Welcome
to the Fones (Fownes) Family Web Site
Fones (Fownes) Arms From England
Fones (Fownes) Arms From Ireland
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Entries Made Since Sept. 24, 1997
This web site was put together in the
hope that it would be helpful to others as well as myself doing research
on the Fones
(Fownes) and related families. It wouldn't have been possible to
gather the information shown
here without
the help of many wonderful people. If you find the information here
helpful and would like to help
support it along with the on going research please contact me.
Persons donating $20.00 or more per year will be
giving a "fones.org" email address accessible from anywere on the
web like yahoo email, gmail or hotmail.
Please check back occasionaly as information here is updated over time,
Good Hunting!
E. Bruce Fones, Web Site
Coordinator.
ebfones@fones.org
The name of Fones (Fownes), as some family
historians are of the opinion is a variant on the Celtic personal
name of "Fionn", which
means fair.
Celtic Languages
Celtic is a subfamily of the Indo-European
family of languages, At one time during the Hellenistic
period, Celtic speech extended all the way from Britain and the
Lberian Peninsula in the west
across Europe to Asia Minor in the east. Today the Celtic
languages that have survived into the
modern era are limited almost entirely to the British Isles and
French Brittany. The Celtic subfamily
is made up of three groups of languages: the Continental,
the Brythonic (also called Bitish), and
the Goidelic (also called Gaelic).
Continetal Celtic
/ Gaulish
Continental Celtic, which includes all
Celtic Idioms on the Continent with the exception of Breton,
died out following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The
principal example of this group is the
now extinct language Gaulish, for little remains of any other Continental
Celtic tongues. Gaulish was
once the language of Gaul proper (now
modern France). 
The earliest record of the Fones (Fownes)
name is of a Sir William Fones, a Norman Knight who came over
with William the Conqueror in 1066. The Normans were commonly
believed to be of French origin but, more
accurately, they were of Viking origin. The Vikings, under
their Jarl, Thorfinn Rollo, invaded France in about 911
A.D.. After Rollo laid siege to Paris, The French King, Charles
the Simple, finally conceced defeat, granting Northern
France to Rollo. William the Conqueror (Duke William) was
decended from the first Duke Rolio of Normandy. Sir
William Fones settled in a place called Saxby, where his descendants
lived for many centuries. Other early records
are of a petrus (Peter) Fonne, of Nottinghamshire, about the year
1292, those of Peter Le Ffoon, whose name appears in
the Close Rolls of the time of King Edward III, circa 1331, and
those of Willelmus (William) Fones, who was living in
Yorkshire in the year 1379. From approx: the 1500's into the
1700's Fones (Fownes) families could be found in the
Devonshire, Worcestershire and London areas of England. Some
spellings of the name through early English history are:
Fon, Fons, Ffones, Fonne, Fonnes, Ffoon, Foon, Foones, Fowne, Fownes,
Fones and others. The last two are the most
frequently used in modern times. Persons dong research on
the Fones (Fownes) families might want to contact
Jill Sothcott as she has a large amount of information on these
families. She is always looking for new contacts with
whom to exchange data with. Her Email is: Jsothcott@aol.com
Jill has provided some of her notes on
the Fones (Fownes) family in England and I've added them to the web
page.
They are in html format and
can viewed by clicking on the following link:
Jill Sothcott's Notes
The Fones (Fownes) Families of America
came from England in the 1600's and settled in New England and
Virginia during the same periods.
The name was spelled differently by clerks and census takers who spelled
it
as it sounded
to them. Examples are, Fauns, Fawns, Foanes, Foans, Fones, Fons and
Fownes. I have found
direct connections
were all these spellings were used, the most common are Fones and Fownes.
Today the two
areas of the
U.S.A. that have the largest concentration of Fones (Fownes) families are
the Mid-Atlantic and West
Coast States.
There are only approx: 374 Fones, 29 Fownes in the U.S.A. that have listed
phone numbers (1997)
The Fones (Fownes,
Fawns) Families From The Tide Water Area of Virginia
The Fones (Fownes)
families that settled in the Tide Water area of VA., in the counties of
Richmond and
Westmoreland
(part of the area known as the "Northern Neck") have been traced to the
1600's. Many of
them were
farmers and carpenters. They fought in all the major wars and most
belonged to the Baptist Church
from the late
1700's. There are Fones (Fawns) in KY. whose ancestors left VA. after
the Revolutionary War (See
KY.information below).
There are Fones in Texas who's family left VA. after the Civil War.
During the late
1800's many Fones resettled in
Northern VA. near Washington, D.C. to locate employment. These are
only a few
of the many areas Fones families
migrated to from the Tide Water area of Virginia.
Westmoreland
County Museum and Library
The Westmoreland County Museum houses
a nice collection of historical artifacts and maintains a research
library (The Henry
Hungerford Library) on the 2nd floor. The library can be useful to
those doing family
history research in the Northern
Neck of VA. area. The Museum is conveniently located across from
the old
Court House in Montross, Virginia.
One staff person is normally available to assist you.
(Foneswood, VA. is only 5 miles approx:
10 min's from the museum.)
