NORTHERN IRELAND RESEARCH PROJECT

By Virginia Latta Curulla - Branch 22

    The summary of the Latta data pertinent to our ancestors in Northern Ireland was completed just before Christmas (2002) and mailed to Sherry Irvine.  All of us are particularly indebted to Alex Latta of Edmonton, Alberta, for his discovery of a great deal of this information.

    Others, particularly those on the mail list, have found Internet data, which was incorporated into the summary of information sent to Ms. Irvine.  Volunteer researchers, who read microfilms, internet sites, and books to send the results back to me, included Sue Lattea Cox, Ken Erdle, Tom Kintigh, Bill Latta, Harriet Latta, Kathy Latta, and Beryl Redfield.

    Our group is very fortunate that Sherry Irvine has agreed to formulate our research plan for Northern Ireland.  Ms. Irvine is highly regarded as a professional genealogist, and recently was elected to the office of President of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), an international organization, http://www.apgen.org.  Ms. Irvine has had several books published on family history research in the British Isles and leads research tours to those countries.

    We Lattas have the information about various branches that was collected by Robert Latta.  Around 1890, Mr. Latta began writing letters to everyone he could find with the Latta surname, and continued his correspondence through the 1930s. Robert Latta's collection is in the Rare Books room of the Library of Congress.

    Alex Latta, of Edmonton, obtained copies of the Robert Latta branch information from the Library of Congress some years ago.  Alex is very willing to share information if you contact him at allatta@gambit.ab.ca, or through regular mail at 6104 94A Ave., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6B 0Y8.

    Several years ago, George Latta, of South Carolina, keyed in all the branches from the Robert Latta collection.  You can find these now at http://www.Latta.org (this website).  This Latta website includes updates that have been submitted by various branches.

    Family tradition, as reflected in Robert Lattas collection, is the primary source of what we currently know about our Latta ancestors in Northern Ireland.  Tradition is a useful place to begin for research, but current standards in family history research require that tradition be supported by documentation.

    Our Northern Ireland Research project, like the work that Alex has done, will look at documentation available in Northern Ireland, some of it contemporary with our ancestors there.  The muster rolls in 1630 and 1631 are examples of this type of research.

    While writing this update, I received Ms. Irvine's plan for additional Latta research.  Given the large database that we have collected, Ms. Irvine recommends that we concentrate our Latta research in the Donegal area, and in following what we have discovered about branches 1, 3, 16 and 32.  Ms. Irvine noted "There are several reasons for this [her recommendation] summed up as the evidence of the maps, the presence of some not so common first names through two or three generations (Moses, Samuel, Ephraim), and the time periods involved."

    Ms. Irvine has developed a plan and has identified additional sources that Latta volunteers can research in their home countries, before we turn the project over to a professional in Northern Ireland. THEREIN LIES A DILEMMA...

    I am willing to continue to maintain the database that summarizes and organizes our research results, and to communicate the results to Ms. Irvine. But, because of plans that my husband and I made some time ago, I cannot continue to coordinate the work of the volunteer researchers.  Coordinating this volunteer research can be done through email and "snail" mail.

    The benefit that the coordinator of volunteers doing the research will receive is a substantial increase in personal knowledge and expertise in family history research.  WILL SOMEONE AMONG YOU NOMINATE THEMSELVES TO COORDINATE THE VOLUNTEERS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND RESEARCH?  If so, please contact me at the address below, or by email.

    Donations to support our Northern Ireland Research project can still be sent to:

Virginia Latta Curulla, Treasurer
Latta Genealogy Newsletter
4511 154th Place SE
Bellevue WA 98006
 

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Coordinator of the Northern Ireland Research is Cathi Vannice , her e-mail is: <cjazz@comcast.net>