What's your take on given names?

[Colin Rowledge]

I have a many times Great-Grandfather, named William who was illegitinate. His mother was Ann. His birth occurred around 1809. She had another illegitimate son, earlier than William. This son she named Nicholsas.

Ann had several siblings, including 2 brothers , named William and Nicholas. I don't want to pre-judge her family's morals, but why these 2 names? This is turning out to be a very strange family. Ann was involved in 2 Quarter Sessions situations in 1821, just prior to the baptsim of William.

Any thoughts welcome

[MarkJ]

Presumably she named her children after her family members. Standard practice, whether they are illegitimate or otherwise surely?

[Colin Rowledge]

Presumably she named her children after her family members. Standard practice, whether they are illegitimate or otherwise surely?

Mark, I'm thinking more negatively about Ann. William, her brother, was a sailor and he was in [shall we say a relationship] in 1820. Ann had left the Parish earlier, and he was, along with his intended, raising her son. William was baptised in 1821, presumably to make him a recipient of relief, and was apprenticed in 1823 in order to take him off the Parish Relief rolls. William [Ann's brother] then married in August 1822, gave up being a sailor and became an Agricultural Labourer.

William appears to have been baptised twice, once as a minor prior to to the marriage and again in 1830 when he was classed as an adult. This I believe meant that he had himself baptised. Question - can this be done in the same Parish with 2 different Vicars involved and if so, how frequent were such events?

[v.wells]

As Mark says a woman could name her children after anyone she wanted.

A child can be baptised by their parents at any age, usually withing 3 yrs of birth and that same child could have themselves baptised again as an adult. Baptism is a recogniizing of a religious faith and not necessarily a naming. And yes it can happen in separate parishes - it all depended where the person lived and worked.

[Pam Downes]

I have read that boat people and other travellers used to have their children baptised in more than one parish as they travelled the country so that if a claim for settlement in one parish came to nothing they could try in another baptismal parish. How true that was, I don't know.
Pam

[Colin Rowledge]

As Mark says a woman could name her children after anyone she wanted.

A child can be baptised by their parents at any age, usually withing 3 yrs of birth and that same child could have themselves baptised again as an adult. Baptism is a recogniizing of a religious faith and not necessarily a naming. And yes it can happen in separate parishes - it all depended where the person lived and worked.

I agree with both you and Mark about the naming process.

What concerns me is that his 1st baptism appears to have been orchestrated by Ann's brother and his intended and was about 12 years after his birth. The same given name is on the baptism record for both along with the mother and details of his birth.

Both baptisms happened in the same Parish

Colin

[Hollytree]

I have read that boat people and other travellers used to have their children baptised in more than one parish as they travelled the country so that if a claim for settlement in one parish came to nothing they could try in another baptismal parish. How true that was, I don't know.
Pam

Mine shifted around, he was a navvie on railways, children born all over the South West, but when they fell on hard times they were shifted back to their place of settlement, Wellington in Somerset.

This was in the 1870's, post Poor Law Unions, but I think the principle was the same with the old poor laws, I saw in some documents recently that in the Forest of Dean where there are a lot of 'ex parochial' areas, that some men were reputedly said to move the women who were expecting their illegitimate child out of their parish so as to avoid payment for maintenance of the child.

Anne

[Jeuel]

Maybe William felt he should act as head of the family for the boy since he didn't have a father around?

[hepzibah]

i think it is quite ussual to name babies after favorite family members or friends. i dont think it means anything more than that.

[Jeuel]

In my experience family names were used over and over through the generations. Generally sons would be named after grandfathers, fathers and uncles. I wouldn't read anything into it.

On the other hand, I have a gt x 3 aunt who had an illegitimate son whom she named Octavian and I've always wondered where that came from! Nearly all the male members of my family are called William, John, Robert, Thomas and Samuel.