It may not be as simple as that. In the 1851 census the distribution of "Pickston(e)(s)" is overwhelmingly in and around Manchester, close to the "Pickstock" heartland which is in Cheshire, Shropshire and neighbouring counties (Lancashire/Staffordshire/Montgomeryshire). This suggests that the medieval instances identified by Reaney in Sussex and Norfolk may be bynames unconnected with the later surname. Of course it does not prove, by itself, that there is a connection between Pickstock and Pickstone. I agree with the suggestion that you look at any of George Redmonds' books - he does prove some surprising evolutions of one surname into an apparently different one. Each surname is different, and, unless there is specific record somewhere of someone called "Pickstock alias Pickstone", the only sure way to discover whether the names are the same is to trace the individual families and see if there is any evidence for a connection. I have found occasional confusion between "Pickstock" and my one name study surname Brigstock/Bridgstock/Brickstock. So far all those I have found are cases of one name being mistranscribed as the other by modern indexes - I will email you (Adrian) off list with details. I am pretty confident that they are separate names as they have a different geographical distribution - Brigstock seems to derive from a village of that name in Northamptonshire and is centered there and eastwards into the Fens, with outliers in Surrey and South Wales. However, I have not yet properly studied London, where both names do occur, so could be confused. I have seen the surname Brickstone in Surrey (not surprisingly - presumably from Brixton) and wondered if there was a connection with the Brigstock family there, but I have no evidence that there is. Chris Pitt Lewis On 14/09/2014 14:34, Peter Christian via wrote: > Rainey (Dictionary of English Surnames) gives good reasons for not treating > them as variants: > > Pickstock is a locative surname from a place in Shropshire. > Although the etymology of Pickstone (also Pixton) is unclear the name is > much more widespread (Sussex, Norfolk), making a locative origin unlikely > And both are attested back to the 13th C, which means the later derivation > of one from the other is impossible. > > This doesn't discount the slight possibility that in a settlement where both > were in use, they might have become confused or interchangeable, but in > origin they are clearly independent. > > peter > > > -----Original Message----- > From: sog-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:sog-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On > Behalf Of Adrian Bruce via > Sent: 13 September 2014 17:36 > To: SOG Mailing List > Subject: [SOG-UK] Pickstock and Pickstone name variants? > > Not for the first time, I have come across Pickstock and Pickstone being > presented as variants of the same surname > (http://www.namethesaurus.com/Thesaurus/search.aspx has them so, for > instance) > > To be true variants, this would mean to me that a family documented as > Pickstock somewhere, over the years, has turned into one documented as > Pickstone, possibly over several generations. Or vice versa. (And I discount > occasional spelling "errors"). > > I have no idea whether there is any documented justification for this > variant pair or whether someone has simply run through a census, evaluated > the Soundex values for surnames and decided that all surnames with minimal > difference in their Soundex are variants. > > I've seen several changes in my families' surnames - Healow ends up as Heler > (I think the underlying pronunciation is probably "Healer"), for instance, > but I am, in fact, sceptical of this Pickstock / Pickstone change as the > "k" sound and the "n" sound are surely quite different. > > So, does anyone know of any documented justification for either this change > or one similar? Or any authoritative work on variants? (Probably too much to > expect there, as each would need to be driven on a family by family basis, > like my Heler origins). > > Thanks for any thoughts > Adrian > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2014.0.4765 / Virus Database: 4015/8206 - Release Date: 09/13/14 > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com