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Author: christopher_d_jones
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.wales.mer.general/376.2/m...
Message Board Post:
Catherine
I finally went over to the Merioneth archive office in Dolgellau the other day to try to
find my relative's forbears. This was successful. However, I came across the issue of
patronymics. This is where the son takes his father's given name as his surname. In my
case my gg grandfather's name was John Jones, which in Welsh Patronymics means John,
son of John. In this case my ggg grandfather's name was John Richard. I then found his
marriage quite easily, together with my gg grandfather's siblings christening.
So the moral here, particularly when looking at christenings prior to around 1850 in
Merioneth, is to look for the father's given name. Where the son has a name such as
John Richard Griffith in the records, then the grandfather's given name will be the
last one - in this case Griffith.
Another feature of patronymics is that the wife frequently retained her maiden name after
marriage.
This of course does not fit well with the census returns, which expect family names to fit
with English habits.
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