Ma Faimily only cum frae here

Davie · Post by **Davie** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:43 pm

Hi all,
I have been doing some research on the Kirk in Inveresk.
Oot by Joppa.
While perusing some records looking for the surname Cunzie (various spellings)
I came across a marriage of William to a lassie, Christina Fairnie.
Never heard of that last name at all, thought it must be a variant of something else.
No it wasn’t, there are several listed on the OPRs.
All from the one area as far as I can see.
I don’t “do” Auld Reekie, so am not too up on the districts.
However, ah’m wafflin’ again.
I was wondering, how many of you have similar kin.
I mean, I have Sorbie’s in my lot, all from around the Stonehouse area.
Never seen a birth frae oanywhere else in Scotland.

Davie

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:05 pm

Hi Davie
From the research I've done over the years it does certainly seem that some unusual surnames very much belong to a certain area. I suspect that some of them are perhaps "varations on a theme" - names that are a variant of another surname and have, over time in a particular area, evolved a spelling all of their own. I have what I think are examples of this in my tree: Goalen as a surname appears to be unique to one main family in Scotland. (with a few exceptions who I've not quite got to the bottom of yet!). The spelling variations on the name are many: Gullan, Gullen, Guillan, Gullane, Goolen, Goalin to mention just a few, to the extent that it is difficult to know sometimes if you have the right person/family. And then you begin to wonder if all these variants are in fact all related, all variations on the one family surname, and shortly after that you need to go and lie down somewhere in a darkened room....

But some names of the type you mention suggest that someone just appeared in an area and they are really from somewhere else: another part of the country, or another country altogether. The Crout family on a branch of my tree are like that - there are no other Crouts in Scotland. This seems to be because a James Crout who appears to have been born around 1800 in England came to Scotland, married and had children - the later generations moved to other areas of Scotland but all Crouts known to me in Scotland can be traced back to him. They, as a surname, are also a bit prone to spelling variants: Croot, Croote, Croute, Crowt, etc. but there is only the one family of them

Best wishes
Lesley

Davie · Post by **Davie** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:38 pm

Hi Lesley,
I popped the cert from SP and put it in the gallery under Cunzie 1612.
Just for the sake of it.
It is the earliest I have ever looked at.
Pity it wasn't one of mine.
The furthest back I can go is 1787 and I am not 100% on that!
I just thought it interesting to see only the one name coming up in the one area.

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1191

Davie

Gallery url added by Marilyn

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:12 am

Hi Davie
I'm glad you told us the names of the couple - it might have taken a while to work it out otherwise!!
I think spelling was very fluid in 1612 or thereabouts, so Cunzie may turn up spelt many different ways. I too wish I could go back as far as that, but wonderful to see it all the same. Am I right in thinking that some of the entries on this page give a couple of dates - maybe the dates of the banns being read for the first time as well as the marriage? Not sure - too many words that I'm no too sure of there....

SP's Free name search says there are:
2 Cunzie in Old Parish Records Banns & Marriages 1553 - 1854
2 Cunzie in Wills & Testaments 1513 - 1901
There appear to be none post-1855, so I reckon either they died out, or more likely they are spelt differently on other documents.

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **emanday** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:35 am

Hi Davie,

My Girtrig lot (all sorts of spelling) seemed to have been in Ayrshire from the 1600's, but the name, as a surname, seems to decline around the early 1800's. It seems that from then on only females survived to adulthood or the few males who did live long enough to father children only had female offspring or sons who died quite young. From that point on I've only ever found it as a middle name.

Use of the wildcards has, however, raised the possiblity that it actually finally got completely lost among existing Gutridge, Guthrie and a few other names.

I have OPR images where it has been written as Guthric (I believe) but has been quite understandably read as Guthrie. I base this on the fact that I believe the people concerned to be Girtrig family members. However, there are still question marks about that