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  1. #1
    charlie64
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    Default You can tell by the names? Huh?

    The book "The History of Banbury: including copious historical and antiquarian notices" says of William Sprigge sr of Banbury: " The Puritanical principles of the father may be gues'sed from the Scriptural names which he gave to some of his children, namely, Joshua, Rebecca, Hester, Caleb, Seth, Jonathan, and Sarah."

    Sorry to be so thick, but how do we discern politics from this? I know that scriptural names are all over the place in America and Germany, but in these cases (particularly the USA) they don't seem to have a lot of political significance. Is it different in Britain?

    Thanks for any clarification

    Charlie

  2. #2
    Dundee10
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    I can't see any reference to politics in the original quote.

  3. #3
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hello
    The Puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. They wanted to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices. They were opposed to luxury and sensual enjoyment.
    So the reference to the names is a religious one not a political one.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
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  4. #4
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    The quote refers to practices in the 17th century, not today. Religion and politics came together in the Civil War.

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    One of the ancestors of the owners of Squerries Court, a stately home in Kent, was Sir Patience Warde. When I once visited the place, one of the guides was surprised that I assumed (correctly) that Sir Patience was on the parliamentary side in the Civil War. I was able to point out that Patience was an obvious nonconformist name which would have put him firmly on the side of parliament.

  6. #6

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    This naming pattern was often a feature of the more extreme Protestant sects - not just the Protestants. However, after a generation or two, how do you know whether little Caleb or Hezekiah was named for a biblical character, or their Grandparent?

    Any naming pattern can only be seen as a clue, or grey data, not as hard information....

  7. #7
    charlie64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Goodey View Post
    Patience was an obvious nonconformist name which would have put him firmly on the side of parliament.
    Since as said above politics and religion came together in the ECWs I meant to ask what certain given names might mean as opposed to others. If one guy gave kids names like Joshua, Seth, and Caleb I had the impression from the OP that this had a meaning as opposed to a guy who gave kids names like Edward, Robert or Lancelot. Here in America in the early republic period we had a massive explosion of religious revivalism and Biblical names proliferated and are everywhere in the old days. So over here it would mean nothing. In Britain would this mean anything outside the time period of the decades around the Civil Wars? That is would biblical names vs other names have any meaning in the 15th century? Or was it just the ECW period? When I first read the quote I mentioned it occurred to me - religion was a big issue on the Continent and I might find clues to regional origins of Germans if they gave names particular to a given sect. But forget Germany, is this practice peculiar to the ECW period in the UK?

    I'll post another question about Scots given names in a new thread. it just hit me that this might help with our local history here.

    Thanks to all

    C

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    Have you read the books by George Redmonds? He has followed closely the new fashion for Biblical names which appeared in Halifax from the mid 16th century. He compared the frequency of such names with those in Leeds and other parts of the country. Halifax was certainly very Protestant and leading to nonconformity and the names match the religious tendency. Read "Christian names in local and family history". He says p.141 that Jonas in particular must have sounded almost revolutionary to people from outside the region at that time. cicilysmith

  9. #9
    charlie64
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    Quote Originally Posted by cicilysmith View Post
    Have you read the books by George Redmonds? He has followed closely the new fashion for Biblical names which appeared in Halifax from the mid 16th century. He compared the frequency of such names with those in Leeds and other parts of the country. Halifax was certainly very Protestant and leading to nonconformity and the names match the religious tendency. Read "Christian names in local and family history". He says p.141 that Jonas in particular must have sounded almost revolutionary to people from outside the region at that time. cicilysmith
    No, but I will now. Interesting stuff. Thanks.

    Charlie

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