Hello Lesley & Listers Charles Smith alias Kemley was tried for burglary at the Old Bailey 17.9.1817. It seems strange that anyone named Smith would choose an alias, and an uncommon surname at that. I wonder if he was actually Kemley and the alias was Smith, but the court reporter had it back to front ? Any comment ? Smith and his companion in crime were sentenced to death. Smith was only 17, so possibly the sentence was commuted. Is there any way to find out if he was actually hanged ? Ken Thompson From: "Lesley Day" <[email protected]> Subject: [PJ] John Freezer alias Parker Hi Listers I was wondering if anyone would know how to get further information on John Freezer alias Parker who is my 3rd cousin 4 time removed. He was the son of Ann Freezer and John Parker who lived in Norfolk.

Hi Ken Perhaps you have read a modern understanding of an alias backwards onto the historical use? I have posted on this topic on this list before and will quote from that: The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History says that: "Aliases were used in cases of illegitimacy, upon the remarriage of a parent, upon inheriting property from a female relative, etc. In some cases the alias form was inherited for several generations and was thus similar to a double-barrelled surname." and In legal documents such as pardons there was a concern that if all the known names were not listed then the document might be defective. That is, if the document named a person as William Lucas but the conviction was in another name such as William Wake or William Lucas alias Wake, then the person referred to was another person. In the 18th and 19th centuries the law was obsessed by formula and generally speaking documents could not be amended. The form alias is a hangover from the use of medieval Latin in legal proceedings. It is short for 'alias dictus' or 'elsewhere called' usually translated as 'otherwise called' (also known as). I would have thought it was more liikely that a person with a common surname such as Smith would have an alias in the sense of another name used to distinguish this Smith from that Smith. Regards On 31 July 2011 20:59, Ken Thompson <[email protected]> wrote: > It seems strange that anyone named Smith would choose an alias, and an uncommon surname at that. I wonder if he was actually Kemley and the alias was Smith, but the court reporter had it back to front ?