Viking origins - the Organs of Gloucestershire and Australia
Origin Like most surnames, origins are often intriguing, and Organ is one such example. Where did it come from? What race? Is it English or another language? Does it refer to, for example, the internal structure of the body, or perhaps musical instruments? All such questions have intrigued the septuagenarian writer since his youth. An attempt to answer them will be made within the present article. Gloucestershire, England. Oral tradition exists that the Organ name is of Viking (Danish) origin, deriving from a family who settled in the Gloucestershire region around the time of Danish rule between 870-878, and/or the second phase between 1016-1035. Gloucestershire is located in the western part of England, with Organ family settlement being on land located to the east of the Severn River and including Berkeley, North Nibley and Dursley. The Viking invasion, occupation and rule of Anglo-Saxon England occurred in a number of phases, beginning with initial raids between 789-793, fo...
