Researching Jonathan Spence
Delve into the history of Jonathan Spence using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
![]() | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 9906 people with the Spence surname? In that year Spence was ranked number 418 for popularity in the UK. |

The name Jonathan means "God gives" and is of Hebrew origin.
Records of Jonathan Spence on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Jonathan Spence in your family tree. With over 30 billion records and 100 million family trees to search, Ancestry is one of the key websites to visit to help you trace your family tree back in time. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
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Ancestry.com Global records search results for Jonathan Spence. |
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Ancestry.com US records search results for Jonathan Spence. |
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Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for Jonathan Spence. |
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Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for Jonathan Spence. |
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Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for Jonathan Spence. |
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 Spence 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 Spence Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for Jonathan Spence and the Spence Family Tree
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Spence 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 listed below it will be possible to locate a birth record and, from that record, a birth certificate may be obtainable which is likely to list the names of the parents, therefore taking you back another generation. 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 Spence family tree.
Search Parish Records for Jonathan Spence at Find My Past.
Investigate for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of Jonathan Spence using the FreeBMD database.
Check out Genealogy Bank for Jonathan Spence records.
Investigate MyHeritage for Jonathan Spence information.
Search the LDS Database for records about Jonathan Spence.
Research the Spence surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Spence Military records.
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 14053 people with the Spence surname in the UK? Spence is now ranked number 411 for popularity in the UK. |
Spence Family Tree 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.
Look at the WikiTree database for user contributed records for Jonathan Spence.
Study MyTrees for information on the Spence family and people looking to contact living Spence relations.
Check out One Great Family for Spence records submitted by people who are already researching the Spence Family Tree.
Find Jonathan Spence from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Spence 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 Spence surname using Genealogy.com forums .
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 45574 people with the Spence surname in the USA? Spence is ranked number 142 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Spence Databases
Look at the Ellis Island Database for information on Jonathan Spence. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Dermot Spence CMG (11 August 1936 – 25 December 2021) was an English-born American historian, sinologist, and writer specialising in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most widely read book is The Search for Modern China, a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he published more than a dozen books on China. Spence's major interest was modern China, especially the Qing Dynasty, and relations between China and the West. Spence frequently used biographies to examine cultural and political history. Another common theme is the efforts of both Westerners and Chinese "to change China," and how such efforts were frustrated.
Source: Jonathan Spence, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Other names that sound a bit like Spence
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.
Sabbins Sabinash Sapienza Sappington Savins Scapens Schapansky Schepenka Schepens Schibinger Schippang Schuffenecker Schweppenheiser Scoffins Seffinga Seifenmacher Sevenoak Sevenoaks Seyfang Shavinsky Shuping Sibbons Sibennist Siebemust Siebeneicher Siebenius Siebens Siebenwist Siebinkist Skeffington Skevington Skiffington Skipping Skippings Skivington Skupinski Skupnick Sobanski Soeffing Spain-Gower Spancake Spancock Spang Spangenberg Spangenburg Spangle Spangler Spanick Spanjer Spankie Spannagel Spannaus Spanswick Spencelayh Spenceley Spencely Spencer Spencers Spenclay Spencley Spencock Spencook Spengal Spengall Spengel Spengell Spengil Spengill Spengler Spenkuch Spennock Spenos Spens Spenser Spensley Spensly Spenst Sphinxe Spinage Spinas Spincer Spincke Spincks Spinige Spink Spinke Spinkles Spinks Spinnace Spinozzi Spinser Spinucci Spinuzzi Sponaugle Spones Spong Sponsel Sponseller Sponsler Sponza Spungin Spyncks Spynks Supinger Svang Sveinsson Svensdotter Svenson Svensson Swepenizer Szczepanek Szczepaniak Szczepanski Szczpanski





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