People with same surname from across the globe stage massive meet-up

1416

This weekend more than 100 folks with the same surname gathered in a Cornish town. All these people have the same Retallick surname and same ancestral home town. The hundreds of Retallicks come to their ancestral town to meet to their roots.

People with same surname
Photo: Image: Jan Bryan via SWNS.COM

The idea for having a get together for Retallicks came from a facebook group which was created by the people with Cornish surname to see how far their family tree is spread.

This idea inspired Jim Retallick from Utah in the United States to arrange a meet up for Retallicks. He even took a step further and organized a weekend meet up for the people who share the same surname as him.

Talking about the experience of Retallicks’ get-together at the native place Jim Retallick said that he was in Cornish town fourteen years back and many of them have never visited the place.  

To be a part of this get-together people have flown to their ancestral town from countries Japan, Canada, US, and Australia to get a hint of their household historical past. As of now, 348 people have registered to the group of Retallick and most of them are from overseas.

Mike Retallick, a photographer comes to Cornwall all the time. He clicked the photographs of this historic event when many of the Retllicks met the first time. Mike Retallick said about this event that Rain or shine this is going to be a great weekend.

He also said that he is looking forward to meeting everyone. One of the reasons for having this get together of Retallick is to honor Keith Retallick, who passed away a few years ago.

A group member Shaz Retallick described Keith as a ‘very special and helpful man’. Shaz further adds, “Keith put me in contact with a cousin who I didn’t know I had and lives less than 20 km away”.

The traces of Retallick surname are available in pre-10th century Olde English or Breton origins. During potato blight and mining slump of the 1850s, many Retallicks left their place for Australia and Japan. In 1891 approx 131 Retallick families were living in Cornwell. Rtallicks were also found in the USA, the UK, and Canada between 1880 and 1920.