I seem to have two brothers both named Henry by the same parents and born 12 years apart. The first Henry was still alive when his namesake was born in 1819 and died in 1837. They lived a mere 3 miles apart. I have checked for any possible errors on my part but can’t find anything obvious so I am left with the thought that it might not have been unusual to have two brothers with the same given name when both were alive. Do any listers have the same conundrum? Brian Sillett

That happened a lot. I have several cases in my tree. Usually it was because they thought the first one was going to die but then he/she didn't! My wife and I are each descended from one of two sisters; both of them called Eleanor. My ancestor was generally called Alianor to avoid confusion. -----Original Message----- From: Brian Sillett via Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2014 9:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [NFK] Same name siblings I seem to have two brothers both named Henry by the same parents and born 12 years apart. The first Henry was still alive when his namesake was born in 1819 and died in 1837. They lived a mere 3 miles apart. I have checked for any possible errors on my part but can’t find anything obvious so I am left with the thought that it might not have been unusual to have two brothers with the same given name when both were alive. Do any listers have the same conundrum? Brian Sillett ------------------------------- 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

Can you check multiple records for both? I am thinking error on the part of a vicar in a baptism record. My first teacher, who had taught a lot of my family labelled all my exercise books with my cousin's name! We have one instance of a father having two daughters with the same name a lot of years apart, but the second is from a second marriage. So the only other explanation I can offer is that you have two cousins with the same name married to wives with the same first name, calling their children by the same names. Both I and my husband have instances of this. Rosie On 03/08/2014 09:04, Brian Sillett via wrote: > I seem to have two brothers both named Henry by the same parents and born 12 years apart. The first Henry was still alive when his namesake was born in 1819 and died in 1837. They lived a mere 3 miles apart. > > I have checked for any possible errors on my part but can’t find anything obvious so I am left with the thought that it might not have been unusual to have two brothers with the same given name when both were alive. > > Do any listers have the same conundrum? > > Brian Sillett > > ------------------------------- > 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

Are you absolutely certain that they are brothers and not second cousins? (Don't think they can be first cousins if the fathers have the same name.) I have one family where the three sons each gave their sons the names of themselves and their brothers, and then those sons gave their sons the same three names. As they were all born within about a 10-year period it's a complete nightmare to sort whose son married Emily, who married Mary 1, who married Mary 2, etc, without buying/obtaining the marriage certificates. I also have a case of two boys with the same name being born in the same village a year apart and both married an Emma. (They're twigs so I haven't probed any further back than their baptisms at the moment so they may well be related if I go back one or two generations.) If you rely just on PRs then you could assume that it's just one Charles and Emma, when it's two. But I have heard of instances where two children in the family have the same name. (I assume that you've checked for a burial for the first Henry, possibly in another village/town.) Pam On 03/08/2014 09:04, Brian Sillett via wrote: > I seem to have two brothers both named Henry by the same parents and born 12 years apart. The first Henry was still alive when his namesake was born in 1819 and died in 1837. They lived a mere 3 miles apart. > > I have checked for any possible errors on my part but can’t find anything obvious so I am left with the thought that it might not have been unusual to have two brothers with the same given name when both were alive. > > Do any listers have the same conundrum? > > Brian Sillett > > -------------------------------