Thoughts on Given Names

So far my research headaches have mostly stemmed from my inability to find records for Hannah based on searches for her surname and its variants. There is another possibility of course. What if she used the name Hannah, but was baptised something else? There are all sorts of instances where people use names other than the one they were registered with. I know several people who always go by their middle name. Others simply do not like the name their parents chose and go by something different. Or maybe a nickname just sticks, and everyone is surprised to learn years down the line that Ethel was really Martha. Some names just have really common nicknames associated with them. In Scotland, many Margarets are known as Peggy. One of my ancestors from Wolverhampton, whose name was Mary, preferred to be known as Pollie, and that’s the name on her marriage certificate.

Now, if someone is using a name other than the one they were given by their parents, there is no surefire way to determine the correct name. There may be likely contenders, but they are not guaranteed to be correct. That said, thinking about this topic, I came up with some likely names that I should add to the research to-do list.

First, there is Susannah and its variant spellings. Another obvious choice would be Anna or Ann, or even Nan. Then there is Johanna. I shall see if any of these names turn up anything promising.

Comments

Madman?

In my recent searches for William I happened upon the following newspaper article: Birmingham Daily Post, 21st May 1874 In 1874 William was hawking newspapers with his wife Ann, with whom he was living in the Gullet, Stafford Street. Nevertheless he is clearly still haunting his old home turf on Weaman Street as we learn he still frequents the Leopard Inn . Clearly he was aggressive towards the landlord, Mr Lummis, and, for whatever reason, wanted to break his mirror. We learn that Mr Lummis was frightened of William, and that William had made some serious threats to the man while wielding a carving knife. The word “madman” is used to describe William repeatedly in this article, even by William himself. He even demonstrates this by imitating a cuckoo. This piqued my interest as it reminded me of another of William’s arrests, way back in 1849, when funnily enough, he assaulted the landlord of the Old Still on Weaman Street, threatening to kill him and also damaging his proper...

Hannah Morris

Lately this blog has been focusing on William Wheelock and his world. In a total absence of clues to the identity of Hannah Genders, William seems a natural focus given he is the only person besides her son that knew Hannah personally (though I have no confirmation that John had any contact with her beyond infancy). As long as my searches for Hannah turn up nothing, I can at least explore the streets she walked on and learn about the man she had two children with. Until I find confirmation of when Hannah died, I will assume she was alive for roughly the same timespan as William. I will also assume that for some reason or other–marriage or simply hiding from William–she was using a different name. I haven’t stopped searching for the name Genders and its variants, but I’ve turned up nothing so far. There are other possibilities of course. What if she was in the workhouse? What if she was a patient, like William, in some institution or another? Her presence may have been record...

Hannah Genders

And so finally, we get to Hannah Genders, my 3x great grandmother. It would be hard for me to know less about Hannah. She has proven so elusive it has been much easier to prove who she wasn't rather than who she was. I only have two records that I know for sure relate to to my Hannah and they are the birth records of her children, Mary Hannah, and John. Mary Hannah Whilock birth (1846) So from this record I know that on the 8th April 1846, Hannah gave birth to her daughter at 22 Court, 8 House, Lionel Street. I know she was still there on the 9th May that year because that is when she registered the birth, and I know that she can't sign her name. The surname Wheelock is transcribed as Whilock, and she makes the claim that she is William's wife. Mary Hannah Wheelock Death 1848 When Mary sadly died in 1848, she did so at her grandparents' home, Court 22, House 2, Weaman Street. Now although it states that Hannah Wheelock was present at the death, this almost certainly...

Who Was Hannah Genders?

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