Pennington Research Association
Pennington Family Genealogical Information - Material - Events
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Pennington Research AssociationPennington Family Genealogical Information - Material - Events
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Family GroupsTable of Contents
IntroductionBy John Alan Pennington, Past Assistant Research Director for Family Groups The families that carry the Pennington name are spread all over the planet. Although we suspect that we all descend from the same limited number of ancestors in the English village of Pennington, we have been unable to tell where all of the far flung Penningtons sit on the family tree. Several bunches of Penningtons have been fitted together in groups with documented relationships. Each of these groups has as its progenitor the oldest Pennington male, whose parentage is unknown. Each Family Group is named for that person. From time to time we discover who the parents of one of these Family Group progenitors is, and when that happens we meld two Family Groups together under the oldest ancestor. There are other groups of Penningtons that don't fit into any of the known groups, although someone may have significant information about them. When that happens, we hope someone steps forward to form a new Family Group. This happened just recently when Bill Pennington realized he had a lot of information about Wells Pennington, who wasn't part of any group. So he formed a new Family Group, #32. The Family Group Leaders keep in touch with other Family Group members, do their own research, and report at least annually to the PRA. Several Group Leaders have their own web sites. Most submit proposals for updating the Pennington genealogy, which are then entered into the master files. This significantly improves the quality of the files and makes further research easier and more certain. That's why the Family Group Leaders are so important. We have more Family Group Leaders than we've had in years past, but there are still a lot of groups that are unrepresented. We hope that interested persons will step forward and accept the challenge of representing their Family Group. Copyright © 2001 John Alan Pennington, 3/14/01 BackgroundThe origin of the Pennington Family Groups can be traced back to the start of the Pennington Research Association. Click here to read a great article titled "The History of the Pennington Research Association, Parts 1 & 2" by Marvin Jones, one of the founders of the PRA. This article will help you better understand the history of the Pennington Research Association, its' publications and the history of the Family Groups as they existed in 1991. Another great article is "Names, Religions and Migrations of the Penningtons of the PRA" by Robert E. Sloane. This will provide you with additional information to better understand our Family Groups. Since then, genealogical study by many PRA researchers has modified the Family Groups. Each year changes are made to Group names, descriptions and their summary descriptions. These changes are made using an approved process known as "Making Changes to the John French Master File (JFMF)". This process was approved by the Board and implemented in 1999. Click here to learn more about the JFMF. Family Group NamesClick here to read the PRA policy on how a Family Group is named and recorded. You may find this article of value to help you understand more about the PRA Family Groups. Click here to read an article published in the Pennington Pedigrees, Vol. 11, No. 1, pgs. 34-63* titled "Our Classification System According to our Pennington Ancestors". The article was written by Bee Holmes, founder of the PRA.
Which Family Group Do I Belong With?To learn which Family Group you may belong with, start by identifying your oldest know Pennington ancestor. Then use the search feature on the web site to see if you can locate the name on our web site. This may provide you with clues and information about which Family Group you belong with. Next, check your ancestor's name against those in the Family Groups below and see if you can find a possible match. You may find this article of value in your search. Click here to read an article published in the Pennington Pedigrees, Vol. 11, No. 2, pgs. 6-22* titled "How To Find To Which Group You Belong".
What if I Can't Find a Family Group for My Ancestor/s?First of all, you're not alone! In fact, many of our PRA members do not know which Family Group they belong with - but they are trying to find a connection. Another little know fact is that the PRA Family Groups represent a small part of the total Family Groups contained in the PRA's master database - the JFMF. Most of the Family Groups are waiting for somebody to volunteer to start a new Family Group. The original Pennington Family Group assignments were first designated some 35 years ago at the start of the Pennington Research Association. Constant genealogical study over the years reveals that certain groups can, and have been, combined when a common ancestor is found. Combined with the DNA Study, we are learning more about our common ancestors and we anticipate more Family Groups will be combined as our genealogical research and DNA Study continues. The Family Groups represent the genealogical work done to date. Click here to learn more about starting a new Family Group. If you cannot find a match, or you are not sure, or you would like confirmation, click here to submit a family group query. Family GroupsLast Updated on July 03, 2008
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