Curiosities of Puritan NomenclatureBardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
History
Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature
Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
Names, Personal -- English
"9 Will. III. June 29. Caroletta Hasting, defendant."--Decree Rolls,
MSS. Record Office.
Carolina, Englished into Caroline, became for a while the favourite, but
Charlotte ran away with the honours after the beloved princess of that
name died.
[29] Bethia still lingers in certain families, but its origin has
manifestly been forgotten. In _Notes and Queries_, February 23, 1861, Mr.
W. A. Leighton deems the name an incorrect version of the scriptural
Bithiah (1 Chron. iv. 18); while "G.," writing March 9, 1861, evidently
agrees with this conclusion, for after saying that his aunt, a sister, and
two cousins bear it, he adds, "They spell it Bethia and Bathia, instead of
Bithiah, which is the accurate form"! Miss Yonge also is at fault: "The
old name of Bethia, to be found in various English families, probably came
from an ancestral Beth on either Welsh, Scots, or Irish sides." She makes
it Keltic.
The latest instance of Bethia I have seen is the following, on a mural
tablet in Kirkthorpe Church, York:--
"Bethia Atkins, ob. Ap. 16th, 1851, aged 74."
[30] "But the ridicule which falls on this mode of naming children belongs
not to these times only, for the practice was in use long
before."--Harris, "Life of Oliver Cromwell," p. 342.
[31] This child was buried a few days later. From the name given the
father seems to have expected the event.
[32] From 1585 to 1600, that is, in fifteen years, Warbleton register
records more than a hundred examples of eccentric Puritanism.
[33] This name crept into Yorkshire after Accepted Frewen became
archbishop. "Thornton Church is a little episcopal chapel-of-ease, rich in
Nonconformist monuments, as of Accepted Lister, and his friend Dr.
Hale."--Mrs. Gaskell's "Charlotte Bronte," p. 37.
[34] Faith-my-joy was buried June 12, 1602. While the name was Puritan in
the sense that it would never have been given but for the zealots, it was
merely a translation of the Purefoy motto, "Pure Foi ma Joi." Antony
turned it into a spiritual allusion.
[35] "On Jan. 28, 17 James I., William Foster ... together with Sir Henry
Burton, Susan Mowne, and James Bynde, and Sanctia or Sence his wife,
joined in conveying to Robert Raunce and Edward Thurland ... a house and
land in Carshalton on trust to sell."--"Bray's Surrey," ii. 513.
[36] Erasmus became a popular baptismal name, and still exists:
"1541, Jan. 3. Baptized Erasmus, sonne of John Lynsey."--St. Peter,
Cornhill.
"1593, Sep. 16. Baptized Erasmus, sonne of John Record, merchaunt
tailor."--Ditto.
"1611, July 18. Buried Erasmus Finche, captaine, of Dover
Castle."--Cant. Cath.
[37] "April 6, 1879, at St. Peter's Thanet, entered into rest, Mary Given
Clarke, aged 71 years."--_Church Times_, April 10, 1879.
[38] The following is curious, although it does not properly belong to
this class:
"1629, July 11. Baptized Subpena, a man childe found at the Subpena
office in Chancery Lane."--St. Dunstan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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