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A few months ago I wrote about 1000 years of Benson's. Now that I have learn't more I can put up a better arguement.
I strongly believe in two or more main lines of Benson. One originating from somewhere around the Scotish/English border and the other from Scandinavia.
Luckily with the S/E name it probably hasn't changed since it was first used. Where as with the Scandinavian Benson name it has been changed from one family to another.
Scandinavians used to (and some still do) change the name in honour of their father, eg. Erik Benson's son, John becomes John Erikson, if he had a sister named Elin she would become Elin Eriksdottar (Erik's daughter). Therefore tracing Scandinavian lines is very difficult. Scandinavian lines are not as true as English/Scotish ones are.
Scandinavian lines are only really traceable until they have migrated to somewhere like the U.S (where records are kept, and so is the surname). The only way of preserving surnames in early Scandinavian times was to give you son your name eg. Ben Benson.
I have also found that on many Swedish family trees they have the name Bengtsson with Benson in brackets next to it. I'm not sure what this means but it has some relivance.
People may think Benson cannot be Norwegian or Danish because the Danes spell surnames with 'SEN' instead of 'SON' they didn't do that hundreds of years ago, they also used 'SON', 'SEN' is more modern.
As for surnames ending in 'SON' in Scotland and England, I believe they got it from the Viking indvaders of the time. Before the Vikings came there is no evidence of any Englishman having a name ending in 'SON'.
They were simply called names like 'ETHELRED the Unready' etc. The Vikings colonized and merged with the local populations. Perhaps English names were given to the Viking descendants but the Vikings still kept the 'SON' which may describe names such as Wilson and Neilson.
Obviously there are still Benson's in Scotland and England, it is fairly common. BUT it still exists in Sweden. Other people claim Norwegian 'Benson' heritage.
That is why I believe there are two sides to the Benson name. Not all Benson's have the same heritage. It's just a matter of finding it out.
Americans and Canadians with the Benson name could be either Scandinavian or English/Scotish.
Australians and New Zealanders are probably from the English/Scotish line, unless your family tree goes back to American migrants. If that's you, you are going to have real trouble tracing it back. Like me.
This may have put some light on the Benson heritage or it may have totally confused you.
All the same, I have the English Benson *FAMILY CREST* if anyone wants it. It looks nice.
Does anyone know where all the Benson's in Australia came from? In early days it would have been from the British Isles but from 1860 onwards it may have been from anywhere.
Thanks for your time.
Regards,
David N. Benson.
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