Latest contribution to the Wilkinson Coats of Arms

The latest addition to the Wilkinson Coats of Arms page is "Unicorns with a Horizontal Stripe (Design IV)", submitted by Armando Framarini. It includes an explanation of the source from an 1865 Wilkinson genealogy study.

Norman Wilkinson -Razzle Dazzler

The latest addition to the Famous Wilkinsons page is Norman Wilkinson. Norman invented dazzle camouflage (also known as Razzle Dazzle by the Americans) for use in World War II. Ships were painted with crazy colors and lines to make it more difficult for the enemy to determine their distance and direction of travel. Fascinating!

Wilkinsons in Space

Clearing your palate from the last famous Wilkinson, may I present Dr. David T. Wilkinson, a Princeton professor and scientist, was one of the foremost experts on the Big Bang and resultant cosmic radiation. Click here for his NY Times obituary and be stunned.

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, launched by NASA in 2001, was named for him. It is currently orbiting outside of the moon's orbit and is collecting evidence from the Big Bang. Wow.

New additions to the Famous Wilkinsons list

Thanks to Paul Wilkinson, who pointed out the following missing famous Paul Wilkinsons. They're all on the Famous Wilkinsons page now.

• Paul Wilkinson (born 30 October 1964, Louth, Lincolnshire) is a retired English football striker currently working as the reserve team manager for Cardiff City (wiki)
• Paul Wilkinson is former Professor of International Relations and former Director of the University of St Andrews Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. He has become a familiar presence as a commentator in the mainstream British media in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. (wiki).
• Paul Wilkinson is the author of "Construction Collaboration Technologies: the Extranet Evolution".

Wilkinsons per Million

An update to the Wilkinsons Genealogy page:

According to the World Names profiler, which uses publicly available telephone directories or national electoral registers, sourced for the period 2000-2005, the Wilkinson name is most popular in the UK with nearly 13,000 Wilkinsons per million (Wpm). [Wpm is my new favorite acronym and new favorite metric.]

Australia is second with just over 850 Wpm. New Zealand comes in third at 816 Wpm. The U.S. is fourth at 232 Wpm. Wilkinsons are most prevalent in the northern region of the UK, where there are a whopping 3402 Wpm.

The World Names profiler also reports that the most popular first names for Wilkinsons worldwide are (in order) Timothy, Wayne, Eric, Caroline, Amanda, Dennis, Harold, Darren, Claire, and Anne. [I'll have to take their word on that one, since I don't have any Wilkinsons in my family with any of those names.]

The latest addition to the Famous Wilkinsons page

I have added a new entry to the Famous Wilkinsons page at the tragically neglected Wilkinsons on the Web site. This could be the most famous Wilkinson yet.

More famous than General James Wilkinson, commander of the army under George Washington (and rumored to be a traitor by various contemporary scallywags)? Yes!

More famous than Laura Wilkinson, diver extraordinaire and star of the opening ceremonies in China (watch when the U.S. enters)? No doubt!

More famous than Tom Wilkinson, star of "Batman" and more other high-quality films than I can list here? Of course!

More famous than Nobel Prize winner Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson (Chemistry, 1973)? Way!

I am speaking, of course, of Kendra Wilkinson - reality show star, Playboy Playmate, and Hugh Hefner "girlfriend". Check out her impressive biography and be awed.

In all seriousness, she's gorgeous (as are all Wilkinsons) and has probably made more money in her short 20 years than I will make in all of mine. So, props to you, Kendra. Glad to have you in the family.

Kindergarten Class Postcard Request

My daughter's kindergarten class is attempting to collect postcards from all 50 states and as many countries as possible. I've asked folks that I know in several states and countries for help, but they could use a lot more postcards.

