Name Fails

I’ll hold my hand up from the start, I love a fail. They just make me laugh and cause my YouTube viewing to increase all the time, but is it just physical fails that make me laugh?

Well the answer is no. You get name fails too. Now admittedly many of the fails were probably not funny at the time and it is only as life has progressed that the funny side can be seen, I can attest to this. Pre Harry Potter, most people just thought I had a strange surname, but now…. Most just laugh or make a comment about my clothes. For those who don’t know my surname is Dobby, and Dobby is the house elf in the Harry Potter series. But I think some parents knew what they were doing when they chose their child’s name.

Dobby the House Elf, NOT me!

So onto the funny side of names in genealogy. I decided to spend an amusing day typing what I thought were funny names into Ancestry to see what I came up with. I’ll admit many I found amusing I have decided not to include as they could be considered rude. Really funny though. So here is my top 40 funny names in no particular order.

Horticultural Names

Rose Bush – There have been loads of these unfortunate ladies

Holly Tree - There have been loads of these unfortunate ladies

Hazel Nutt, born 1915 in Chesterfield

Timothy Burr, baptised 1726 in Essex (Tim Burr)

Daisy Weeds, born 1889 in Norfolk (my first cousin 3 times removed)

Cristafer Weeds married in Norfolk in 1561. (C.Weeds)

Grass Green who departed the UK in 1947

Teresa Green, born 1852 in Ware

Festive Names

Lilian Ruth Christmas Tree, baptised 1903

In 1886 in London Mary Magdalen married Abraham Bateau

Florence Angel Gabriel was buried in London in 1884

Merry Christmas was born in Sussex in 1874

Character Names

Thomas Snow White was born in 1882

Cinderella Lord was born in Burnley in 1901

Donald Duck was found on the 1881 census

Michael Mouse was on the 1841 census (Mickey Mouse)

Minnie Mouse was born in Pendleton, USA in 1880

Robert Builder married Susanna Sproll in 1778 (Bob Builder)

Sam Fireman was living in London on the 1911 census (Fireman Sam)

Animal Names

Kitty Williem Catt was born in 1880

James Little Lyons was born in the USA in 1822

Jack Daws was born in Nottingham in 1902

General

Stanley Still has been the unfortunate name of many men (Stan Still)

Jo King was baptised in Watford in 1589

Annette Curtain (whose dates I’ve not given to spare blushes)

William Board has been the unfortunate name of many men (Bill Board)

Isla White was found on the 1851 census

Peter Perfect was born in Dartford in 1889

Bad Cook was born in Alabama, USA, around 1882

Good Cook was baptised in London in 1723

Olive Cart was born in Warwickshire in 1919

Sunny Day (whose dates I’ve not given to spare blushes)

Sidney Bridge was born in Essex in 1872 (not quiet there but close although my Uncle had a friend call Sidney Arborbridge but I can’t find his records)

River Jordan was born in Birmingham in 1854

Beau Bunting (whose dates I’ve not given to spare blushes)

Richard Taylor Coal Miner was buried in Kirkheaton in 1874

Norman Knight was a soldier during WW1, as was

Harold Norman Knight (who died during the conflict)

Austin Healey who was an England Rugby Player

Morris Van de Car was on the 1881 census (he couldn’t decide if he was a car or a van)

Method to use when choosing a babies name

So when you find out your expecting the pitter patter of tiny feet, think through the name you choose carefully so you little one doesn’t have to endure a name fail! And future genealogist won’t sit typing into their genealogy websites to find the funny names like I do.

Happy New Year from Family History Research England

Christmas

“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse”.

I could go on but the copyright won’t allow it, but thank you Clement C Moore for writing this book. I still read my Mum’s childhood copy of this book every Christmas Eve, although my brother’s drunken version one year was hilarious.

Let me state for the record I think Ebenezer Scrooge was right. I hate Christmas, always have, and always will. It’s just another excuse for shops to persuade you to spend money, it stresses everyone out and depresses people as TV portrays that everyone is wearing fabulous clothes and going to parties giving out expensive presents and eating and drinking luxury products. Also you hear Noddy Holder yelling “it’s Christmas” every time you go in a shop from the beginning of November and by Christmas you’re ready to stop listening to the radio (or is that just me?). Christmas day is usually warm, but you have to wear your Christmas jumper or the jumper you’re Gran’s knitted for you, whoevers cooking is stressed, all the kids are so hyper you may as well have given them Sunny Delight and you just eat and drink too much as there’s nothing else to do as the TV schedules rubbish. It was funny the Christmas my grandfather’s had a little too much to drink and started making speeches. They soon sobered up when Mum told them they were washing up.

