Genealogy Chat

I have a copy of a will from 1796. The wife's name is written down as Betty. I have a copy of the parish page showing her death in 1797 and her name is Bettie.

Would it be more than likely her name was Betty/Bettie, or should I be focusing my search looking for Elizabeth? (Hadn't thought to look for Elizabeth; a kind GR member reminded me that she could have been given either name.) Thank you.

Jonesey: I was not hoping for that answer, as she had a common surname. :(

But, thank you for your advice. It is appreciated. :)

agree with Jonesy!!!!

Do you know her maiden name...Did her father leave a Will naming her?

My sister has always been known as Betty but her given name is Beatrice.

Sorry, my son drove me to work. I only have a few minutes now to be here (on GR). :(

Thank you Jonesey, Ann and Gwyn.

There is actually someone researching Betty's family. She has done extensive research; she has copies of wills, birth and death records, etc. I trust her information very much.

A distant cousin of mine said that my ancestor, William Vaus, married Bettie/Betty Francis in Shipley in 1748. A kind researcher found an IGI:
William Vous married Betty Francis, 1748, Itchingfield.

"Mandy", the researcher, has John Francis and Bettie Newman in her family. One of their children was Bettie Francis. I tried finding her site just now, to confirm that I am listing the correct information and I cannot find it. :(

I'm so sorry. I have to start work. I wish I lived in the same time zone as most of you. :(((( Thank you for your interest in this.

I will check back here on my break, in case there are any further replies. Once again, I'm so sorry for not staying here. If I post when I can stay, most people are asleep.
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Thank you Mavis. I will keep that in mind.

I find sometimes a child will be christened and then referred to by the nickname for the rest of their lives as recorded in the parish records.

One of my ancestors was an Ellen at baptism but sometimes she comes up as "Helen" when standing as godparent to her various relatives, at other times she is "Nelly", or "Eleonor". Her sister in law and her own sister were christened Mary but tend to come up as "Molly" when they were godparents. (And this is from c.1760 to, say, 1820.) But I am fairly sure when I find "Nelly Hurst" or "Molly Maskew" that they are really the original Ellen and Mary listed by nicknames.

Lisa, I had a similar problem with my grandmother's name. Dad always called her Lizzie which I presumed was a nickname for his mother-in-law. It wasn't until I started searching for Elizabeth without luck that I found her name was actually Lizzie and never Elizabeth. She was christened Lizzie and married as Lizzie.
One good thing about being old and retired, Lisa, is that we can work on this hobby 24/7 and don't have to worry about going to work, although the housekeeping does suffer!
Margaret

You know, Margaret, I had just the same trouble with my great-grandad. My gran and her father fell out when she married a Catholic so she more or less cut herself off from him. (Her mother had died by then.) But before Gran died, I asked her about my great grandparents and she said her father was Frederick Rothwell, born 1892.

But when the 1901 census came out I searched for Frederick and he wasn't there. I could, however, find his brother James. So I got the household up and found James and his family, including little brother Fred. And now I've got the abstract of his will, I've seen his marriage certificate and the baptism record, as well as his headstone and his birth certficate and he is most definitely "Fred".

I think you can see, though, why in those times you would expect people to be given "full" names instead of "short" versions.

Hi everyone. Thank you for your help.

Margaret, I only work part-time, so some days I am able to be here. My computer has been down this week, so I've not been around lately.

Thank you again. Rushing back to work.