The Annals of the Annals
Each member of the ANNAL family has been assigned to a particular group according to their earliest known ancestor.
There are two main areas where the name ANNAL is known to have originated; South Ronaldsay (Orkney) and Fife. I am quite sure that the two groups are completely unrelated. I am equally sure that all the South Ronaldsay ANNALs are related to each other, but I have not been able to establish the relationships of the various branches before the parish registers start in the mid-to-late eighteenth century. There are therefore a number of separate groups in South Ronaldsay.
Since first identifying them, I have discovered that certain groups are related to others. I soon found out that the Liverpool and Gravesend ANNALs came from South Ronaldsay and I have recently been able to prove that the Yorkshire ANNALs came from Fife. There are therefore a number of missing group letters. The only significant group which I have not (so far) been able to trace back to either Orkney or Fife is the ANNALs of Deal in Kent.
| Group A | South Ronaldsay - East Side, Lythes, Mossitter, Stane etc. Edinburgh |
| Group B | South Ronaldsay - Linklater, Mossitter etc. USA |
| Group C | South Ronaldsay - Mossitter Edinburgh; Canada |
| Group D | South Ronaldsay - Sandwick Wick - Keiss; Holm |
| Group E | South Ronaldsay - Papley, Grimness Gravesend; Greenwich |
| Group F | South Ronaldsay - Papley Aberdeen; Rossyth; Australia; USA |
| Group G | South Ronaldsay - Grimness Edinburgh; Goodwick (Pembrokeshire); Leicester; Melksham USA; Canada |
| Group H | South Ronaldsay - Holland Oswego, NY |
| Group M | St Andrews, Fife; Dundee; Dalry, Ayr; Kilwinning; Well, Yorkshire; Leeds; Bradford |
| Group P | Deal, Kent |