Now I don’t want to sound ungrateful for any present’s I’ve received over the years as I loved them, but I would rather people spent their money on themselves. I’ve had some great presents over the years notably any cuddly toys, my train set and anything Care Bear based (my grandparents got me my Tenderheart bear from Dubrovnik in Croatia one year as they were so much cheaper) and my all time favourite was in 1989 when I was given money to buy a guinea pig and he was my best friend and confidant for 5 years and I still miss him to this day.

Right rant over. So how does our Christmas differ from those which came before Christmas?

Well in general terms our modern day Christmas traditions began in the Victorian era. It’s believed the bringing into the house of a Christmas tree was brought to Great Britain by Price Albert, although for hundreds of years before this greenery was brought into the homes during the winter months. Before this though what was Christmas like? Well I’m going to consider the Tudor royal Christmas as this is a period of time which fascinates me.

Christmas was much different. It ran from Christmas Day to Epiphany (the 6^th January) and was known as the 12 days of Christmas. There was no merriment in the run up to the season. Advent (the 4 weeks before Christmas) was a period of fasting until Christmas Day, and on Christmas Eve they virtually had a vegan diet. During the 12 days most people had to stop working especially the farming and spinning industry, not the servants though. The revelry took place in this period and families came together. Plays were a plenty by the ladies of the palace, carols were sung to honour the nativity, the Yule log burnt throughout the entire 12 days and the food flowed. They also attended a lot of church services, but then before the reformation they did anyway, and after to an extent, they were just a bit different.

Traditional Yule Log and the Yummy kind

As for the food mince pies were around in the Tudor court and tables were groaning. Henry VIII was the first monarch to eat turkey in the 1520’s, but he also ate most of the rest of the farm yard and the woods and the trees. Food was everywhere from morning till night and everything from meat and nuts to exotic foods and sweets were available.

Today we exchange gifts on Christmas day, but in the Tudor palace the gifts were exchanged on the Roman New Year’s Day (1^st January), although in this period new year was actually 25 March (this is why in old parish records you may find a date such as this 1600/1 as the year turned over later in the year). Henry VIII used the exchanging of gifts as a way of showing favour. If the king sent you a gift, you were in favour, but if he didn’t watch out. It was the same with receiving gifts. If he accepted it all’s great, if not, help! He famously in 1532 refused a gift from his wife Catherine of Aragon but accepted one from his mistress Anne Boleyn, the following year Catherine was banned from court and Anne was pregnant and married to the king (in that order).

So really without all the hype and fancy lights (I do like those) Christmas wasn’t so different. Eat too much, drink too much and enjoy yourselves.

“But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight”

Merry Christmas to you all from Family History Research England

Christmas Traditions

Many families have traditions in their families that they do year on year. They can range from things they do to presents they give.

A lot of family’s probably have similar traditions. I always got a little orange and a bag of chocolate money (except Father Christmas forgot my chocolate money last year!) and a pillow case with my presents in. My parents always got a new pair of slippers. Some may always have visited the same people on the same day. For us my grandparents always came for Christmas day and then we spent Boxing Day with my cousins, then New Year’s Eve was at our house and New Year’s Day was back to my cousin’s house. Other traditions for us include a real Christmas tree every year.

But how many of these traditions stem from necessity. Yes it was great that your ancestor’s got a new pair of slippers every Christmas, but if you think about it they probably needed them, so they got what they needed as a present. I can remember getting a new winter coat which makes a great present and is something I needed.

The further back you go through your ancestor’s the more this probably happened. Children probably just got the new clothes they needed and little else, or if they did they were most likely homemade and it would have been rare that the adults got a present, unless they were from a wealthy family that could afford to buy them.

Another form the traditions may take could relate to Christmas food. Tradition today for Christmas dinner is a full roast with turkey. In the Victorian era and before it would more likely have been goose. I’ve had a variety of strange foods for Christmas dinner. I’ve had a BBQ, a fry up and even pizza. Just because it’s Christmas day doesn’t mean it has to be turkey and Christmas pudding. Going back through your ancestor’s it may be that the family scrimped and saved just to have a small piece of meat for Christmas Day (think of the Cratchit’s in a Christmas Carol). If they were farmers like many of my ancestors were they may have had a better dinner as they had the land to grow their own veg and raise animals just for themselves.

Traditions could be things the family did. Pre WW1 it’s most likely that your ancestors would have attended church on Christmas morning before going home for the day. Many a time the man of the house may have gone to the pub after church before going home for lunch. Other traditions could be that on Boxing Day the family went for a long walk or went carolling in the days coming up to Christmas Day.

We need to remember though that the further you go back through your ancestors the less likely it would be that that had any kind of Christmas. Tradition for them could have been that Christmas was a non-event as any kind of celebration would have been beyond their means. Those in the workhouse could have had a better day as even they got a little more food on Christmas day.

