Leonard John Stuart

[emanday]

I have gotten used to it, and even when I politely correct it in a return message, it often comes back as Stuart

Stewart is my maiden name and my son's first name. He very often gets letters addressed to "Stuart" sometimes even in responses to letters he has written!

He gets quite annoyed about that and makes sure to inform them of their mistake. One persistent correspondent did it once too often so Stewart sent his next letter back, unopened, with "Not at this address (unless you mean STEWART)" written on the envelope

That did the trick

[StewL]

Hi mb aka you know who
i thought I had heard somewhere about the spelling being related to the French having trouble with W's
Mary
Very innovative of your son My name is from my mothers maiden name too.

[trish1]

Hello David

As I mentioned earlier - I know very little of patronymic names - the main research I did which involved same was for a family from the Shetland Islands - where I found Helen Jamieson being the daughter of James Robertson. Hence my thought that it may be worth checking for a father or grandfather called Christopho.

Looking at the wonder that is wiki I find a good explanation on Icelandic names and I gather they are more likely to be patronymic - using the ending dóttir with the father's name for a daughter - e.g. Jón Stefánsson's daughter Katrín would have the surname Jónsdóttir while his son Fjalar would have the surname Jónsson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name

Hi Stuart
I am always wary of relying on submitted IGI records, but they can be very useful as a starting place in finding people researching one's family of interest - so this may lead you into another research path. Worth remembering that the submitter may or may not have sighted any vital records - when only a year is given (rather than an exact date), it may be estimated from another event (e.g. age given on marriage or death)

The other advantage of any searching on the IGI - it doesn't matter whether you specify Stewart or Stuart - an IGI search on either will return both - which is good for genealogical research - although it does not excuse those who repeatedly use the wrong spelling and Mary's son's solution seemed to get the desired result

It seems you will have even more to think about on your return.

Trish

[StuartC]

Hi Trish, MB & Alan,

Thanks for all the info. I am still amazed at how much information is out there and available.

Looking at the IGI site I confirm the following:

Sigrid Mork born abt 1868, Oslo, Norway
Father - Portus Leonard Mork - Born 22 Jan 1831 - Sweeden, Died 8 Apr 1869 or 28 Mar 1872. (two entries)
Mother - Sophia Christofersson - Born abt 1834 - Akershaus, Norway

Either way Sigrid was very young when her father died, and probably took on her mother's maiden name
until she got married to John McMaster Stewart, when she gave her fathers surname for the documentation
in NZ.

Looking a bit more into John McMaster Stewart, the New Zealand death index gives his age at death (1892) as 35.
This would give his birth date at about 1857. If Donald Stewart and Marion McMaster are his parents, they were
married 2 Sept 1853, Barony, Lanark., so his birth date of 14 June 1856 (IGI) would be a bit off according to the NZ
records. I maybe need to check in ScotlandsPeople for a more accurate date.

I might splash some cash and get the marriage cert for John McMaster Stewart and Segred Johanne Mork
(Christofersson??). I guess that would shed some light on parents and dates.

If you think Stewart and Stuart cause confusion; then I have a better one. My fathers christian name was Clifford,
my mother's maiden name was Clifford and my middle christian name is Clifford. My wife had an interesting debate
with the Registrar (who was 70 and deaf) explaining all these Cliffords when she went to get the banns recorded !!!!

Best Regards
Stuart

[trish1]

Hi Stuart

If you adjust the dates on the NZ BDM index search you will find that John died on the 25th January 1892 - so a birth 14 June 1856 would have him at 35 on death (I think - if my arithmetic is correct) - which is not, of course, a verification that this is your John. The IGI records at that time are extracted from the Scotland registers so only a transcription error would give a different birth date on SP.

I haven't used NZ records but from the online information it appears parents and birthplace are included from 1880/81 so that would be most useful for both of the families. Would like to hear the result if you spend the cash (just over 9 pounds for the printout, so about the current price from England, not sure if they charge additional postage to the UK?)

Trish