All in the Name

I'm sure that I've discussed names and name meanings on this blog before, but I've been thinking about name meanings a lot lately. I wonder how many people actually consider the meaning of names before giving them to their children. The name James, for example, at it's heart is a translation of Jacob, which means the usurper. Francis or Frances essentially means French. And of course, many cultures have anglicized their names to correspond with the English - so somebody recorded as James may have been known as Seamus or Seumas if they were Irish or Scottish, or Shams or Iago if they were Welsh. The writers of the Welsh national anthem, Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, had the bardic names Iago ap Iago and Ieuan ap Iago - or James [son of] James, and John [son of] James. There are several versions of John in Welsh such as Shon, Sion, Ieuan, and Evan.

Another name with a huge amount of variations, this time a lot of which were in English, is Elizabeth - think about it, Elizabeth can be recorded as Liz, Lizzy, Lizzie, Bertha, Betty, Betsy, Liza, Eliza, Bess, etc. etc. This page, shows the huge extent that the name Elizabeth has been varied in different times, countries, and cultures. Names tend to be more fluid than we think they are.

The Classified Past

Image courtesy of Naypong/FreeDigitalImages.net

The Classified adverts in old newspapers are always so interesting - read this from the Cardiff Times, 5 October 1866:

'WANTED, a Young Lady to give lessons in Dancing for the winter quarter. Address W. H., Cardiff Times office.'

 

After all, every decent young lady needed to learn to dance.

Family History By Cerys is on Cyndi's List!

A big thank you to Cyndi's List for listing both this blog and www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk! It's much appreciated!

Friday Quick Tip

Every Friday I'm going to try to  give you a 'quick tip' for genealogy - just a little something that may help a beginner or you might not have thought of before.

So here's your first Friday Quick Tip: Always start with what you already know, about yourself, parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Write it out to get a good idea of your starting point.

At Home with the Georgians (BBC)

Image courtesy of sattva/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last night's episode of the At Home with the Georgians on BBC Four (originally on BBC Two) is perfect for all of you who love Georgian architecture, interiors, fabric, wallpaper, etc...

I recommend a cup of tea (or something stronger if you wish) and a box of chocolates to accompany you as you watch it on iPlayer and pretend that you live in the world that the wonderful Amanda Vickery describes. I particularly like the part where she describes the quilt as the family's history (but then, I would!)

And, if you haven't had your fill of pretty fabrics, I suggest looking at the V & A museum collection images - including this pretty piece of dress fabric.

Of course, all these pretty relics of the past once belonged to real people who had families, lives, aspirations, problems, and maybe descendants out there right now. What your family may have owned or enjoyed of these things varies according to circumstance, but as the section of the programme showing the foundling hospital demonstrates, beautiful fabric could be owned by the poorest and most desperate, as well as the richest. And, as I'm sure you're fed up of me saying by now, the only way to gain a true understanding of your ancestry, is to also learn about social and local history.

Stranger than Fiction

I recently read a (fictional) book about the Pendle witches (Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, for anyone with a reading habit to rival my own,) and it made me think, is historical fiction as interesting as historical fact? I have to confess to loving both - I am both a reader and a researcher after all.

For anyone interested in the true and very strange story of the Pendle witches - there's good background information here about the Pendle witch trials, which, after all, came before the famous trials at Salem.

Just a Note

Hi,

Just a quick note to say I hope you're enjoying the bank holiday. If you've been trying to research your family history this weekend and have got stuck or hit a brick wall, then why not check out my range of services - particularly my 'leaves' hourly rate, perfect for knocking those brick walls down! Take a look at my website www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk for details.

Bye for now!

And A Bit More Easter Joy

I love this video - vintage Astaire, and perfect for Easter. I'll be singing it mentally all day

Facebook likes and google plus one

You can now like my website www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk on facebook, as well as google plus one.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all of you!! :)

Easter Bunnies

Antique Images: Free Digital Easter Clip Art: 2 White Easter Bunni...: Quirky Easter bunny images from the Antique Images site, hope you like them - they brought a smile to my face!

Game of Thrones

Here's one for the Thrones fans, an interesting video (7.10) from PBS News Hour about similarities with mediaeval literature. Literature, after all, has always played an important part in history. Enjoy!

Different Circumstances

I've recently completed research taking me back to the one of the oldest periods I've reached. Sometimes it's possible to get back to the 1780s or 1770s, but this time I was able to get back to people who were probably born in the 1690s or early 1700s.

It's great when I'm able to do this, but sometimes the trail runs cold in the 1820s, or even later. This is most common in families with names such as Williams and Jones, but regardless of the time I manage to research back to, I always do my best to bring the stories of your family to life - to create a sense of the people that came before. I'd love to help you out with your research - why don't you check out my website - www.familyhistorybycerys.co.uk - to view my range of services, and get in touch!

Hide and Seek

Hi,
I came across this incredible gallery from the guardian website, showing early baby pictures with the mother hiding - quite ingeniously in some cases - in the background. Take a look!

New Gadgets

Hi, just wanted to let you know that I've added new gadgets to the blog so you can share and follow more easily,
Bye for now!
Cerys