Researching George Orwell
Explore the detail of George Orwell using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
The name George means "A Tiller of the Soil or a Farmer" and is of Greek origin.
Records of George Orwell on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of George Orwell in your family tree. A vast range of data is available to search ranging from census records, births, deaths and marriages, military records and immigration records to name but a few. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
| Country Collection | |
|---|---|
 |
Ancestry.com Global records search results for George Orwell. |
 |
Ancestry.com US records search results for George Orwell. |
 |
Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for George Orwell. |
 |
Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for George Orwell. |
 |
Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for George Orwell. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. A DNA test can sometimes help to make a link to a particular family name if you find you share common DNA with people who have the same or similar surnames as each other. If you are lucky then you may get a match within a few generations and discover some Orwell ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Orwell Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for George Orwell and the Orwell Family Tree
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Orwell Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources below you will be able to find a birth record and, from that, a birth certificate can be ordered which lists the names of the mother and father, taking you back another generation in your tree. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Orwell family tree.
Check out Parish Records for George Orwell at Find My Past.
Investigate for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of George Orwell using the FreeBMD database.
Look at Genealogy Bank for George Orwell records.
Study MyHeritage for George Orwell information.
Investigate the LDS Database for records about George Orwell.
Research the Orwell surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Orwell Military records.
Orwell Genealogy Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Study the WikiTree database for user contributed records for George Orwell.
Study MyTrees for information on the Orwell family and people looking to contact living Orwell relations.
Study One Great Family for Orwell records submitted by people who are already researching the Orwell Family Tree.
Find George Orwell from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Orwell Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Orwell surname using Genealogy.com forums .
Miscellaneous Orwell Databases
Investigate the Ellis Island Database for information on George Orwell. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, biting social criticism, total opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.
Orwell produced literary criticism and poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics and literature, language and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked George Orwell second among "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Two Minutes Hate", "Room 101", "memory hole", "Newspeak", "doublethink", "unperson", and "thoughtcrime", as well as providing direct inspiration for the neologism "groupthink".
Source: George Orwell, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Orwell
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Oreilly Oherlihy Ohrel Oriel Oriley Orla Orlley Orrell Orrill
Comments
Looking for information on a George Orwell in your family tree? Why not post a question here -