An article by David Pedgley has appeared in "La Socie'te' Guernesiaise," 1998. The article details facts and a family tree of early Tostevin inhabitants of Guernsey. An update consisting of corrections and ommissions is due soon.

Excerpts from David Pedgley's message, 5 April 2000:

Here are some replies to your earlier queries.

1. Pronunciation of TOSTEVIN. In Guernsey there are two ways. The modern, Anglicised, form is 'toss-tee-vin' (much the same as in England), but the Guernsey patois form is 'toe-da-van'. The latter would be used mostly by the older generation, but It would have been the form used for centuries when the patois (essentially Norman French) was the everyday language. It is reflected in the early written forms TAUDVIN and TOTTEVYN.
   
   
2. Meaning of TOSTEVIN. The Dictionnaire etymologique des noms et pronoms de France (Dauzat, A, 1980; publishers: Larousse) gives TOSTIVIN as coming from ancient French toster, to grill - applied to grilled, or toasted, bread that is then steeped in wine. This steeping of toast in wine is still done today in parts of France. It is true that some surnames ending in 'VIN' mean 'a native of' (for example, POITEVIN - from Poitou, and ANGEVIN - from Anjou) but I am told there is no place in France called Tostou from which TOSTEVIN could de derived.
   
   
3. COLLAS as a first name was common in many families. It is well known as a shortened form of NICOLAS; indeed there are examples of the same person being called COLLAS or NICOLAS in different records - and sometimes even in the same record!. It was (and still is) a surname in Guernsey (and no doubt elsewhere), just as other first names came to be used (typically in the 12th to 14th centuries) as surnames (eg, THOMAS, GEORGE, JOHN).

I notice on your Toadvine webpage that William Breton proved his right to land for transporting himself, Nicholas Toadvane and others to Maryland. BRETON is an old surname (in Guernsey and no doubt elsewhere), derived for the area name Brittaigne (in English, Brittany), in northwest France, next to the Channel Islands. That makes me wonder if he was a neighbour of Nicholas and had arranged his move to Maryland. But that would mean going through BRETON records! I have not yet come across anything more that might link the NICOLAS (19), born 1644, with the NICHOLAS who came to Mary,and, but there are still some critical records to search. I am hoping that a friend in in Guernsey, who is another TOSTEVIN searcher, will be able to look at them.