So I have an idea bubbling away in the back of my mind; conducting a one name study.
I would like to do it about Cowton. It's a surname that appears not too far back in my tree, but it's one that is manageable. The village of Cowton is 20 miles from where I grew up, so I know at least one branch of the family hasn't moved far.
I plan to begin by looking through the census' and BMD records before applying to become a fully fledged member of the guild. I return to university at the start of October so I won't have too much time, but I feel a ONS would be easier to do than a family tree (mostly because I desperately need to tidy up my citations in my own tree!).
Am I being realistic? Or taking on too much?
I think this is a great idea. Like you said, you might want to do some census and BMD searches first so you know how common the name is. You don't want to make too much work for yourself. I have looked into doing it before, possibly the Mitton or Collingwood families in my tree. I am at the moment in the process of researching a one place study - the village of Horton in Ribblesdale in Yorkshire. It's not too big, with a population of about 300.
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