Forwarded Message Please reply to List or to Ron Hart"
<ronh(a)paradise.net.nz>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Hart" <ronh(a)paradise.net.nz>
To: <WALES-GEN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 6:40 PM
Subject: {not a subscriber} PUCILL Surname
Hello Wales list, I wonder if there is someone who can give me some advice
regarding the possible derivation of a surname? I will give you as much
nformation as I can.
Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Ena GLOVER, I now live in New
Zealand, but I was born and raised in Warrington, Lancashire. I have
recently begun researching my family's history. My maternal grandmother
was called Hilda Hoxworth PUCILL. The name PUCILL is very uncommon - all
indications are that it emanated from the Warrington area. Many of the
PUCILL males in the nineteenth century were watermen who intermarried
with other watermen's families so the name moved up and down the River
Mersey and associated canal network, as far as Liverpool at one end and
Manchester at the other! However it was 'based' mainly in Warrington and the
surrounding districts. I have found parish records of PUCILLs going back
into the late seventeenth century in Warrington. Needless to say there are
about a million ways to spell PUCILL. Some of the variations I have found
include PUSIL, PUCELL, PUSILLE, PUECILLE and PEWSIL - you need a computer
programme to permutate them all!
I have often wondered about the derivation of the name - one chap named
PUCILL who now lives in Denmark (don't ask!) suggests that they are an
Italian family called PUCILLO who came to the UK some centuries ago. He
has absolutely no proof to back this up, so I have, tolerant though I am,
filed this idea in the loony compartment!
What I would like to know from you is, could this name be of Welsh
derivation, which is what my instincts tell me. You may think my theory is
just as loony as the Italian one, I only have two very suspicious reasons to
back it up. Firstly, my grandmother (who was never one to let the truth get
in the way of a good story) always insisted that the PUCILLs were, going
back many generations, of Welsh origin. Secondly, when I started to see the
parish records where the PEWSIL-type spelling was used, I began to suspect
this was a Welsh name.
I mean could it have been PWSYL or some such?
Well, I do hope that someone there can give me advice on this. I look
forward to hearing from you shortly.
Best wishes from
Ena GLOVER in very sunny New Zealand