Show GENEALOGY LOG SURNAMES J n V M 11 N n JT HE beginning of ot all genealogical T THE Inquiry b la II to discover cr If possible tho origin and meaning of ot the tamIl family surname The Tho nationality the history and the hlo biographies of or tho the family family fam tam il ily am are hidden In this seemingly InsI Insignificant thing Most people accept surnames as they do their noses noses- without question or comment A man may mar may wish his nose was longer or his surname surname une shorter but there they are are are- anti and there he ho is Th The moment that an Individual gets Interested in genealogy y he is led forthwith forthwith forth- forth with up to his surname introduced d nt once his quest and his lift life lon lom has begun Ho lie tha may evade ado the tan- tan search he lie may quit tho long j nd tedious labor but after ho lie has once been bean cn put upon tho the scent of his family name ho will nc er pass up UT a paper a A. hook book nor evon even a street sj sign n without that peculiar genealogical thrill which drives his footsteps Into the vestibule of Inquiry and his mind into the halls of research It is more clinging than a burr and more persistent persist persist- ent nt than a creditor this creditor this fascinating personally conducted Sherlock Holmes genealogical sleuth yarn And I have yet et to see eee tho luck lucky Right wight who has ever begun gun it and has hns thereafter therel quitted for it-for It for tor good That last Is susceptible susceptible sus- sus of or two meanings you ou will ob ob- serve lIer And now note In m my f search arch and research for tor rare books for tor antiquarian information information mati mation on I have found round in ill this city one or two of the rarest and most authentic volumes on the subject Qt of surnames to tobe tobe tobe be found in this country or In Great Britain Indeed most of these standard stand stand- nt ard d books are published in England The They are only accessible to members embers of ot the Genealogical Society of ot Utah find and I have hat therefore carefully extracted excerpts from their pa pages es which willbe will willbo willbo bo be well worth cutting cutting- from this paper and nd preserving In In notebooks C s The Tho in in- in n formation given thus will be bo helpful h to any student historian or gene gene- As a a. matt matter r of fact surnames were unknown until after aCtor tho the Invasion of or England b by William Illiam tho Conqueror In his effort to seize and hold the lands for his own own 0 nobles surnames wore were I adopted by his noble comp companions This In Jn brief is Js the beginning of ot English surnames as Preface from Bardsley's English Surnames As Ae prefaces are very little read I will mako this as brief as possible Itis It ItIs Is Sa strange how little has been written upon the sources and significations of our English surnames Of Ot bool books bools s of ot peerage of ot and of landed gentry thanks to Sir Bernard Burke Walford and others we are not without without a sufficiency but of or books purporting to treat trent of tho ordinary surnames surnames sur sur- names that greet our e eye eyo f as aa we scan our shop fronts or look down don a a. list of or contributions or glance lance over o the tho hatches matches and dispatches dispatches' 11 patches patches' of ot our Jur newspapers newspapers or of these th there re are but few faw Indeed putting a aside Mr Lo Lowers Lovers ers able and laborious re researches carche we ma may a fay ay none Tracts pamphlets short treatises articles in magazines have ha havet haet et t various times appeared but the they v v V have ha been necessarily confined and limited In their treatment of ot the subject sub sub- And yet ct what can be bo more natural natural natural nat nat- ural than that we wo should desire to know something relating to tho the origin of or our surname when surname when It arose arOle who first got it and how Of Ot the feebleness feeble feeble- feebleness ne ness of ot m my own attempt to solve all this I am conscious that I need ned not to tobe be he r reminded Still I think tho the ordinary reader will win find in a n perusal of ot this book bool some lome slight Increase of or Information information information tion and If not this th that t he has whiled not of or his less awa away unpleasantly some somo bu busy hours During tIle the last seven se years I havo hao 1 devoted note the whole of or my spare time to tho the preparation of or a Dictionary of ot otEn En English Surnames But about two years ago it struck mo me that perhaps a smaller r work dealing with tho subject In a less formal and more familiar style might not be lie unacceptable to man many asa as asa a S1 kind of or rudimentary treatise In the course of ot m my labors I havo have