Genealogy Chat

In researching my family tree I've found that a small village in Norfolk was home to several branches of the same family all living in houses adjacent to each other. Given the predominance of certain names in those days I can't imagine how they used to refer to each other (I suppose it explains why it was so common for people to be known as a different name to what they were Christened with). I can just imagine some of the conversations : 'I saw cousin James today' 'That's nice - how's his, sister Elizabeth ?' 'No, not that cousin James - the one whose mother is Eliza' 'You mean Beth, William's wife ?' 'No, I always think of her as Aunty Betty - I mean Eliza Jane, not Eliza Mary, the one married to William Snr not William Jnr' 'Can you go and call your cousin John in from the Field' 'Do you mean first cousin John from next door, or my other cousin John from across the street ?' . . . . and so on - they might as well have just given each other numbers !

You find a lot of people were called names associated with their jobs e.g Davies the Coal or John the Shop etc. Here in Mid Wales people are still called by the names where they live E.g. Russell Red House, Tom Pwll Glass, Williams the Ffinnat ..... and you daren't comment about anybody ...... because yes they are really all related !!!! Sioux

Some of my wife's relatives have the surname Rowe. I looked up one particular name on the 1901 census and it gave the location as St Just in Cornwall. St Just is not very big, although may have been bigger when the tin mines were still going, but there were over 170 Rowes living there.

There used to be five Kathryns in my class at school - not all spelt like that of course, but spelling is no help when you're speaking! We used to be Kate, Katie, Kat, Kaz and Kathryn. It used to drive the supply teachers nuts.

Brian, I don't suppose any of your Rowes married any Morrells did they?

I once worked in an office in Wales, where my surname (and given name) is very common. I was asked "Do you mind being called Preece No. 5 - we already have four" Sometimes I was called Preece the audit. Len

Simon, you're so right. It's no wonder its sometimes so difficult for us to find record of an ancestor because often they must have been known as something completely unrelated to either of their actual names. Older living relatives who pass on memories of family must sometimes be unaware of the person's real name and just remember them by what they were known as. Also I bet the people concerned sometimes must have used their "nicknames" on official documents e.g. when witnessing marriages, and that can start us off in completely the wrong direction. Still, no one said it would be easy... All the best Kim

Trish Sorry, no Morrells at the moment.

I was told recently that with common surnames in my family tree - people were called say John Smith son of Peter Smith = John Peter (optional surname)

Now thats a good idea (John Peter), especially since I have at least two John SMITH's in my line.. However both had fathers called Thomas (they seemed to alternate the names John and Thomas each generation), so both would be John Thomas. No jokes Please. The problem initially discussed is of course a commen one still today. How many Paul Smith's are there ? In my companies corporate email system teher were, at last count, 15 Paul Smith's, and I think I get emails for every one of them at one time or another !

i Have a John Thomas in my tree in Wales , in his home town there were over 170 so what hope have I of finding him on the 1901 census>>>>Kim

Oh Kim I can commiserate totally, finding SMITH's is a nightmare too, although not on those proportions !!!

I can remember the days when there was only one class of postage - first. A letter or postcard (once very popular) posted in the morning was often delivered on the same day and there was more than one delivery each day. Len

I'm involved with local history research, and in our village, one particular surname was VERY popular. In the early 1900's, there were 13 families with the same name. There were three Freds - all named after their grandfather (the same man). One was known as Fred, another as Jummy, and the other as Hughie! So many others were known by nicknames - Chisel, Boxer, Cocky, Toddy, Studdy, etc., and in some cases, their sons inherited their nicknames and became 'young Toddy', for example! THEY all seemed to know who they were talking about ........... !!