Curiosities of Puritan NomenclatureBardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
History
Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature
Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell
Names, Personal -- English
_Faint-not_ occurs in Maresfield Church ("Suss. Arch. Coll.," xiv. 151).
We have already referred to Faint-not, the daughter of "Dudley Fenner,
minister of the Word of God" at Marden, Kent.
Fear-not was also in use. The Rector of Warbleton baptized one of his own
children by the name; some of his parishioners copied him:
"1594, Nov. 10. Baptized Fear-not, sonne of Richard Maye.
"1589, Oct. 19. Baptized Fear-not, sonne of Will{m}. Browne."
Decidedly cheerful were such names as Hope-still or Hopeful. Both occur in
Banbury Church. Hopeful Wheatley has already been mentioned.
"1611, June 16. Baptized Hope-still, d. to Edward Peedle.
"1697, Dec. 30. Buried Hope-still Faxon, a olde mayde."
Whether or no her matrimonial expectations were still high to the end, we
are not told.
One of the earliest Pilgrim Fathers was Hope-still Foster (Hotten, p. 68).
He went out to New England about 1620. His name became a common one out
there. Two bearers of the name at home lived so long that it reached the
Georges:
"Near this place is interred the body of John Warden, of Butler's
Green in this parish, Esq., who died April 30, 1730, aged 79 years;
and also of _Hope-still_, his wife, who died July 22, 1749, aged
92."--Cuckfield Church, Sussex.
"Dec. 1, 1714. Administration of goods of Michael Watkins, granted to
Hope-still Watkins, his widow."--C. S. P.
In the list of incumbents of Lydney, Gloucestershire, will be found the
name of _Help-on-high_ Foxe, who was presented to the living by the Dean
and Chapter of Hereford in 1660. For some reason or other, possibly to
curtail the length, he styled himself in general as Hope-well, and this
was retained on his tomb:
"Hic in Cristo quiescit Hope-wel Foxe, in artibus magister, hujus
ecclesiae vicarius vigilantissimus qui obiit 2 die Aprilis,
1662."--Bigland's "Monuments of Gloucester."
How quickly such names were caught up by parishioners from their clergy
may again be seen in the case of Hope-well Voicings, of Tetbury, who left
a rentcharge of L1 for the charity schools at Cirencester in 1720.
Probably he was christened by the vicar himself at Lydney.
We have already mentioned Rejoice Lord, of Salehurst. The name had a
tremendous run:
"1647, June 22. Buried Rejoice, daughter of John Harvey.
"1679, Oct. 18. Baptized Rejoice, daughter of Nicholas
Wratten."--Warbleton.
_Rejoice_ reached the eighteenth century:
"1713, Sep. 29. Married John Pimm, of St. Dunstan's, Cant., to
_Rejoice_ Epps, of the precincts of this church."--Cant. Cath.
_Magnify_ and _Give-thanks_ frequently occur in Warbleton register:
"1595, Dec. 7. Buried Gyve-thanks Bentham, a child.
"1593, M{ch}. 11. Baptized Give-thanks, the dather of Thomas Elliard.
"1591, Feb. 6. Baptized Magnyfy, sonne of William Freeland.
"1587, Sep. 17. Baptized Magnyfye, sonne of Thomas Beard.
"1587, April 2. Baptized Give-thankes, sonne of Thomas Cunsted."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account