James Keelings born in England and Wales, 1680-1730 … am researching and trying to confirm some ‘family lore’ from a branch of Keelings that believe (family lore) that they came from Wales … in particular am focusing on trying to confirm the origin of the American James Keeling line that supposedly originated with James Keeling born c1737 and Mary Bott.
>> Initial research is that there were no Keelings of any first name, male or female, born in Wales between 1680-1730 … and yet, that said: there are at least several references across Keeling lines of some Welsh origin from this time period.
For Derbyshire and Staffordshire, James Keelings born 1680-1730:
James KEELING Baptism 27 Aug 1705 Derbyshire Youlgreave : All Saints : Parish Register Derbyshire
James KEELING and Ruth JOHNSON Marriage 02 Feb 1720/1 Derbyshire Ashbourne : St Oswald : Parish Register
James KEELING Baptism 21 Sep 1699 Staffordshire Uttoxeter : St Mary the Virgin : Parish Register
James KEELING Baptism 30 Dec 1701 Staffordshire Ellastone : St Peter : Other Transcript
>> Jacobus KEELING Baptism 08 Jan 1708/9 Staffordshire Stoke-upon-Trent : St Peter ad Vincula : Other Transcript
!! James = Jacobus: James is the modern English evolution of the Latin name Jacobus. Both names trace back to the original Hebrew name Ya’akov (Jacob). Over centuries of translation through Greek, Latin, Old French, and English, Jacobus phonetically shifted into the name James.
Records for the above Keelings are freely available at https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/6a8102bcef2e3b410d65c982 ~~~ does not include original images but comes from an indexing of parish records across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.