A Plethora of David and Richard (52 Ancestors, #6)

My grandfather emigrated from Wales with his parents in 1878.  David Richard Gill and Ellenor Morrison had six kids—five boys and one girl.  My Uncle David Richard Gill (1894-1963) is one of this first native-born generation in my family.  He carries the family tradition of son with the same name as father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

There are nine men named David Richard on the paternal side of my family tree:  great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle, paternal first cousin, first cousin once removed, second cousin once removed, cousin Earl’s son, cousin David’s son, and a half-brother – five generations of Gill men.  And most of them have blue eyes.

If a boy isn’t named David Richard, he has his mother’s maiden name as his middle name.  That’s just how it’s done, and it’s how you keep the child-mother connection straight in cases of plural marriage or second, third, and fourth marriage.

This handsome guy is great-grandfather David Richard Gill (1838-1906).  He emigrated from Wales to Utah with five of his 13 children.