Many thanks to Jacqui & Carole for telling me that my guessed reading was actually right! [I don't have an A-Z of Coventry, and felt that any street with 38 or more Courts would be likely to've been demolished in a slum clearance decades ago!] But this Family is continuing to cause 'difficulties' - because on comparing the result with the 1881, they'd seem to've changed one of their daughters' names... In 1871 their youngest child was Mary Ann, 1. She's absent from the 1881 - but there *is* an 11-year-old Polly. Is/was Polly a traditional abbreviation or nickname for Mary Ann? Gus

Absolutely Gus, Mary Ann = Polly. Regards, John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gus Tysoe" <gustysoe@tiscali.co.uk> To: <warwick@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 4:24 PM Subject: [WAR] A Nickname - and Coventry Street Name [continued] > In 1871 their youngest child was Mary Ann, 1. She's absent from the 1881 - > but there *is* an 11-year-old Polly. > > Is/was Polly a traditional abbreviation or nickname for Mary Ann? > > Gus

Yes!! My gran was Mary...Aunty Polly to all the cousins! Jacqui ----- Original Message ----- From: Gus Tysoe To: warwick@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 4:24 PM Subject: [WAR] A Nickname - and Coventry Street Name [continued] Many thanks to Jacqui & Carole for telling me that my guessed reading was actually right! [I don't have an A-Z of Coventry, and felt that any street with 38 or more Courts would be likely to've been demolished in a slum clearance decades ago!] But this Family is continuing to cause 'difficulties' - because on comparing the result with the 1881, they'd seem to've changed one of their daughters' names... In 1871 their youngest child was Mary Ann, 1. She's absent from the 1881 - but there *is* an 11-year-old Polly. Is/was Polly a traditional abbreviation or nickname for Mary Ann? Gus ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WARWICK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.28/1123 - Release Date: 10/11/2007 15:47

Although Polly was most often used as a pet name for Mary, including Mary Ann, it could be used for any of the Mary names (such as Marion/Marian) and another common formation was Molly. It is not restricted to Mary Ann (indeed Polly Ann can be found, baptised Mary Ann). Similarly Meg or Peg or Peggy was usually a pet name for Margaret, but might also be used for any of the Marg names, such as Maisie or Marjorie. There is an interesting discussion of these issues in George Redmond's book 'Christian names in Local and Family History', in which he warns against assuming a 'proper' name from a 'pet name', citing one Betty who was baptised Elizabeth and another baptised Beatrice, belonging to a quite different name group (and many other examples). This doesn't matter when you have the kind of evidence that Gus has, but it can obviously mislead if, for example, you have a servant Molly xxxx in a census and start searching for the xxxx females in baptism registers, and disregard all except the Mary Anns, because you believe that Polly is only a pet name for Mary Ann. However, Gus, you're obviously quite safe in this instance. David Gus Tysoe wrote: > Many thanks to Jacqui & Carole for telling me that my guessed reading was > actually right! [I don't have an A-Z of Coventry, and felt that any street > with 38 or more Courts would be likely to've been demolished in a slum > clearance decades ago!] > > But this Family is continuing to cause 'difficulties' - because on comparing > the result with the 1881, they'd seem to've changed one of their daughters' > names... > > In 1871 their youngest child was Mary Ann, 1. She's absent from the 1881 - > but there *is* an 11-year-old Polly. > > Is/was Polly a traditional abbreviation or nickname for Mary Ann? > > Gus > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WARWICK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- David Franks, Cambridge, England Researching Castle and Tallis, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, and Thomas Castle, convict transported to Van Diemen’s Land Warwickshire Online Parish Clerks http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/opc/opc.html