Researching Maurice Wilkins
Investigate the background of Maurice Wilkins using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
 | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 13236 people with the Wilkins surname? In that year Wilkins was ranked number 299 for popularity in the UK. |
The name Maurice means "Moor, Dark Skinned" and is of Greek origin.
Records of Maurice Wilkins on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Maurice Wilkins in your family tree. Many large databases are available to search covering from births, deaths and marriages, military records, census records and immigration records with many other smaller collections too. 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 Maurice Wilkins. |
 |
Ancestry.com US records search results for Maurice Wilkins. |
|
Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for Maurice Wilkins. |
 |
Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for Maurice Wilkins. |
 |
Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for Maurice Wilkins. |
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 Wilkins 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 Wilkins Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for Maurice Wilkins and the Wilkins Family History
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Wilkins 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 Wilkins family tree.
Explore Parish Records for Maurice Wilkins at Find My Past.
Look at for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of Maurice Wilkins using the FreeBMD database.
Search Genealogy Bank for Maurice Wilkins records.
Search MyHeritage for Maurice Wilkins information.
Search the LDS Database for records about Maurice Wilkins.
Research the Wilkins surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Wilkins Military records.
| Did you know that there are currently 15400 people with the Wilkins surname in the UK? Wilkins is now ranked number 366 for popularity in the UK. |
Wilkins 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.
Study the WikiTree database for user contributed records for Maurice Wilkins.
Study MyTrees for information on the Wilkins family and people looking to contact living Wilkins relations.
Explore One Great Family for Wilkins records submitted by people who are already researching the Wilkins Family Tree.
Find Maurice Wilkins from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Wilkins 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 Wilkins surname using Genealogy.com forums .
| Did you know that there are currently 72918 people with the Wilkins surname in the USA? Wilkins is ranked number 133 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Wilkins Databases
Search the Ellis Island Database for information on Maurice Wilkins. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins (15 December 1916 – 5 October 2004) was a New Zealand-born British biophysicist and Nobel laureate whose research spanned multiple areas of physics and biophysics, contributing to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar. He is best known for his work at King's College London on the structure of DNA.
Wilkins' work on DNA falls into two distinct phases. The first was in 1948–1950, when his initial studies produced the first clear X-ray images of DNA, which he presented at a conference in Naples in 1951 attended by James Watson. During the second phase, 1951–52, Wilkins produced clear "B form" "X" shaped images from squid sperm, images he sent to James Watson and Francis Crick, causing Watson to write "Wilkins... has obtained extremely excellent X-ray diffraction photographs" [of DNA].
In 1953, Wilkins' group coordinator Sir John Randall instructed Raymond Gosling to hand over to Wilkins a high-quality image of "B" form DNA (Photo 51), which Raymond Gosling had made in 1952, after which his supervisor Rosalind Franklin "put it aside" as she was leaving King's College London. Wilkins showed it to Watson. This image, along with the knowledge that Linus Pauling had proposed an incorrect structure of DNA, "mobilised" Watson and Crick to restart model building. With additional information from research reports of Wilkins and Franklin, obtained via Max Perutz, Watson and Crick correctly described the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953.
Wilkins continued to test, verify, and make significant corrections to the Watson–Crick DNA model and to study the structure of RNA. Wilkins, Crick, and Watson were awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".
Source: Maurice Wilkins, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Wilkins
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.
Walczynski Walkenhorst Walkenshaw Walkin Walkingshaw Walkingstick Walkington Walkinshaw Walkom Wallsam Walsham Walsingham Walsma Walsmith Walsom Weilkamp Welchance Welchman Welcman Welcome Welhausen Welikanna Wellcome Wellsandt Wellsman Welshans Welshons Welsing Welzenbach Welzien Wilcinskis Wilhausen Wilken Wilkenhoner Wilkening Wilkennson Wilkens Wilkenson Wilkin Wilking Wilkinson Willeson Willison Willkomm Willsman Willsmith Willson Wilshin Wilson Wilsone Wilsonne Wilsonsarah Wohlgamuth Wohlgemuth Wohlsen Wolchanski Wolgamott Wolkens Wolleson Woloschin Woloschinski Woloson Wolsencroft Wolzen Woolson Wulzen
Comments
Looking for information on a Maurice Wilkins in your family tree? Why not post a question here -