nic1
Noweth
Posts: 24
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Hi
Nov 27, 2007 3:59:05 GMT -5
Post by nic1 on Nov 27, 2007 3:59:05 GMT -5
I am researching Perrows in St. Just - some portions emigrating to America whilst others went to Cumbria and from there emigrated to India and Africa.
I am also interested in the Daniel family located at Rosemergy and using Zennor, Morvah, Madron churches in particular for key events. Through that line my other interests are the Stevens of Zennor and also the conundrum of William Robarts alias Knight who married Honour, who called herself Honor Chekembra alias Williams when they married at Zennor in 1649. Their daughter, Mary Robarts, is my direct ancestor. When she married she called herself Mary Robarts nee Knight. I have a feeling William was perhaps illegitimate and not truely entitled to use the name Robarts. Certainly Mary had not been married before her marriage to Matthew Daniel so it is the only way I can account for her saying nee Knight. If anyone out there can come up with some explanation of the use of the Robarts and Knight name by this family I would be very grateful.
Nic1
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Nov 28, 2007 21:34:52 GMT -5
Post by trencrom on Nov 28, 2007 21:34:52 GMT -5
Hello nic1 I have Osbornes at Rosemergy in the 1600s although no Daniel connection that I am aware of. Rosemergy as you would know is within Morvah parish, but Morvah was originally just a chapelry of te Madron church so that is why many Morvah weddings were celebrated at Madron in earlier centuries. Daniels were also a Zennor family and hence their appearance in the records of the parish church there as well.
i have done a bit of work on the family that you mentioned as I look like being descended from a sister of your Mary. Illegitimacy is not the reason for the alias surname. In the sixteenth century not all surnames were fixed from one generation to another in the Penwith area, especially those that were patronymic in nature, such as Roberts, Bennatts, Richards, Williams and so forth. In cases like these where the surname was not fixed a father's given name instead became a surname for the following generation. For example, Robert Jenkin of Gwithian was the father of Richard, who appears in the records as Richard Roberts alias Jenkin.
Alias surnames are also relatively common in the seventeenth century, again especially with patronymic surnames. So Bennett Kerrow was the father of James Bennatts alias Kerrow, so James was clearly using his father's given name as his own surname. James' son was in turn John Bennatts alias Kerrow, so we can see a transition occurring here as the surname started to become fixed from one generation to another. The final step was the discarding of one alias in favour of another. Later generations of this family ultimately settled for just the one surname, namely Bennatts. Similarly Jenkins alias Roberts became just Roberts.
Given that the patronymics concerned are often common surnames in the Penwith area, the appearance of the alias is really useful as a way of distinguishing a particular family from others with the same patronymic. While the records will often give the double surname,sometimes only one surname will be shown in a particular record, so one has to look at these carefully.
Sometimes one of the aliases is not a patronymic but rather a place name associated with the family. Richard Roberts alias Jenkin described earlier also appears as Richard Roberts alias Trevernan, as he held land at Trevernan in Gwithian parish. This is also the case with Honour Williams alias Chekembra, as her will, which I have a copy of, shows that she had a holding at Chekembra, or Chykembro, in Zennor parish.
With Roberts alias Knight, the most likely possibility is that further back we had a Robert Knight somewhere, whose son then became "X Roberts alias Knight" in much the same way.
You will not see much if anything in the eigteenth century along these lines, and this is surely because all surnames had now become fixed.
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nic1
Noweth
Posts: 24
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Hi
Nov 30, 2007 6:56:24 GMT -5
Post by nic1 on Nov 30, 2007 6:56:24 GMT -5
Now I begin to understand old William Robarts/Roberts and his use of the name Knight as an alias.
I presume therefore that his wife, Honour, was possibly the daughter of a William but it is impossible to ever know what her family name may have been. She was the one calling herself Honour Chekembra alias Williams - where Chekembra seems to be a property held on lease.
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Dec 5, 2007 3:51:43 GMT -5
Post by trencrom on Dec 5, 2007 3:51:43 GMT -5
I presume therefore that his wife, Honour, was possibly the daughter of a William but it is impossible to ever know what her family name may have been. Not necessarily --- we don't yet know exactly when the surname became fixed for this particular family. I would take Honour's maiden surname as being Williams for the moment, unless no other Williams appears in any earlier Zennor records. For this check protestation returns and early subsidy records.
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Dec 9, 2007 9:32:13 GMT -5
Post by Cornish Terrier on Dec 9, 2007 9:32:13 GMT -5
Welcome 'nic1'. You should have received a reply to your email by now and I will be taking a closer look at your attachments soon. Thanks Trencrom for stepping into the breach in my absence and you are doing a great job. (As usual!) You certainly have a greater hold on the use of patronymics than I so your input is doubly welcome. I will return to this note as soon as I can but there may be some delay given my PC is still not set up completely and most of my book and paperwork is either still in boxes or is strewn over any space I could find for it in a hurry. Will get back onto it though is I have long had an interest in these families. Ian
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Jan 10, 2008 6:39:43 GMT -5
Post by Marpleg A-boynt on Jan 10, 2008 6:39:43 GMT -5
Welcome nic1
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