Outline of the First Edition of

"Joslin Research"
August 1995

Side Effects of Flu
In February this year (1995) Margaret and I made plans to visit the London Record Offices.
Then the ‘flu bug struck us both and the arrangements had to be cancelled.
Not to be outdone I decided to spend the train fare on postage stamps
on a project that I had in the back of my mind and not had time to exploit.

200 First-class Stamps
The idea was to post one hundred personal letters and S.S.A.E.’s to unknown JOSLIN’s
all in the Essex area and picked from the telephone book.
This was the beginning of my big quest for JOSLIN history,
 At that time I had no idea what a success my letters would be and of course
no idea of the vast amount of data that would come flooding
in from the eighty per cent replies to my cold call letters.

 Advertisements were also placed in Family Tree Magazine, the National Genealogical Research Directory,
the B.I.G. Register, and Essex, Suffolk, Devon and Cornwall family history society magazines.
This increased the number of enquiries, particularly from overseas,
including the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Brothers Keeper
To keep all the data I use a computer as this is now the only way of inputting, sorting, retrieving and comparing the records
and for speed I use an American genealogy program called “Brothers Keeper”
Once entered the records can be moved on floppy disk to other researchers and to other programs like P.A.F. and
the Windows program Reunion & F.T.M which I particularly like for its charts and reports.
I can supply your data on computer disk or paper or preferably by phone or even e-mail for those with modems.
Some correspondents may wonder why they have not yet received a reply.
The answer is that there has been such a tremendous response that it has taken far longer than I envisaged to answer individual queries.
It is hoped that this newsletter will act as a stop-gap until I am able to answer all letters individually.
On page 4  you will find a list of JOSLIN’s who would like your help. 
Shortage of space has meant that addresses have had to be omitted so if you can help let me know and I will link you. 
The following will have their queries in the next issue.   Sorry !

 Michael. W. Foster.....New Zealand.    John. Gibb.........Bristol.    Andrew. D. Joslin. Gt. Holland. Essex,  

Miriam. C. Firth.......Yalding.      Sheila. J. Mellor.....Wandsworth,     Leisa. Shuttleworth........Australia

Elaine. M. Sherril............USA..    Mrs M Taylor...........Canada    Beveley. Saunders.. Somerset,   

Howard. Knight.......Bristol. UK    John. McDonald.......Rochford,         John Bibby...Wolverhampton UK

Janet. Edwards...Redlands USA,    Jill. Harbertson..Tunbridge Wells.   Tanis. Diedrichs........Iowa  USA

 The Names The Same
I am often asked where the name JOSLIN originated and most people speculate that it was French,
as a Duke JOYCELYN was said to have crossed with William in 1066. Who knows?,
for at least there is a Chateau and town named  JOSSELIN in Brittany. 
All variants of the name JOSLIN are catered for in our data base,
but the JOSLIN spelling will be used throughout this newsletter unless a specific point has to be made.
We don’t have to go back far in time to see that some of our forebears could not read or write,
and it was up to the parish priest to record their names in his register in his own particular way,
using the spelling he thought to be correct.
I have also found instances where the bride or groom have written their names,
and the priest has still used his own version of the spelling.
So please don’t think that there has only ever been one spelling of your surname.

The Josselin Society
The JOSSELIN Society was founded four years ago and now has a membership or around seventy.
It meets, usually in the Essex area, two to three times a year and has been an ideal opportunity for
JOSLEN, JOSCELYNE, JOSLING, JOSSELYN, JOSTLING, JOSLYN, JOSLINE, JOSLEN, JOSLIN, JOSSLIN, JOYCELIN, JOCELYN.... etc etc....
family members to exchange family history and socialise.
Anyone interested in joining the Society should contact the Membership Secretary :

 See link to Society Page                   Click here for Cressing