1 February 2009

What's in a name?

I've been pretty lucky with the names in my tree; a number of them are fairly unusual so, apart from some very odd spellings, they've been quite easy to identify.

However, there comes a point in most family historians' research when they come across a Smith or a Jones. Now, don't get me wrong - one of my best friends is a Smith - but there are just so many of them! I was lucky to get back five generations before I found one which needed looking into (my g-g-g-grandmother) and now I have a host of them. Susannah Smith (I have three of these alone) was born today in Chatteris in 1823 and another Susannah Smith was born last Thursday in 1815. And that, I'm afraid, is all I know about them at present. I need to get at the Chatteris Parish Registers and hope that I can identify them.

Interesting fact: The Scotsman, or the Edinburgh Political and Literary Journal, ran the following advert on this day in 1823:-

"WANTED TO BORROW

FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS Sterling on undoubted heritage Security. Apply to . . . . ."

I guess that if you don't ask, you don't get!

Today's other birthday is Annie Louisa Staden, born in 1905 in Cambridge. She's already had a mention in this blog as the child who appears in two different places in the 1911 census and, apart from being mentioned in a couple of funeral reports, I don't know much about her either. I do know where she lived between 1966 and 1971 but that's it.

Weather check:- it's trying to snow and I've seen a few flakes but that's it so far. I've been more interested in watching the Australian Open final - incredible tennis!

So, not terrible exciting today. I'll try to do better next time.



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