Bruce Fones (left)
and Jamie Fones (right) at Foneswood in Richmond County, VA. Sept. 1998
Jamie Fones passed away September 30, 2007
(a great loss to all doing research on the Fones family)
Tombstone photo's
of Fones graves in The Northern Neck Area of VA.
Here you will find pictures of some Fones
headstones I had time to photograph in 2007. When and if I'm
able to
return to the area I will photograph
more and add them to the web site. If by chance anyone else has photo's
of others
please send them to me and I
will add them. Click on the link to view the photo's (Updated Mar.
08, 2011).Fones
Tombsones
Westmoreland Pictures
I've added some pictures
here I thought might be of interest to those who have ancestors from Westmoreland
County, Virginia.
Click on the link to view them
Westmoreland Pictures
Virginia
Fones (Fownes) Data Available here on line:
I've uploaded most of the
data I have on Fones (Fownes) Families originating from Virginia so others
can view it here.
You will need
to first click on the "Fones data available here on line" link below.
You will see a list of surnames included
in the data.
Click on FONES or FOWNES and a index of names will come up. This
is only a partial list, at the bottom
you can click
on back or next which will make the whole list available.
Chick on the name of interest and the data will
come up, click on any name that
shows up in the tree and that persons information will come up..
Kentucky Fones (Fawns)
Information
The Fones (Fawns) Families of Kentucky
are descendents of John Fones who moved from Virginia to Bath County
KY. in approx; 1812 bringing
his family with him. Some of this family adopted the spelling of
Fawns instead of
Fones in the 1800's and still
use it today. I have placed some of the information I have on this
family here for your
viewing, you can see all of the
data on individuals by looking them up in the FONES (FOWNES) family data
base above.
(The KY. data here is in Windows
Notepad format so anyone using a windows based OS can view it.
Below is the link for most of
the KY. data only (updated Mar. 20, 2011):
KY. Fones
(Fawns) data
Tennessee Fones Family
Information
I have started
doing a study of the Fones families of Tennessee. I believe this
family is descended from the Fones
families
of Virginia but as of yet I can’t tie them together. As you look
at the data I now have and find you
have
information that could be added or if there are corrections to be made
please contact me.
E.
Bruce Fones, ebfones@fones.org
The TN. data
here is in Windows Notepad Format so anyone using a windows based OS can
view it.
Below
is the link for the TN. data only (updated Jan. 02, 2011)
TN. Fones Data
Fones
(Fownes) Families From New England
(Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut)
While doing research on the Fones from
Virginia I have had contact with many folks doing research on
their New England families.
Many of them shared information in the hope that I might come across
data that would be helpful.
I put this data into a file and only looked at it when asked for help concerning
New England Fones families.
I've hoped that a person with a zeal for genealogy would come along who
would take the led for this site
collecting and sharing New England Fones information. Possibly acquiring
enough data to put a data base
on the web site like the one for VA. Fones. Well such a person has
come
along who is willing to take
on the task.Rick Fones
who has been doing research on his own New England
roots is willing to take it on.
This will provide a central place where we can maintain the New England
data
we now have and obtain in the
future. It takes a lot of effort from many people to take data from
different
family lines and put it together.
So if you have New England roots and are willing to share your data with
others it would be helpful
if you contact Rick. Lets remember he has a life other then working
on genealogy
so let's not expect miracles
over night
.
Rick has recently provided enough
information from his research to put up a data base of the New England
Fones family information he now
has which is tied together. Please take a look at this data to see
if you have
any information that can be added
or see errors that need to be corrected. Even if you can't find a
connection
with your own families history
please share what you have with Rick so he can keep it the hope that he
might be able to tie it in later. You
can contact Rick at:r_rfones@yahoo.com
To see the information presently in the
data base first click on "N.E.
Fones data available here on line"
listed below.
You will see a list of surnames included in the data base. Click
on FONES and a index of names
will come
up. This is only a partial list, at the bottom you can click on back
or next which will make the whole
list available.
Click on the name of interest and the data will come up, click on any name
that shows up in the
tree and that
persons data will come up.
New
England Fones data available here on line
Further Ongoing
Research:
One of my goals is to locate records
that will document the connection between the VA., New
England and English Fones (Fownes)
families. So far this information has eluded me. I also want
to keep working with Fones (Fownes)
families that originated from New England and Virginia to find
their roots. It has taken
over 40 years to obtain the data I now have and I will share openly.
Persons doing research on the Fones (Fownes)
family might also want to review the postings on
the "Fones Family Genealogy Forum"
at: http://genforum.familytreemaker.com/fones/
Also the "Fones Surname Message Board"
at:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=an&p=surnames.fones/
Some Outstanding
Free Genealogy sites On The Web
Cyndi's
List of Genealogy Sites
USGenWeb Project
L.D.S.
Family Search
Find a Grave
Please E-mail me
If you have any information
(even if only a little) on any branch of these families please contact
me. Sometimes
what we regard as
unimportant information is enough to help others who are looking for their
roots. Lets work
together and share
what knowledge we have to help others and our later generations be able
to know their
families history.
E. Bruce Fones
ebfones@fones.org