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Archiver > RHEA > 1997-03 > 0857872164
From: <>
Subject: Re: Question for the RHEAs
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 20:49:24 -0500 (EST)
To clear up possibly something about the Rhea spelling. What I have is that
the Rhea that I am related to had many different spellings. Rea, Ray, Wray
were not one of them. The name was pronounced Ray, but very rarely spelled
that way. I have only seen it spelled Ray in census records.
But some of the other ways it was spelled were: Reah, Rheah, Reaugh,
Reaough, Reaoh, and Reach. Our name comes from Matthew Campbelll, a Scottish
Rebel who in 1685 after the Scottish Rebellion was thrown in the dungeon of
Castle Peel, Isle of Mann. along with the rest of the army that fought
against the King of Scotland and Ireland. He was cousin to 9th Earl of
Argyll. If you remember 9th Earl was beheaded for his part in this battle.
Matthew was able to secure a boat and escape to Ireland. When a young man in
Scotland his nickname was ruadh(red-haired) pronounced ROOah. He changed his
name soon after to Rheah or similar spelling. Their were many spellings ,
but in 1800 Rhea was the accepted spelling. Most with the Rhea spelling come
from his sons Matthew or Archibald.
Hope this helps.
Pat Hall-list owner
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