One of the issues every family historian has trouble with is all the people with the same name. This has certainly caused me some distress in the past; when trying to figure out which record belongs to which generation of 'William Nicholson Edgill', for example. There were three William Nicholson Edgills, and one William Edgill (no Nicholson) and it took some working out who was who, especially between William Edgill and his younger brother William Nichsolson Edgill! (And yes, both were established to have been individual from each other, and were both alive at the same time; one a product of his father's first marriage, and the second a product of his father's second marriage.)
In our family tree on my husband's side we have a gajillion Ebenezer Grossets. (OK- I admit it; a slight exageration). One thing that made them a little easier was the difference in spelling of the last name. The first Ebenezer that I've found was born in 1723; Ebenezer Grozer. The next (his grandson) used the same spelling and was born in 1772. Next was Ebenezer Grozard (born in 1807), the son of the 1772 Ebenezer, and then came his son Ebenezer Grosart in 1829. Then there was the 1853 Ebenezer, Grosset who was my husband's 2x great granduncle. And finally the great granduncle of my husband, Ebenezer Grosset who was born in 1886. By this time I suppose our Grossets had read The Christmas Carol and decided that they didn't want their child to be compared to Mr Ebenezer Scrooge, and the name fell out of use. Thank goodness!
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| Marley's Ghost, by John Leech, 1843 |
That said, I can think of a particular time when a repeated use of names has really helped me break through a brick wall; or should I say a 'Birkett' wall. My great grandmother was Sarah Annie Birkett. Her mother was born Elizabeth Walker, 'natural daughter of Mary Walker'. This was 'Church Speak' for Elizabeth being born 'illegitimate', and quite right too, as her mother Mary was only about 14 years old at the time of Elizabeth's birth. I have often found getting past a single mother in family history research a tricky stage to get past. Luckily I found a record establishing Mary Walker's birth, and parents, but then stumbled again, because, as it turned out, Mary's mother Elizabeth was also born illegitimately. What added to the confusion was that Elizabeth, mother of Mary, was not christened Elizabeth. Betty, 'natural daughter of Sarah Edmondson', was born in 1792, when Sarah Edmondson (my 5x great grandmother) was 22.
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| Baptism records from St Peter's, Heysham, Lancs, from 1792 |
When I first read this record I could feel my brain clickety clack clicking! I recognised the last name Edmondson; I had seen in somewhere else in the same tree branch. Reviewing later generations I could see that my great grandmother had a brother named Robert Edmondson Birkett. This use of a previous last name, as a middle name, confirmed to me that I was on the right track with this branch, and following the Edmondson line further back I was able to reveal an ancient story of catholic recusants and a family that went from wealthy landownership to barely scraping by on servants wages, all because of their recusancy fines, and catholic persecution.
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| Old Hall, Heysham, the home of the Edmondson family. |
So, whilst all family historians will despair of the miles long list of 'Joseph Bloggs' or 'John Does', we will all celebrate a breakthrough when we find a Joseph Wilson Bloggs, whose great grandmother was a Josephine Wilson! Watch out for those names, they'll trick you, and yet your attention will pay dividends!
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