View Full Version : Siblings with the same names
I have two siblings called Henry born ten years apart in 1793 and 1803. I haven't found a burial for the elder in the town he was baptised in or in any of the surrounding parishes and the family don't seem to have moved at all.
There is a Henry in the town of around the same age as the elder sibling who goes on to marry twice and have children. Both marriages are pre-1837 and the witnesses don't help. My Henrys do have a cousin of the same name and approximate age who I keep thinking must be the adult Henry *but* I can't get over the names of the elder children of the first marriage -
Ann (my Henrys' mother),
William Daniel (my Henrys' father was Daniel),
Stephen (my Henrys' maternal grandfather was Stephen)
- and none of the names of the other children fit with the parents of the cousin Henry (Edward and Hannah)
I'm thinking it's very hard to prove either way but how likely is it as late as this that two surviving siblings would have the same name?
kiterunner
25-03-13, 07:11
Not very likely but it could happen.
I had a branch of my tree where Scottish brothers from Skye were both named John, one was known in the family as Ian, the other was called Jack, born 1894 and 1900 respectively. The same family had an earlier generation where one brother was named Jonathan, the other, four years younger, was named John. I suspect they were implementing the Scottish naming pattern
Thank you both - I'd be much happier if I could firmly place the adult Henry as my Henrys' cousin but it doesn't sit right. So I think I'll just have to shelve them all again :-)
Tilly Mint
25-03-13, 08:13
My grandfather was John Bernard and his brother (2 yrs younger) was John both lived and joined the army....as "John", a very kind researcher got the attestation papers a few years ago now and the researcher was "amused" by them...such similar reading too!....
I've got brothers James John and Walter James born in 1893 and 1901 and I always wonder if they were named after different people?
I have a family on my tree with three sons:
Peter Frederick John Edlin 1921 - 2002
Frederick John Charles Edlin 1924 - 1999
Frederick Kenneth Edlin 1926 - 1987
So they were quite keen on the name Frederick (their father was Frederick Charles Edlin)! Somewhere I have a note telling me one of the two with first name Frederick was called Tom (or some such) in everyday life, but I can't find the note - I only remember his everyday name was not remotely connected to his proper names!
it would seem the same father may have had yet another Frederick with his first wife:
Births Jun 1907
EDLIN Frederick Charles Southwark 1d 150
but I don't know if this Frederick lived until his younger half siblings were born. He emigrated with his parents to Australia in 1910 but Fred senior came back to the UK where he married again (probably bigamously) and had the other Fredericks listed in my previous post.
One of my Scottish lot called all their girls Isabell and all their boys Robert and they all lived to marry and have their own little Roberts and Isabells. The sods all married cousins as well....lol
One of my Scottish lot called all their girls Isabell and all their boys Robert and they all lived to marry and have their own little Roberts and Isabells. The sods all married cousins as well....lol:d:d:d My Scottish lot loved using the same names over and over and over again, too.
With my lot it the first or even both of the same name died.
So it is possible - even if I've got nothing to prove it yet....
They are not A'Bears are they ?
John A'Bear called his sons John A'Bear and John Burton A'Bear.
John A'Bear Junior called his sons John A'Bear (III) and John Newell A'Bear. John Burton A'Bear called his son John A'Bear (IV).
John A'Bear (IV) called his sons John Burton A'Bear and John Daniel A'Bear
........... and you get the picture !!
and pretty much alll of them survived to have their own sons called John, John Burton, John Daniel, John Newell, or some such variation.
It was not me who did all the research, and boy, am I glad someone else sorted them out !!
tenterfieldjulie
26-03-13, 02:46
Just recently one of my Ware's had daughters Mary and Maria .. one named after mother and one after grandmother .. I think our assumptions on names doesn't fit .. In my father's family their name being Smith .. different branches attached mother's maiden name .. so that they were known as the Avery Smiths, Purvis Smiths, Bryant Smiths then some hyphenated and so the names changed .. just like son of Frederick became Frederickson and then if a male line wanted to keep mother's surname Frederick was then used with each son .. I know in Aus to inherit a Scottish title and money .. Cuninghames became Robertson-Cuninghame ... soooooo complicated ..
We also have Mary and Maria, and Eliza and Elizabeth as sisters and also Susannah and Susan Eliza (the eldest and the youngest) but it must have been harder with the boys, there don't seem to be as many variations within a name.
Marquette, John Burton A'bear and I have crossed paths a couple of times - he married a Piercey and lived in Oxfordshire didn't he? - I have him witnessing a several times great aunt's marriage in 1789.
Hijacking the thread slightly, it's this surname that fascinates me. Wonder if you two subscribe to these musings:
A'bear surname (http://www.mayfamilyhistory.co.uk/abear/articles/name.html)
Marquette, John Burton A'bear and I have crossed paths a couple of times - he married a Piercey and lived in Oxfordshire didn't he? - I have him witnessing a several times great aunt's marriage in 1789.
Yes, He is the first John Burton A'Bear. He is my first cousin 7 times removed !
They lived around the Shiplake/Rotherfield area across the River Thames from Wargrave, where the A'Bears seemed to have lived since the beginning of records.
Hijacking the thread slightly, it's this surname that fascinates me. Wonder if you two subscribe to these musings:
A'bear surname (http://www.mayfamilyhistory.co.uk/abear/articles/name.html)
Hi Janet
Yes I have read all of David's pages. David Nash Ford's father Michael did much of the work on the A'Bears at a time when the Wargrave records were only available at the Berks Record Office. We are also linked by the Nashs and the Mays and probably others I have not worked out yet !
Another cousin has this website: http://www.abear.co.uk/abear%20geneology.htm, for those interested in the A'Bears.
Its not just the surname, I am fascinated by all the John's in the family.
Di
Olde Crone
26-03-13, 21:54
I have a very distant (French) twig which names all sons Jean Paul something or other, and all the daughters Marie Therese something or other. Presumably they used the third Christian name on a day to day basis.
OC
Pretty neat, Di. All family histories are fascinating and unique. Some are just more unusual than others!
I have siblings with the same name too - both Williams, who were distinguished by the initials of their second names. One died in his late teens, which made life a lot easier for me.
Yes, He is the first John Burton A'Bear. He is my first cousin 7 times removed !
They lived around the Shiplake/Rotherfield area across the River Thames from Wargrave, where the A'Bears seemed to have lived since the beginning of records.
That's my "neck of the woods" - I grew up Rotherfield Peppard area and will have to keep an eye open for the A'Bears in my research. :)
That's my "neck of the woods" - I grew up Rotherfield Peppard area and will have to keep an eye open for the A'Bears in my research. :)
Maybe you have A'Bears in your ancestry too, or Pierceys or Newells or Burtons, or Gunnells ?
Di
That's my neck of the woods as well - but the other side of the river:-)
Maybe you have A'Bears in your ancestry too, or Pierceys or Newells or Burtons, or Gunnells ?
Di
Unfortunately not, just lots of Coxes (and one Hood that I can't trace) - they all married people from elsewhere.
That's my neck of the woods as well - but the other side of the river:-)
I grew up in Sonning Common
My great great Grandad was called Thomas and called two of his sons Thomas, born about 16 years apart to different wives.
A grand old name in your family then, Tom; you've got a couple Toms yourself in your board name. :)
I have to just jump in with George Foreman's George, George, George, George and George:
"I named all my sons George Edward Foreman. And I tell people, 'If you’re going to get hit as many times as I’ve been hit by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield - you’re not going to remember many names.'"
Two of his five daughters are also named after him.
George Foreman interview (http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/george_foreman_061208.aspx)
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