This is a real request, not a scam, and is only valid for this school year (2006/2007). If you could help out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Please send the postcards to:
Mrs. Albrecht's Kindergarten Class
Vanderlyn Elementary School
1877 Vanderlyn Drive
Dunwoody, GA 30338

Thank you in advance for all of your help. I'm sure the kids will be thrilled to get anything that you could send!

[Update 12/18] As of today, I have heard from folks sending postcards from Russia, China, Australia, Taiwan, Colorado, Oregon, California, Florida, and Alabama. However, more than one postcard from a country or state is ok, too! The goal is 100 postcards by the 100th day of school.

[Update 12/18 (2)] New responses from Japan, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, and DC!

[Update 12/19] I've mapped out the responses I've received so far. This doesn't mean that postcards have already been sent, just that folks from those areas have said that they will send one. If your area is covered, don't let that stop you!

[Update 12/20] More states and France added!

[Update 1/3] Peru and India added. Maps updated - but remember this only means that someone has said they're going to send a card, not that one has been received. If your area is blue, don't let that stop you!

A Different Scott Wilkinson from Raleigh

Just to be clear. The Scott Wilkinson from Raleigh in this article that's defending the child molester ... it's not me.

I'm an engineer, not a lawyer. Masochistic, not sadistic.

Slouching towards Facebook

One of my Wilkinson correspondents (from the Wilkinsons on the Web site) sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I've avoided it until now, but I decided to take the leap and am now officially an icky old married guy on Facebook.

Befriend me if you happen by.

Wilkinsons on the Web bulletin board

Finally, after over a year lying fallow, the Wilkinsons on the Web portion of this domain has been updated. The most important addition is a bulletin board to take the place of the non-working guestbook scripts for Genealogy, Announcements, and Contacts.

• The new Wilkinson Genealogy Requests and Comments board is now here.
• The new Wilkinson-Related Announcements board is now here.
• The new Wilkinson Comments and Missing Links board is now here.

Please enjoy the fancy new features.

• Wilkinson
• administration

Alice Wilkinson - Virtuoso

My aunt Alice, who is an amazingly talented pianist, recently send me a copy of her latest CD. I've posted it for all to see here, put a little low-quality MP3 from it here (buy the CD for a real version), and sprinkled references to it throughout the Wilkinsons on the Web site.

Certainly a very, very talented Wilkinson. Unfortunately she married into the family so I have no legitimate claim on hereditary virtuosity.

Filed in: family Wilkinson

Wilkinson Genealogy Database Update

Amazing the things you can get done during long meetings and much longer plane rides.

When the Wilkinsons Genealogical Database was originally built back in the 90s, there were over 30 different contributed databases from other researchers. The database eventually got too big for my primary server and was moved to another server that went out of business a year or two ago. So, I started over with a different format - only the relevant names and ancestors are on-line and the GEDCOMs with the complete detail are available for download.

Rather than immediately put the old information back up, I tried to contact the contributors. Not a one still has a valid email address. So, I'm slowly going through each contribution, cleaning out living references, putting in a pointer to the contributor name, and merging it on-line.

I've completed two so far. About 30 more to go. Head over the main database page to watch how it all comes out.

Filed in: Wilkinson administration

Wilkinson Website Updates

Lounging around, sick with a severe cold, I'm getting more updates completed. I'm now looking through emails that have been neglected for at least a year.

Added today:

Andrew Wilkinson
Wilko's Wargaming Emporium

Gordon Wilkinson (25)
The Wilkinsons of Hyde Park, South Australia. Only 25 names on-line, but lots of other resources for Australian Wilkinsons.

Filed in: Wilkinson administration

Wilkinson Website Updates

Finally getting through the email and updating the Wilkinsons on the Web site with requests for listings. The following sites were added today:

Michael Wilkinson home page
Mark Wilkinson home page
James Wilkinson home page
Wilkinson Services, a Wilkinson-related business apparently consisting of the three brothers listed above.

Their mother (Jeanne Wilkinson) runs Texas Woodcrafts.

Filed in: Wilkinson administration