We've always thought that the Ranger surname was French but it has been suggested to me by someone who has lots of Ranger knowledge, that our branch of it could even have come from Holland (Renger etc).

As I'm not very good at doing continenetal european genealogy (I'm ok with british records as I'm here already and have done a reasonable amount on the Surrey Rangers and am constantly tripping over the west country ones where I live), I wonder if there is anyone out there who has done any substantial research into the french Rangers and /or the dutch Rengers that they wouldn't mind sharing with me so that I can see if it relates to the suggestion that was kindly given to me.

This expert also suggested that our Surrey family might go back to the mid to late 1500s in Dover but did they come over as Walloons or as part of the hanseatic league trade? A number of them who settled in Kent and that area of southeast England seemed to have been nurserymen and even for quite a large number of generations - some Rangers in Effingham were nurserymen even in the 1800s - so is that evidence for Holland?

All very vague I know, but maybe there is someone out there who has some experience of searching dutch & french records. Thank you.