Welcome to the first issue of LONGSHOT – the official newsletter of LONG, the LIN(D)FIELD ONE NAME GROUP. This new family history society was inaugurated at a meeting held on February 15th 1992 at the Birch Hotel in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

For many years now, various individuals have been quietly beavering away, both here and abroad, at their research into the history of the LINFIELD and LINDFIELD families. Much has been achieved, both in terms of information gathered and the number of family trees in circulation. But some of us began to ask ourselves whether this rather slow, piecemeal accumulation of data was how we wished to continue, or whether we could set up something which was more dynamic and had concrete objectives in mind. More specifically, we wondered whether there was a way of sharing our research, but at the same time encouraging all those interested to make their own contribution to the family story.

The idea of forming a One Name Group gradually evolved as the ideal way forward. A letter was sent out to 150 people, mostly in South East England, inviting them to attend our Inaugural Meeting and explaining our objectives. The meeting was very well supported, and we now have 50 fully paid up members.
These are our main objectives:

• To collect and publish all records relating to the names LINFIELD and LINDFIELD, and to make them available to all members.
• To provide a forum for all those involved in the collection of such data.
• To promote and co-ordinate research into the origins, derivation and occurrence of all branches of these families.
• To encourage the active participation of all those interested in the study of these families.
• To circulate a bi-annual newsletter, dealing with matters of interest and current research into the Lin(d)fields.
• To write up various aspects of the “family history”, perhaps as a collection of essays to start with but aiming eventually to produce a definitive book about the history of the Lin(d)fields over the centuries, wherever they may have been.
• To respond to all reply-paid enquiries relating to our surnames from members of the Group and other researchers.
• To encourage, through meetings, visits and social events, the making, renewal and continuation of contact between members of these families.

Our society now has an excellent foundation and, we hope, will grow from strength to strength. This newsletter is being sent to everybody we can find with the surnames LINFIELD and LINDFIELD to show you what we hope to achieve, and to give you a good idea of what you can expect for your money. We hope you will enjoy this first issue and, more importantly, that you will want to join our society in order to participate fully in our activities. The second newsletter will be sent to members only.

We appreciate that everyone who shares the name will not be interested, but we would request that if you have a relative who may be interested, then please pass our newsletter on to them.

On a similar note, you may not be interested yourself but you may have various family papers which may be of interest to our sociey – we would implore you to allow us to have access to such material, and we would be more than happy to cover any expenses you might incur in doing so.
We hope that those of you who are not already members will want to join the LIN(D)FIELD ONE NAME GROUP. A membership form is enclosed, giving details of subscription charges for 1992/3, and the method of payment.

Your Executive Committee are open to all suggestions – please let us know what you think of our first issue, and please give us your ideas on improvements or alterations. Needless to say, we welcome all articles for publication.

Malcolm Linfield