. He was born on 1463 in
Forest Bowland, Lancashire, England. He died in Lancashire, England. Children of Margaret
Parker and William Bleasdale are: Johannes Bleasdale, B:
Abt. 1490 in Lancashire, England, D: Aft. 1545 in Lancashire, England, M:
Abt. 1528 in Lancashire, England. Henry Bleasdale, B: 1494
in Lancashire, England. Alice Bleasdale, B:
Lancashire, England. Ellen Bleasdale, B:
Lancashire, England. Jane Bleasdale, B: Lancashire, England. |
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Additional information about our DIRECT ANCESTORS as
well as a complete listing of individuals with this surname may be
reviewed by clicking on the following LINK. |
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Use this free
genealogy site to help you
get the best genealogy searches from Google™
by using your family tree, for your research. It
will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" |
that will likely
improve your results. The different searches will give you many different
ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this
or any other Surname. |
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Ancestral locations
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Researching
the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable
evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in our family trees. It has also led us to many interesting
facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group. |
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Locatiof Direct
Ancestors
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The
names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the
known places where the Direct Ancestors in the “Ancestral Lineage” (see
above) were born, married, and / or died. |
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COUNTRY |
STATE |
COUNTY / SUBDIVISION |
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UNITED KINGDOM |
ENGLAND |
Lancashire
(Chipping) |
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Use this LINK to find out
more about the locations listed above. |
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Locational distributionstors
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Knowing the geographical areas where the surname you are researching
is clustered and distributed is an indispensable tool in deciding where to
focus your research. We believe that
the “Public Profiler” website will open up to you a wide range of solutions
which implement current research in spatial analysis. This site provides an array of local spatial
information tools useful to the genealogist. The information presented below
shows where the Parker surname is
distributed within the United States
as well as in the United Kingdom
the country of origin of this family. Australia is the country in the world where
this surname is the most highly clustered having almost 1,750 persons per million of
population. |
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United States of America |
Key |
European Country of Origin |
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Click on the LINK to the right to see more information about the World distribution of a
surname. You can |
get greater detail for any of the following maps by clicking on
the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in. |
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Wjere are my
ancestors Ancestors
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Resources
which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are
almost as important as their names.
The LINK to
the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers, and
other helpful resources
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that will assist
in discovering Ancestral Locations.
These web sites comprise only a small portion of what
is available for researchers interested in learning more about where their
ancestors lived. |
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Source documents
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The documents contained within the “Source Documents Archives” have
been located during my research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the
facts contained within the database of this family’s record. Most
of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence. Primary evidence
is usually defined as the
best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document
or record. Secondary evidence
is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary
evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there
is a greater chance of error. Examples
of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral
testimony of a record’s contents.
Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary
evidence. Classifying evidence
as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or
ultimate value. This is especially
true of secondary evidence. Thus it is
always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from
the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What was the reason for the
creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was
responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they
have in its accuracy? SOURCE: Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide
to American Genealogy, 2nd edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63 You are welcome
to download any of the documents contained within this archive. Should you encounter a problem obtaining a
copy you may get in touch with us via the contact information
found at the end of this page. |
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Use the
following LINK to view the source documents pertaining to this family. |
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Web resources
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This search engine may provide you with additional |
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Our SURNAME
LOCATOR AND RESOURCES
web page contains the following: (1) links that will take you to an updated listing of
all surnames as posted in our three databases at the Rootsweb WorldConnect
Project; (2) the Surname List Finder a tool that finds
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Your
genealogy
research of this surname can be facilitated by use of SURNAME
WEB.
This website links to the majority of the surname data on the web, as well as
to individual family trees, origin and surname meaning if known, and many
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Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies,
and other material specific to a surname. Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters
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Free database of surname meanings - This site
SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000
surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names. Public Profiler / World Names - Search for a Surname to view its Map and Statistics. |
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The following Link will take you to our library of
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During our
research we have collected images and photographs that are of general
interest to a particular family. Some
of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide
the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of
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Contact Information
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Snail
Mail: Fred USA |
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Pony Express: Tom Sooke, BC
V9Z 0Y7 Canada |
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