Taking up the challenge!

OK, I've taken up the challenge: the Guild of One-Name Studies has challenged its members to commit to producing ten blog posts within 3 months in 2020.  If you look back at the list of my previous blogs, you'll see that's a massive increase in activity!  Over the years that I've been studying the surname CLOSE (and variants, including CLOSS) I have collected data on over 27,000 individuals, so there's no shortage of material.  

 To start things off, let's look at today's date: 16th December
- 345 years ago today, on 16th December 1674, a certain Thomas CLOSE was born in what is now Fairfield, Connecticut, USA (although of course it wasn't the USA then!), the third of ten children.  His father, also Thomas (c1637-1709), had been brought across the Atlantic from Grinton, Yorkshire, England by his father, known as Goodman John CLOSE (c1600 - 1653).

Although the CLOSE surname appears to have died out among the descendants of Thomas b 1674, it has continued to this day through his brothers.  Thomas' brother Joseph (1676-1760), for example, was the 7th great grandfather of Glenn CLOSE the actress. My tree of Goodman John CLOSE's descendants and their spouses contains over 3,000 individuals, and of course because it's a study of CLOSE it doesn't include descendants of married female CLOSEs.  Check the tree out on my CLOSE one-name study page here. TIP: there are lots of people named Thomas CLOSE on the site - search for Sarah HARDY to find the right family quickly! 

 Watch this space for more CLOSE encounters ....

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