ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2637 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2637 ************************************ 1 Jan 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether <Roland Goderic atte Wells> is an appropriate name for a 14th to 16th century Englishman. Here's what we've found. Your name is fundamentally correct, but these particular spellings are not likely for your culture and the use of <atte> is unlikely except at the very beginning of your period. The given name <Roland> was moderately common in England throughout your period, but this particular spelling is more typical of French than English. The usual English spellings were <Rouland> and <Rowland>. Some examples include: Rouland 13th c., 1561 [1, 15, 16] Rolandus 1316, 1428 (a standard Latin spelling) [1] Rowland 1529, 1570, 1579, 1580, 1584/5 [2, 3, 15, 16, 18] Rolonde 1583 [18] Roland 1546, 1548 [15, 16] >From the early 14th century to the first half of the 16th century, this name was pronounced roughly \ROO-lahnd\, with \OO\ pronounced as in <food>. In the latter half of the 16th century, it shifted to \R@U-l@nd\. \@U\ is a diphthong whose pronunciation can be heard in the word <about> in the sound file at: http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/troberts/sounds/house.au \@\ in the second syllable represents the sound of the <a> in <about>. The Middle English given name <Godric> or <Goderic> produced surnames used throughout your period. We found [4, 5]: Walter Goderiche 1273 William Godriche 1273 Stephen Godrich 1273 John Godryk 1313 Henry Godrych c.1330 James Goodrich 1341 William Godright 1363 Robertus Goderik 1379 Albreda Goderik 1381 Simon Goderich 1388 William Guderyk 1475 John Guddrig 1477 Goodrich 1500 [8] Goodryke 1554 [8] Thomas Goodrihc 1568 [6] Guddridg 1585 [7] <Goderik>, in all its spellings, was pronounced \GOAD-ritch\ in the early 14th century, and \GOO-dritch\ in the 16th century, where \OO\ here represents the vowel in <food>, not the one in <good>. We're not quite sure how it was pronounced in the 15th century. The surname <Wells> also appears in various forms through our period, in some cases refering to the town in Norfolk that is today called <Wells-next-the-Sea> or to the <Wells> in Somersetshire; and in some cases simply describing someone residing near a group of springs. Examples include [9, 10]: Roger Attewell' 1200 (Sussex) Isabella Welles 1312 (Colchester) Wellis 1291 (Norfolk) Welles 1212, 1225 (Somersetshire) John atte Well' 1332 (Lincolnshire) Robert Well' 1332 (Lincolnshire) Alice atte Welle 1332 (Lincolnshire) John de Welles 1332 (Lincolnshire) John Welles 1456 (London) [11] Alice Wells 1530 [12] Robert Styward alias Wells 1557 (Cambridgeshire) [13] Alison Welles 1575 [12] The 14th century byname <atte Welles> was pronounced \AH-t@ WEL-l@s\. In the 15th century, we'd expect <of> rather than <atte>, so we suggest \ohf WEL-@s\, where \oh\ stands for the sound of the vowel in <more>. By the end of the 15th century, the pronunciation of <Welles> contract to <WELZ>. At the beginning of your period, surnames were still generally used literally in England: An early 14th century man called <Rouland Goderyk> was typically the son of a man called <Goderyk>; and if he were also called <Rowland atte Welles>, it would have been because he lived near a set of springs. When a document identified a man by two bynames, like <Rouland Goderyk atte Welles>, it often meant that he was sometimes known by one surname, and sometimes the other. It might also have meant simply that the scribe felt that more precise identification was needed for some reason. Here are some partly Latinized examples from Worcestershire in 1346 [17]: Thome Cassy de With Johanne de Chestre de lench Walteri Musard de Strengesham Henrici de Longe de Tuekesbery Willielmo Knyght de Bradeleye Willielmo Hickes de Staunton Johannis le hostiler de Herfordia We therefore recommend that if you want a name suited for the early part of your period, you use one byname or the other, perhaps varying the choice depending on the circumstances. We recommend using both bynames only in writing. By the end of the 14th century, inherited family names were the rule and later they were nearly universal. In the examples above, we see evidence of this process: <Johannes de Chestre de lench> lived at Lench but was known by the surname <de Chester>. By the end of your period, inherited surnames were used much as we use them today: A 15th or 16th century Englishman was called <Rowland Goodrich> because his father's _surname_ was <Goodrich>. However, it was not unusual for a man's name to be recorded with both a family name and an additional byname that identified his place or residence. For example [14]: Wyllyam Coper de Cetford 1595 Thomas Wylse de Neverton 1597 Thomas Jones of Glocester 1548/9 Margery Wills of Gamage Hall 1570/1 Thomas Wynett of the Grange 1566/7 Rychard Hill of the Rocke 1581 The second, locative byname in these examples can be thought of as an address rather than a proper part of the person's name, i.e. "William Coper who lives in Cetford". If you want a 15th or 16th century name, we recommend you use something like <Rowland Goodrich>. In writing or in formal introductions, you might style yourself <Rowland Goodrich of Welles>. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Adelaide de Beaumont, Iago ab Adam, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Julie Stampnitzky, Laurensa de Chambord, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 Jan 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Roland. [2] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Names found in Cam, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1566-1600" (WWW: privately published, 2000). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/cam.html [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/ [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Goodrich. [5] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.n. Godrich. [6] Gray, Irvine and J. E. Gethyn-Jones, editors, _The Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock, 1538-1790_ (The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1960), p.28. [7] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Names found in Minchinhampton, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1566-1600" (WWW: privately published, 2000). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/minchinhampton.html [8] Julian Goodwyn, "Brass Enscription Index" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/ [9] Reaney & Wilson s.n. Wells. [10] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. Wells next the Sea. [11] Frances Consitt, _The London Weavers' Company_, vol.1 (Oxford: Clardendon Press, 1933). [12] Paul E. H. Hair, _Before the Bawdy Court: Selection from church court and other records relating to the correction of moral offences in England, Scotland, and New England, 1300-1800_ (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1972). [13] Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archealogy, Department of Antiquities, "Monumental Brass Rubbings for England, Cambridgeshire" (WWW: The Ashmolean, 1999). http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/departments/antiquities/brass/counties/Cambridgeshire.html [14] Mari Elsbeth nic Bryan, "Naming Practices in 16th Century Gloucestershire" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2001). See particularly the section "True Locatives" at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/GlocNamePractices/TrueLocatives.html#TrueLocatives [15] Pears, Brian, "Marriages from the Durham St. Oswald Registers (1538-1734)" (WWW: GENUKI, 1996). http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/Transcriptions/DUR/DSO.html [16] Pears, Brian, "Marriages from the Gateshead Registers (1558-1837)" (WWW: GENUKI, 1996). http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/Transcriptions/DUR/GAT1558.html [17] Amphlett, John, ed., _Lay subsidy rolls, A.D. 1346, and A.D. 1358 for the county of Worcester_ (Oxford: Worcestershire Historical Society, 1900; microfiche: Cambridge, England: Chadwyck-Healey, Ltd., 1979). [18] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "16th Century Names from Ormskirk Parish Registers" (WWW: privately published, 2001-2). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/ormskirk.html