A Message from Michael Bishop…

Around 1983 my Father James Russell Bishop asked me if I wanted an old trunk. He explained to me that the trunk belonged to his Father, and my Grandfather James Alton Bishop. My father also explained that the trunk had a lot of old documents and papers about the Bishop family. There were even papers in the trunk dating from 1800’s. My Father had told me that during WWII my Grandfather had done some research back in the 40’s and while in England had traced our Bishop family back to Scotland. My Grandfather also visited a Bishop family in Scotland, and kept the researching the family for approximately 40 years.

I asked why my Father he didn’t want this old trunk? He said “It’s just more junk to have around”. I said “We should at least look at it, for the sake of Grandpa and see what’s in it”. Well, we spent about a week going through all the old stuff. Before we knew it we were at the library looking up stuff to see what it all meant. This was the life and death of who we were, this was my family. Needless to say, we were hooked and from that point in 1983 up to now, my Father and I devoted our spare time to learning more about our family. My Father died back in 2004 and left me to carry the torch for the Bishop family, until my death.

One of the things I wondered about, is why this family is so spread out and why did they lose contact with each other? More importantly, in 1985 I realized that my father and I were not the only ones who believed that the Bishop’s should come together as a family that crosses centuries, countries and borders. After about 20 years, I found that we were all connected from Virginia, to the Carolinas, across the South, and out into Arizona and Texas.

The Bishop family has been around for a very long time, but we are scattered. Think on it, what if we could all pull together, put our resources together, and re-establish our family? We could find 2000 descendents all from one man. and our family would be as strong as a cement wall.

This is what I have been working on for the last twenty plus years. This has been a labor of love for all the Bishops in the United States and around the world that share our common ancestors. When the Lord Lyon finally granted our family armorial bearings in 2003, we were given the family motto of Pervicax. (Pronounced pur-vih-kay). This comes from the Latin word pervicacious meaning obstinate, headstrong, or stubborn. As you learn about our family, you will find example after example of “Pervicax” throughout the centuries. I hope all of you that are descended from Captain John Bishop, who came to this country circa 1641, will consider joining the House of Bishop in trying to pull our family together in our typical Pervicacious manner.

Yours,

Michael Dean Bishop, K.T., Guardian of the House of Bishop