Each new generation probably has a new a new set of traditions. Some may combine the traditions of their parents along with new traditions. Each generation will have access to new ideas, beliefs and material things which will mean they can have new traditions that your ancestor’s could never have imagined. Can you imagine your Georgian ancestor’s ever thinking that you can put electric lights on a tree in your house or even covering their houses in them?

So why not start a new Christmas tradition this year so that in the future your descendants can wonder where the Christmas traditions they do come from.

Welcome to Sheffield

Sheffield, the place I called home for 27 years is a large city with a village feel. Sheffield is somewhat of a forgotten city despite being the 5^th largest in the UK. The most people know about Sheffield is that it has 2 universities, Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam University and is the home of the World Championship snooker every year at the Crucible Theatre. But what else do people know, well I bet it’s not about the cities unique landscape and history.

A view over Sheffield

Sheffield developed at the point where 5 rivers merged, the Porter, the Don, the Sheaf (which gives the city its name), the Loxley and the Riverlin and is built on 7 hills. The city has in excess of 2 million tress (although the council seems to like removing them!) which makes it one of the most wooded cities in Europe and was once part of the ancient woodland than covered most of the ancient kingdom of Mercia.

There has been a settlement in the area for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until after the Norman Conquest in 1066 that a more permanent settlement developed. Sheffield got its first castle in the early 12^th century. It was built by William de Lovetot, but was destroyed in 1266 along with the rest of the town during the Barons War. A new castle was begun in 1270 by Thomas de Furnival (there is a street called Furnival Gate still in the city). Whilst it was in the ownership of the 6^th Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick (a local woman who is a former incumbent of Chatsworth House (her descendent became the Dukes of Devonshire) and a friend of Queen Elizabeth) Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the castle as well as at the nearby Sheffield Manor for 14 years. The Furnival castle was damaged by an earthquake in 1574 (in my life Sheffield has experience 2 little ones) and was eventually destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament during the Civil War as the castle was held for the King. Today the ruins of the castle are under the former Castle Market, but will be examined over the coming years as the site is developed. The oldest building in the city is the Queens Head Pub possibly built around the 1470’s. It is still a pub today.

Sheffield has suffered many times over the years.

1000’s – Settlement destroyed during the Harrying of the North.

1266 – Town destroyed during the Barons War.

1537 – Beauchief Abbey was closed during the dissolution of the monasteries. The Cannons who lived here did much for the local community, including acting as the local clergy.

Beauchief Abbey church as it is today, drawn by my Granddad

1640’s – 1660’s – Impact of the Civil War

1832 – Cholera epidemic hits Sheffield as a result of poor living conditions due to the industrial revolution. 400+ died as a result and are remembered today at the Cholera Monument in Norfolk Park.

1864 – The great Sheffield Flood hit the city when the Dale Dike dam wall fails. 270 people died in the floods which hit the Loxley end of the city, but got as far as the city centre and where the current M1 motorway runs past Meadowhall (which was a highly industrialised area).

1940 – On the nights of the 12^th to the 15^th of December Sheffield is heavily bombed by the Germans during the Sheffield Blitz. My own family was affected as my Grandparents were bombed out of their lodgings. They were in the Abbeydale cinema across the road at the time. They were unhurt, as was their landlady. They moved in with their landlady’s family and remained there until after the war. The friendship continued and my Mum and her Brother regarded them as surrogate grandparents.

Sheffield is the proud home of steel and is known as the Steel City. It was in the 1740’s that Benjamin Huntsman developed a new process in the production of steel which lead to much more strength than any steel previously made using the crucible method (the containers it was made in). In the 1860’s Sir Henry Bessemer was instrumental in turning Sheffield into the powerhouse of steel manufacture. He built factories using his Bessemer converter method which put oxygen in to the iron to get rid of the impurities, thus the steel was of much better quality. In 1913 Harry Brearley developed the process of stainless steel in the city which revolutionised the way steel could be used. 

Crucible, Bessemer converter, cutlery and razor blades – Sheffield’s past industries

Stainless steel also revolutionised another important industry that has been prevalent in the city for hundreds of years. Cutlery, razor and blade making. Since the 1600’s Sheffield had been the centre of cutlery manufacture in England. Most of my ancestors from the city and the surrounding environs were involved in the industry. They were sickle and scythe makers for farming and pocket and pen blade forgers and razor grinders for everyday use. By being able to make cutlery out of stainless steel it didn’t tarnish with use and was cheaper than having silver. Today the city still has a Master Cutler and a Cutlers Hall which was built in 1832 and is a grade 2* listed building.

There are many famous people from the city including those already mentioned. Helen Sharman was the first Briton in space and she went to the same secondary school I did (although she left 10 years before I went and the school’s name had changed, but it was the same buildings).

The city has had 2 recipients of the Victory Cross medal, William Barnsley Allen VC, DSO, MC and Arnold Loosemore VC DCM, both for gallantry during WW1.

