Review Articles
At the time of its original release the 'Surname Atlas' CD received coverage in a number of magazines:
- Family History Monthly magazine, July 2003 (p.58), carries a full page review by Simon Fowler, with illustrations for the surname Fowler. Here are some short extracts: "....The result is impressive. You can easily show the location of surnames either by county or by the more detailed registration district (England and Wales only) and to print them out in a variety of colour schemes. It is also possible to build up lists of names, containing surname variants or obvious errors made by the enumerator at the time or subsequently by the transcriber. There is even the possibility of searching by forename, which might be a good way of identifying family members which had the same Christian name. There is no manual or help-screens. There is no need - it really is intuitive.... almost anybody who has wondered where a name came from will find it fascinating. And at £12 it is a real bargain."
- The UK's Family Tree Magazine, September 2003 (pp.40-41). This is a comprehensive two page review
written by Alec Tritton, Chairman of the Federation of Family History Societies. He includes three sceenshots - for 'Hollis', and a four-map screenshot of Moore / Tritton / Norman / Watling. His conclusion is that "....Altogether Surname Atlas is a great little program that can be used as a serious tool and is competitively priced. Most users of this software are sure to find something of interest."
- An on-line article The British 19th Century Surname Atlas, posted 5th September 2003 on the website of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, by Dr George Redmonds, leading surnames expert and author of such books as 'Surnames and Genealogy, A New Approach'.
- Your Family Tree, October 2003 (p.89). A short piece by magazine editor Garrick Webster.
- Journal of One-Name Studies, October-December 2003 (pp.13-15). Comprehensive centre-spread review by Howard Benbrook with screenshots for 'Pointon'. "...a picture is a thousand words. With Surname Atlas, it certainly is! This program is a must-have for the computerised one-namer."
- PC Basics magazine, special Family Tree issue (No.62, October 2003), pp.104-05. A two-page piece comprising mainly of screenshots, with easy steps for beginners on how to use the program. "Family origins can often be a mystery, but this should help narrow things down." Reprinted in a Family Tree computing special, published November 2003
- Canadian magazine Family Chronicle, December 2003 (pp.14-15). A two-page review by John Reid, with screenshots for 'Lincoln', and a comparison for Reid/Reed/Read/Red. "The beauty of the program is there is no need to laboriously enter any other data - it's all on the CD."
- Review by Graham Fidler, in Net That Surf (Newsletter of the FHS of Cheshire Computer Club), Dec 2003 pp.9-12...."Just in time to help fill your Christmas stocking comes a great CD which will give you hours of genealogical fun, and may well help you round a brick wall or two...."
- The Historian, the magazine of the Historical Association, carries a 5-page article by Professor David Hey, 'Recent Advances in the Study of Surnames' (Winter 2003 issue, pp.13-17). This uses some screenshots from the Surname Atlas CD for surnames Nice, Batho, Grafham, Dymond, Widdowson and Ollerenshaw. Many other locative surnames are discussed in the article.
- 'The British 19th Century Surname Atlas', a review of the CD, also by David Hey, appears in Ancestors, a magazine published by the National Archives (Dec 2003/Jan 2004 issue, p.33).
- Another review of the CD appears in Ancestor, the magazine of the Australian Genealogical Societry of Victoria (Vol.27 No.1, March 2004, pp.8-9).
- Short review by Dr Terry Punch in the 'Book Reviews' section of The Nova Scotia Genealogist, the official publication of the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia (vol. XXIV/2, summer 2006, p.97)...."Highly recommended"
Planning to write a magazine review?
If so, please email for essential information that should be included - i.e. pricing & supply details, and hardware/software requirements.
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