I have been reading about surnames in this list with interest and have seen changes happen in my own family tree. When I was growing up on the Isle of Wight, we were a large group -my Father being the youngest of fifteen siblings- our surname was/is FOUNTAINE. Now we knew there was another family with the surname FOUNTAIN and we were told these were nothing short of an anomaly, no relation at all. I remember an elderly aunt telling me once; "Oi dunno where they be from, but they ain't our'n!" Then, when visiting the Island in 1987, we found that my Great Grandmother was a Miss FOUNTAIN who gave birth to my Grandfather, WALTER in the Carribrooke House of Industry. He was listed as FOUNTAIN, but his father was the ubiquitous Mr UNKNOWN! (This revelation, when I made it known, brought howls of protests from some of my relatives !!! Their problem, not mine!) Some years later, when he - my G'Father- married he had acquired the 'E' on his name and was referred to as FOUNTAINE. At whose behest this 'E' became added is totally unknown, it could even have been a spelling error by the clerk, but it became jealously guarded and was worn almost as a badge of office to distance ourselves '...from that other lot!' Derek In the South Sea Isles of Vanuatu -Once an Islander, always an Islander! Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.560 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date: 30/04/2009 5:53 p.m.

Hi A very interesting and amusing story, thanks. In my family the COPESTAKEs, had their name changed to COPESTICK in 1744 when the vicar changed - sticks and stakes are essentially the same thing and I suspect no-one ever knew about the change as they would have been illiterate... Best wishes Carole > From: deev@vanuatu.com.vu > To: carolewill28@hotmail.com; roy.stockdill@btinternet.com; isle-of-wight@rootsweb.com > Subject: RE: [IoW] SURNAME ATLAS > Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:32:30 +1100 > > > > I have been reading about surnames in this list with interest and have seen > changes happen in my own family tree. When I was growing up on the Isle of > Wight, we were a large group -my Father being the youngest of fifteen > siblings- our surname was/is FOUNTAINE. Now we knew there was another > family with the surname FOUNTAIN and we were told these were nothing short > of an anomaly, no relation at all. I remember an elderly aunt telling me > once; "Oi dunno where they be from, but they ain't our'n!" > > Then, when visiting the Island in 1987, we found that my Great Grandmother > was a Miss FOUNTAIN who gave birth to my Grandfather, WALTER in the > Carribrooke House of Industry. He was listed as FOUNTAIN, but his father > was the ubiquitous Mr UNKNOWN! (This revelation, when I made it known, > brought howls of protests from some of my relatives !!! Their problem, not > mine!) Some years later, when he - my G'Father- married he had acquired the > 'E' on his name and was referred to as FOUNTAINE. At whose behest this 'E' > became added is totally unknown, it could even have been a spelling error by > the clerk, but it became jealously guarded and was worn almost as a badge of > office to distance ourselves '...from that other lot!' > > Derek In the South Sea Isles of Vanuatu -Once an Islander, always an > Islander! > Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.560 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date: 30/04/2009 > 5:53 p.m. > _________________________________________________________________ Do you have a story that started on Hotmail? Tell us now http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/195013117/direct/01/

HI People sometimes do not like their names, so they change them. For example Mrs. Bucket = Bouquet. I now a family in NSW whose ancestors came out her in the very early days and have the surname BOTTLES - but always give their name as BOTTELLS. My families from the IoW are Baskett and Nutty (on the 1901 census as NUTTS). My grandfather used to sometimes refer to us as little baskets! It wasn't until I was quite old that I realized what he meant. Have a nice day - from very hot Western Australia (heat will reach 41C today, not for the first time of course). Kind regards Ann Spiro Member #1551 research@sbse.net.au Families are  like fudge...mostly sweet, with few nuts.