There are a number of distinctive names that have become localised in both IOW and Lymington/Milton/Christchurch area - hardly surprising, I suppose. One name common in that mainland area is FUGATT, FUGETT, even spelt FEWGATE. I recently noticed the name FUQUET in an IOW family who did move to Lymington.   It occurrred to me the version with a "G" (it's pronounced as a hard "G") is the Anglicised version of what appears to be a French name. The "G" replacing "QU". Say both out loud (FUQUET phonetically) and there's little if any difference. Does anyone have any thoughts on this ?   My 6g-gf's brother Robert Keeping m Sarah Fugett at Milford-on-Sea in 1794 and I went to school in Christchurch in the 1950s with a Richard Fugatt. Father was a barber at Purewell.     Francis Auckland, NZ

Hi Francis.   someome else (I've lost the contact) was researching the Fewgate name a while back and came across Fucat, Fuckett, Fugate, Fuget, Fugget, Fuggett, Fugit.  Alas neither the Oxford 'Dictionary of English Surnames' nor Reaney's 'Origin of English Surnames' mention any of these.   If it is derived from the French Fuquet (Ardennes and Gironde), as seems likely, some were certainly settled on the I.o.W. by the turn of the 15/16 centuries (Freshwater, Middleton, Yarmouth).   A look at the Huguenot Records might be advisable as the dates are relevant - a lot of them also went to Georgia and Virginia at this time.   It is unlikely to be a diminutive of the old English Fuche, Fudge, Fuge, Fuidge because of the hard 'g'.   Regards, David