Where can I find FREE family ancestry online?

[spludder]

Paradis
This interesting and unusual surname, recorded in London church registers from the mid 16th Century under the
variant spellings Parradice, Parradyce, Paradis, Parades etc., derives from the Old English "pardis", from the
church Latin "paradisus", ultimately from the Greek "paradeisos" meaning garden, and was originally given as a
locational name to someone from any of the various places thus called. These places include Paradis near
Burnham, (Somerset); in Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire); in Newcastle - upon Tyne, (Northumberland) and south
east of Gloucester, (Gloucestershire). On November 16th 1564 Rychard Paradyse and Elizabeth Savage were
married in St. Dionis Backchurch, London. Early 18th Century records show the introduction of Paradis and
Parades as a French Huguenot surname - probably also of locational origin from some enchanting spot in France
familiarly known as Paradis from the Old French "paradis". On June 10th 1725 Marie Magdelaine, daughter of
Nicholas parades and Marie Joyeux, was christened in the French Huguenot Church, Threadneedle Street, London.
A coat of arms granted to the De Paradis family from Lyons, Huguenot settlers in Ireland, depicts a gold cross
between four birds of Paradise, having brillantly coloured ornate plumage, on a blue shield. The first
recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of
Margaret paradise, (marriage to Richard Heyborne), which was dated
May 24th 1552, All Hallows Honey Lane, London, during the reign of
King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553.