comp come to be he under obligations to o several eral writers and several eral societies To long depart ed cd men whose works do follow after them 1 must give a passing allusion Camden was the first to draw raw attention attention attention atten atten- tion to this subject and though ho wrote little and that little not of or tho most correct kind still he hA has hns afforded tho the groundwork for all future students who came next with his Restitution of or Decayed Intelligence Intelligence wrote quaintly amusingly and Incorrectly uee and with respect to surnames his definitions rather teach what they thoy do not than what the they do mean Pas Pasa- Pasa log Ing In over several archaeological papers and with a wide gap In r regard lu to time we come to Mr rr Lowers Lovers studies lie was the first to give I e a a. real compendium of or English nom nomenclature Of at his earlier earlier earlier ear ear- I lier efforts I will say nothing for tor the Patronymic Britannica Is that upon which his fame famo mu must t rest The fault faul of or that work Is that the author has confined con- con I fined hl his rr all but entirely to ti the tho Hundred I dr d Rolls 8 These rolls are undoubtedly the best oes for such reference but there are aTe many others as my index will show which not merely merel contain a large lare mass of or eXamples examples examples ex eX- amples not to be met with there but which b by varieties of ot spelling In the theca ca case e of or such uch names as os the they share in common with the other afford comparisons comparisons comp r the use of which would have ha made him certain where he has only guessed g nn and would have hac enabled him also to avoid man many false conclusions This I would s say Y with all respect as one who ho has benefited very cry cons considerably considerably consider consider- er- er ably b by Mr oIl Lowers Lovers labors Others I must thank more briefly though none the less es heartily To ro Mr 11 Iam I Iam Iam am under deep obligation for to his Dictionary of ot Archaisms Archaisms' I have gone freely b by way war of or quotation To Mr r. r Ways Way's notes to his valuable edition of the I am ant also alo indebted for much interesting information In Information Information In- In formation re regarding mediaeval c al life and its surroundings l 1 Miss s History History His tory of ot Christian Names Names' contains a alar lar largo large o store of help to students of ot this kind of or lore and of this I have havo availed myself in several Instances In conclusion conclusion con con- I have to acknowledge much valuable aid received from the thc J V U of the thA society the tho Eai Early ly English Text society the Camden society so- so so society clot and tho the Cheetham society It II Is in the rooms belonging to the latter that I have had the tho opportunity of consulting most of ot the tho records and archives es a n list of which prefaces lt m my Index as well as other books of or a morn more Incidentally Incidental helpful character and I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without tendering m my hearty thanks to Thomas Jones Jonos Esq B. B A A. F F. S. S A A. A for his courtesy in permitting mo me access ac ac- ac- ac cess eess to all parts parta ot of the library and to Mr Ir Richard Hanby tho the under librarian for his constant attention an and readiness to supply mo ma with whatever books bools I required Finally I mu must t apologize to many friends and acquaintances to whom this book has been Ion long promised for tor the dela delay which has hIlS occurred In Its cation As most of or them are arc aware this has been unavoidable A serious and protracted which culminating In ing at the commencement of last of-last last year forc forced d me to take a twelvemonths twelvemonths' holiday from professional work has prevented mo me al also o from giving from giving to ray coy study that steady and continued application application application cation which otherwise I might have done It may have havo been that that thal illness Ill Illness illness ill ill- ness was hastened on b by a too close attention thereto Nevertheless my book If It It has been ben a cause has also been a cure By working quietly since I have come to be under deep obligations to It I have havo often looked upon It as a convalescent might upon the nurse who has tended him It has hns stood firmly b by me under man many de- de depressing depressing de de- pressing Influences and n in sending it forth at a a. time of renewed strength and freshened vl vigor or I thankfully feel teel th that t the fact so doing oln Is In part the work of this m my first effort in antiquarian antiquarian an an- research Manchester November No H 1873 73 Our CaUl En English lIsh Surnames Their Sources and Significations I |