I wonder if the Registrar quoted deliberately changed the spelling of names. I suspect he simply wrote down what he heard. That would be straightforward for all the examples quoted except maybe Mackie/McKay , as we pronounce those two now. Tom On 23 October 2013 21:41, Janet <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Sy, > > What you have said here is useful and I agree its interesting to know > about Robert Young, > particularly since some of mine were in Kincardineshire. It bears the > possibility that > others were doing the same thing. > > Janet > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sandy PITTENDREIGH" <[email protected]> > > > > Hi Folks, > > The following thoughts may be of some interestregarding name variations. > As others have said the spelling of a name in an OPR by the record keeper, > be it the > minister, session clerk or whoever, varied according to the whim of the > individual > recorder. I can think of a couple of reasons why the person presenting the > information may > not have been able to dictate the spelling of the name. He may not have > been literate > enough to tell the difference or not confident enough to challenge an > authority figure to > have the spelling of the name corrected. > > The power of such an authority figure is evident in the records kept by > Robert YOUNG, the > first Registrar in the District of Benholm, formerly Benholm Parish in > Kincardineshire. He > seems to have appointed himself as the authority on the correct spelling > for a number of > family names. He changed McBEY to McBAY, BLEWS to BLUES, MOUAT to MOWAT > and McKAY to > MACKIE. > > Robert Young is not likely to have been unique. After the setting up of > Regstrars in 1855 > families were issued with certificates, these ordinary families now had > important > documents which would be kept. The names recorded on marriage certificates > would determine > the spelling used later registering births, birth certificates would > determine the > spelling on death certificates. It was inevitable that the spelling of > names would become > fixed through such a process. > Today of course, as Alyson has shown us, it is the individual who has the > power to dictate > how their name should be written and pronounced. > > > --- > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus > protection is active. > http://www.avast.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >