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Post by pollyq on Feb 7, 2012 10:43:42 GMT -5
Hi all.
I haven't had a chance to do much research on my Eddy line for a while due to buying a rather tatty bungalow here in Budock Water. Still renovating but the cold weather has slowed us right down, so it's back to the genealogy. I decided to take a look this weekend to remind myself of why I left this line in the first place!
I had trouble with a Richard Eddy (b. 1785) married to Margaret Row, and after much research and head banging, decided he was the son of James Eddy (b. 1763) and Honour Grenfell.
James Eddy is the son of John and Susanna Eddy baptised in St Just on the 5 Nov 1763.
There the trail ended as I couldn't find a marriage between John Eddy and a Susanna, looked high and low, in and out of county, and at any relevant overseas records I could find, but nothing!
The baptisms (in St Just) for their children is problematic because some baptisms are recorded as just "son/daughter of John Eddy", and there were several John Eddys baptising children at this time. The last definite child of John & Susanna Eddy was David Eddy baptised 8 June 1765.
I had a look at burial records on the Cornwall OPC website this weekend and found a burial for a Susanna Eddy on the 27 July 1787. She is noted as a Widow. Unfortunately no age is given, but this looks like the right record.
Looking at burials for a John Eddy between 1765 and 1787 on the same website brought up 3 records dated 1770, 1781, 1784. It was the 1770 burial record that caught my eye, as it records the word 'kear' in the notes column. I had a little hunch and decided to look for a marriage between John Kear and a Susanna on the Cornwall OPC.
Hey Presto! Marriage Record 694762;
St Just in Penwith - 17 Apr 1744 - John Keare & Susanna Tresise
The date fits and the burial record suggests that this is John Eddy. But why the name change? It's such an unusual name, no other records on the Cornwall OPC have this surname with the same spelling, but there are a few with a similar sound. Where did Kear/Keare come from?
I would love your collective input into this as someone (hopefully) might have the answer.
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Feb 7, 2012 12:03:19 GMT -5
I have absolutely no idea what the name 'Keare' might refer to but the way it is attached to the name of John Eddy when he was buried is interesting. John Eddy /Kear/ If you look at the burial of Susanna it is:- Susanna Eddy /widow/ There is a gap of 17 years between the two events and different Vicars involved but it makes me wonder if there is a reference to something other than an actual surname. Nevertheless - I agree with your conclusions and I must say that it is an excellent piece of sleuthing! And very good observation followed by the successful pursuit of a hunch! I am impressed! ;D Hopefully someone will be able to help find an answer to the puzzle of the name. CT
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Post by pollyq on Feb 8, 2012 5:39:27 GMT -5
Hi Cornish Terrier, thank you for your reply. I consider that praise indeed coming from yourself! ;D I had a quick trawl through the Cornish Wills extracts that are online but couldn't find anything relevant to the name Kear/Keare. In fact I can't find anything relevant in Cornwall to that surname but it does exist outside the county. Apparently it's an occupational surname of Anglo Saxon origin, meaning key-smith or maker of keys. I wonder if that was John Eddy's occupation? and he was colloquially called John Kear to differentiate him from the other John Eddys of the time? Just throwing out ideas here, I have no evidence to back that up! But I personally think Kear/Keare was a colloquial name rather than a proper surname due to it's non-existence in the records in and around St Just. It's possible that it may refer to a place name that I can't find! Oh well, this little conundrum won't be solved in a hurry. I still have plenty of research to keep me busy
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Post by londoner on Feb 8, 2012 6:32:56 GMT -5
a possible scenario - child born out of wedlock to Miss Kear and Mr Eddy. known by his mother's name but in later life adopts his father's but when he dies someone remembers his original name. Apart from the burial this is what happened to one of my gt gt gts. The only proof would be a baptism, which does not appear to exist.
At least Susanna is easy to find!
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Post by pollyq on Feb 8, 2012 6:51:09 GMT -5
Hi Londoner, and thank you for your reply. Yes, it's a possibility. As you said though, there are no baptism records for either a John Kear/e or a potential mother. The only instances where the name comes up is in connection with John Eddy. It could be a misspelling of the surname Keir which occurs around St Hilary. So I'm not discounting anything at the moment I will take a look at the Keir baptism records and see if I can find a base son that would fit the bill.
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Post by londoner on Feb 8, 2012 7:00:45 GMT -5
interestingly, in my Cornish dictionary Keer is a hedger from the verb Keas to hedge, enclose or shut up
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Post by pollyq on Feb 8, 2012 7:38:04 GMT -5
That is interesting! I did wonder if it could have been a Cornish word, but the online dictionaries I used didn't come up with anything that made sense. But your dictionary does.
Certainly something to bear in mind.
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Feb 8, 2012 12:35:22 GMT -5
That is more or less along the lines of my thinking - possibly to do with an occupation. If you search for the name 'Kear' in FamilySearch the Soundex brings up only names like Carah and variants but somehow I do not think the connection is there. But if 'Kear' was the occupation then I find it most unusual for that time period to find someone referred to by that occupation. Surely with that little piece of mortar dislodged the wall must come down at some point! CT
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Feb 8, 2012 12:38:17 GMT -5
Praise where praise is due! But it must be a bit scary to find yourself thinking like me!
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Post by pollyq on Feb 8, 2012 17:47:37 GMT -5
But it must be a bit scary to find yourself thinking like me! I did have to go and lie down in a dark room afterwards ;D
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Post by pollyq on Oct 5, 2012 18:57:26 GMT -5
Further to the John Keare/Eddy conundrum....... I stumbled across another Eddy/Keare so the plot thickens, It's record no. 922785 in the St Just in Penwith Burials database on Cornwall OPC. Day Month:16-Jan Year: 1758 Parish Or Reg District: Just in Penwith, St. Forename: Peter Surname: EDDY alias KEARE Age Residence Notes Transcriber Notes Transcriber: Brian Stephen Might make tracking where this name came from easier now that we have a John and a Peter Eddy/Keare .....perhaps
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Post by pollyq on Oct 5, 2012 19:03:55 GMT -5
WOW! I didn't think.... of course it could be his father, maybe the alias got passed down? Must rush off and take a look ;D
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Oct 6, 2012 10:04:37 GMT -5
What about this which I have just confirmed from the St Just Parish Register:-
John son of Peter and Jane EDY bp. 24th June 1722 St Just
There is another baptism which both IGI/FamilySearch and the Transcript of St Just registers by Canon Taylor agree on:-
John son of Peter and Jane EDY bp. 30th April 1730 St Just
In the original this entry is not clear and I believe the name might actually be JONE. I also cannot find a burial between 1722 and 1730 for a John son of Peter however I should point out that parts of the register during that period are almost impossible to read.
But there is certainly one entry for John son of Peter Edy.
Peter EDY married Jane BENNETS 15th July 1721 at St Just
CT
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Post by pollyq on Oct 6, 2012 15:23:59 GMT -5
Hi Cornish Terrier, I've been looking into the very same couple, and noticed there seems to be two John baptisms attributed to them. I also looked at the original image on Familysearch.org for the second baptism of John in 1730, and it's incredibly hard to read, but I also thought it looked like 'Jone' or 'Jane'.
There is a burial record for a Joan Eddy in St Just (Cornwall OPC) 12 Apr 1733. Unfortunately it doesn't record age or 'daughter of ...'
The 1722 baptism for John would fit a treat if it is correct, but I still can't find out where the alias Keare comes from.
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Post by pollyq on Oct 6, 2012 19:48:03 GMT -5
Well I think the above burial of Joan Eddy can be accounted for. On Cornwall OPC, St Just in Penwith marriages; 2 Sep 1693 - Matthew Edy & Joan Williams. Oh well I believe I have found the baptism record of the Peter Edy that married Joan Bennets. Found on FamilySearch and in the Canon Taylor transcripts; 19 Mar 1699 - Peter b. s. Kerenhappuch Edy So he was a base son, father could have been Kear/Keare, hence the alias. Or even, at a stretch, a shortening of the mother's christian name? Whatever the explanation, it's the best possibility I've found yet.
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