In the sporting world we have Joe Root the current England Test Cricket Captain was born and raised in the city. Good luck in the Ashes! Also Michael Vaughan the former England Test Cricket Captain (I know he wasn’t born here, but he did live here).

People from the world of music born in the city include, Joe Cocker, Jarvis Cocker and Pulp, Paul Carrick, Def Leppard and the Human League amongst others.

So next time you think of Sheffield, remember the city does exist and I’m proud of the city as its where many of my ancestors were born and bred, as was I.

Royal Weddings

So Prince Harry is to marry. What a great time for the couple and their families. As all the planning begins, the decisions over who will do what and who will be invited, it got me thinking about past royal marriages and how they differ from now.

St Georges Chapel Windsor where the royal wedding will take place

The last time the fifth in line to the throne married was in 1935 when Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. He was the fourth child and third son of King George V and Mary of Teck. (He was proceeded in the line of succession by his brothers Edward, later King Edward VIII, Albert, later King George VI and Albert’s daughters Princess Elizabeth, our current Queen and Princess Margaret). He was married on the 6^th November in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace to Lady Alice Montagu – Douglas – Scott the daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch and Lady Margaret Bridgeman.

But how have royal marriages changed over the centuries especially in the venues they used. Let’s consider the different locations that have been used going back approximately 100 years at a time.

20^th Century

On the 28^th February 1922 Princess Mary (Victoria), the daughter of King George V and Mary of Teck married in Westminster Abbey. She married Viscount Henry Lascelles, the son of the Earl of Harewood and Lady Florence Bridgeman. He would later become the 6^th Earl of Harewood. Being married in Westminster Abbey indicates a grand wedding along the lines of today’s royal weddings.

19^th Century

On the 2^nd May 1816 Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, the daughter of the Prince of Wales, later King George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, married at Carlton House in London Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, later King Leopold I of Belgium. He was the son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf. This wedding although definately grand, was held in the home of her father, not one of the great churches as would have been expected as the second in line to the throne.

18^th Century

In August or September 1705 in Hanover Germany George the son of George Louis, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later King George I of Great Britain), and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, married Caroline of Ansback, the daughter of  John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach. The marriage took place in a chapel at the Palace of Herrenhausen, Hanover, Germany.

17^th Century

On the 14 February 1613 at the Chapel Royal at Whitehall Palace, London Princess Elizabeth the daughter of King James I/VI and Anne of Denmark married Frederick V Elector Palatine of the Rhine, later King of Bohemia. He was the son of Frederick IV Electoral Palatinate and Louise Juliana of Nassau. The chapel royal is the for the reigning monarchs use.

16^th Century

On the 11^th June 1509 King Henry VIII ( the son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York)married for the first time. He was married in a low key ceremony (Henry’s father had died only months earlier) at the church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich. He married the widow of his elder brother Katherine of Aragon the daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

As a side just to show the nature of the rest of Henry’s marriages, they were as follows:

Marriage 2. 5 January 1533 at York Place, London (York Place was the Kings main residence in London) to Anne Boleyn the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond, and Lady Elizabeth Howard.

Marriage 3. 30 May 1536 at Whitehall Palace, London to Jane Seymour the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth.

Marriage 4. 6 January 1540 at Greenwich Palace, London to Anne of Cleves, the daughter of  John III of the House of La Marck, Duke of Jülich, Cleves, Berg, Count of Mark and Maria, Duchess of Julich-Berg.

Marriage 5. 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace, Surrey (a former site of a monastery) to Katherine Howard the daughter of  Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper.

Marriage 6. 12 July 1543 at Hampton Court Palace, to Katherine Parr the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and Maud Green.

Hampton Court Palace

15^th Century

In 1423 John of Lancaster the son of King Henry IV and Mary de Bohun and brother of King Henry V married at the Cathedral of Troyes in France. He married Anne of Burgundy the daughter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Margaret of Bavaria.

14^th Century

In 1308 King Edward II, the son of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile married in Bolougne Cathedral, France, to Isabella of France. She was the daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre.

Bolougne Cathedral, France

13^th Century

On the 24^th August 1200 King John married for the second time. He was the son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He married at Bordeaux Cathedral in France to Isabella of Angouleme the daughter of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême and Alice of Courtenay.

12^th Century

In January 1114 at Worms in Germany Princess Matilda, later Empress Matilda (or Maude) the daughter of King Henry I and Matilda of Scotland married Henry V, Emperor of Germany, the son of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Bertha of Savoy.

So as can be seen some weddings have been grand lavish affairs in the cathedrals of the lands and some have been in private with few witnesses. It seems no matter what a person’s station in life, be it a member of the royal family or your own ancestors they are all family events which are meant to be celebrated.