On 15 Nov 2009 at 4:40, [email protected] wrote: > Hi Edward > > A fairly random search of a couple of West iding batch numbers for the > late eighteenth century revealed 10 Squires in C007495 (Halifax) and > 16 Squires > in P018302 (Wakefield). I have a number of Squires among my BEDFORDs, > > BERESFORDs and WEBSTERs in Midgley and Skircoat. > Not Yorkshire, I know, but I cannot resist mentioning the birth of SQUIRE SQUIRE, registered in the June quarter of 1883 at St Austell, Cornwall (5c 107) and found at FreeBMD. Sadly, I can't find him in a census but maybe he was too embarrassed to use the name and chose another one! Alternatively, there is a death entered only as "Male Squire" also at St Austell in the same quarter and this may well have been him. It's also possible there has been an indexing error at the GRO, since looking at the image of the birth entry shows not only "Squire Squire" listed but "Male Squire" at the end with the same reference. Yes, probably an indexing error but I thought it still worth mentioning as an example of the extraordinary pecularities you can find with FreeBMD. Yesterday I mentioned a chap called MAJOR BOOTH, who was a well-known Yorkshire and England cricketer and who was killed in WWII. A search for Major as a forename produces 7,239 entries - too many to display, FreeBMD tells me. However, would you believe there are nine entries for MAJOR MAJOR? It's a hobby of mine, scouring FreeBMD for weird and wonderful names - yes, I know I should get out more! -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

With regard to Titles for first names, my ex son-in-law was given the Christian names of Major John, but when he joined the Army, he was told to change his names round to John Major, as they could not have a soldier being addressed as Private Major. Roy Stockdill Wrote: Yesterday I mentioned a chap called MAJOR BOOTH, who was a well-known Yorkshire and England cricketer and who was killed in WWII. A search for Major as a forename produces 7,239 entries - too many to display, FreeBMD tells me. However, would you believe there are nine entries for MAJOR MAJOR? It's a hobby of mine, scouring FreeBMD for weird and wonderful names - yes, I know I should get out more! -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html

In my database of Yorkshire Mitchells, I have Oliver Cromwell MITCHELL. He was born in the nineteenth century and not the seventeenth. I doubt that this was an effort to continue a surname within the family. I think that perhaps some of our ancestors did display a sense of humour in their choice of given names and not always a desire to continue a surname which might otherwise disappear. Or perhaps this should tell me that the family had a Puritanical streak? Interesting to speculate. Sandra Hargreaves in Melbourne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roy Stockdill" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 10:21 PM Subject: Re: [WRY] Term "Squire", ELLIS in Horbury > On 15 Nov 2009 at 4:40, [email protected] wrote: > >> Hi Edward >> >> A fairly random search of a couple of West iding batch numbers for the >> late eighteenth century revealed 10 Squires in C007495 (Halifax) and >> 16 Squires >> in P018302 (Wakefield). I have a number of Squires among my BEDFORDs, >> >> BERESFORDs and WEBSTERs in Midgley and Skircoat. > > > Not Yorkshire, I know, but I cannot resist mentioning the birth of SQUIRE > SQUIRE, > registered in the June quarter of 1883 at St Austell, Cornwall (5c 107) > and found at > FreeBMD. > > Sadly, I can't find him in a census but maybe he was too embarrassed to > use the > name and chose another one! Alternatively, there is a death entered only > as "Male > Squire" also at St Austell in the same quarter and this may well have been > him. > > It's also possible there has been an indexing error at the GRO, since > looking at the > image of the birth entry shows not only "Squire Squire" listed but "Male > Squire" at the > end with the same reference. Yes, probably an indexing error but I thought > it still worth > mentioning as an example of the extraordinary pecularities you can find > with > FreeBMD. > > Yesterday I mentioned a chap called MAJOR BOOTH, who was a well-known > Yorkshire and England cricketer and who was killed in WWII. A search for > Major as a > forename produces 7,239 entries - too many to display, FreeBMD tells me. > However, > would you believe there are nine entries for MAJOR MAJOR? > > It's a hobby of mine, scouring FreeBMD for weird and wonderful names - > yes, I know I > should get out more! > > -- > Roy Stockdill > Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer > Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: > www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html > > "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, > and that is not being talked about." > OSCAR WILDE > > > > > > Some useful websites - > FREECEN - http://www.freecen.org.uk/ > FREEBMD - http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ > Want to know where a place in Yorkshire is - Try Genuki > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ > > ------------------------------- > 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