BLACKADAR-L Archives

Archiver > BLACKADAR > 1999-11 > 0941729540


From: "David C. Blackadar" <>
Subject: Falkirk Blackadders #5
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 08:32:20 -0700


-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Merry <>
To: <>
Cc: <>;
<>; <>
Date: November 1, 1999 7:24 PM
Subject: Re: Falkirk Blackadders


Hi Al,

I would just like to offer an argument for not using the spelling
variation as a means to determining which branch of the family a person
belongs to. I recently had a good example with my own surname as to how
interchangeable these variations can become. From marriage info gleaned
from my gggrandfather's death cert I was able to locate his parents
marriage first on IGI under 'Murray' (correct wife's name) the result of
an eager Mormon's search for Sealants for the Dead which lead me to the
entry in the parish records under 'Mirrie' (1800), the death cert civil
reg. 1859 he was recorded as 'Merry' as are all descendants.
Interestingly the first record in that parish (1705) is 'Merry'. On
these same parish records I have seen the same set of parents have their
surname varied with successive entries of birth often in different
handwriting. While there is no doubt that many Reverends were erudite
their parishioners were not and probably would not know if their name
was spelt correctly.
Blackadder obviously has even greater potential for variation than
Merry.
Regards
Doug

This thread: