This page should be a useful resource for ODELL (=Odell, O'Dell, Odle, Oadle etc) family historians.
Worldwide (but esp. US) ODELL family history
The US
branch in particular appears to be fairly well catered for on the WWW. Apart from an ODELL discussion forum at GenForum, there is a US-based ODELL "one-name" organisation producing a quarterly newsletter, Odells Lost and Found, and holding reunions. You can also join a the US-based ODELL genealogy discussion list, by sending the word "subscribe" as the text of an otherwise blank message to odell-l-request@rootsweb.com
UK ODELL family history
Back to 1836, if you want to undertake research on your own and have access to a local Family History Centre or County Records Office you should be
able to get on fairly well using the GRO Index of births, marriages and deaths. The index of Wills is also useful for confirming relationships.
Before 1836 you will need to do one or more of: developing links with the relevant county family history society; joining a county mailing list at Rootsweb; travelling to consult parish registers and other records at county archives; and acquiring information researched by others (secondary information). Secondary information is available in particular from the International Genealogical Index (IGI), much of which is now online at http://www.familysearch.org. All secondary information needs to be treated with care as mistakes inevitably get made by researchers.
Whichever part of the world you start from, as you trace back your ODELL family history you are likely to find yourself converging on the area of northern Bedfordshire, southern Northamptonshire, eastern Buckinghamshire or
north-eastern Oxfordshire. This appears to be an ancient epicentre of the ODELL population. Particularly densely populated parishes
in the 17th-15th century were: Mollington, Oxfordshire ("Oxon"); Cranfield,
Bedfordshire ("Beds"); Salford, Beds; Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire ("Bucks") where quite often the name ODELL appears in all the variants almost simultaneously. This is partly due to differences in pronounciation of the vowels and partly due to this being the first time when many people had their names put in writing and there were no consistent ways of spelling.
There is an alleged link between ODELL and Wodhull (Thenford,
Northamptonshire) or Wadehull/de Wahul. But for some researchers it still has to be conclusively established.
Resources unique to this site for the ODELL genealogist
1. If you are into everything about UK ODELL genealogy, or are looking for instant answers from fellow researchers, and want to receive announcements relating to this site then you can join the new UK based ODELL family history mailing list here! Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button. You will be able to send messages about ODELL matters and receive the messages other people send:
2. For help with ODELL family research projects email us.
3. For single ODELL genealogical queries anywhere in the world, maybe something that's been troubling you for a while you can leave a message and your choice of contact details on The ODELL noticeboard.
Notice board courtesy of 
Other online genealogical information
A full catalogue of genealogical resources is available in Cyndi's list.
Happy rooting!
