 |
|
| Cornwall: the Complete Silly Names List
One of the inspirations behind Potty, Fartwell & Knob was the Cornwall Silly Names List compiled by archivist Renée Jackaman. These names and their sources were originally available on the Cornwall Record Office website, but as they are no more, I am privileged to have received Renée’s permission to reproduce them here, so stand by to meet Gentle Fudge, Truth Bullock, Obedience Ginger, Edward Evil, Susan Booze, Philadelphia Bunnyface, Elizabeth Disco, Charity Chilly, Offspring Gurney, Boadicea Basher, Fozzitt Bonds, Faithful Cock – and more than 1,000 other strangely-named people from Cornwall! Renée Jackaman writes: The Silly Names List started when I was working as an Archive Assistant at Cornwall Record Office. I decided to keep a record of the bizarre names I was encountering in the course of conducting genealogical research for clients. It seemed to me a shame that, having emerged briefly and put a smile on my face, these people should disappear again under the waves of history. Considering the suffering they must have endured in life, I felt they deserved a little immortality. Many of the regular customers and some member of the staff agreed with me and they began to tell me of silly names they had found. The list grew to several hundred names and we initially published it as a small booklet. This list was compiled solely from records held at Cornwall Record Office and was collected together over the course of the six years during which I worked there as an Archive Assistant. The only qualification to appear on the list was the possession of a name that could be considered silly or unusual. Although all the names come from the CRO, not all the entries relate to Cornish people – there are many nationalities present. Towards the end of my time at Cornwall Record Office, the organizers of Archive Awareness Month issued an appeal for any material that could be publicized to raise the profile of local archive offices. The Silly Names List seemed to fit the bill, so I sent it off – and then forgot about it. When I took up a new appointment as Archivist at Devon Record Office, my first week there unfortunately coincided with a media frenzy as the Silly Names List was picked up by the world’s press. On my first day in the new job I had to conduct nearly two dozen radio interviews, including a very strange one on Israeli radio. I was mentioned on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show and lampooned by Punt and Dennis. My rather bemused new employers were very patient with all this, but I think they secretly wondered what on earth they had taken on. Fortunately, the furore died down as quickly as it had arisen and I was left to revert to my peaceful existence. As the list is no longer available on the CRO website, I welcome the opportunity to revive it here. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have contributed names to it, especially my colleagues at Cornwall Record Office and the volunteers of the Cornwall Family History Society. I would also like to urge anyone who has not tried it to visit their local archive or record office to see what you can discover – there is a lot more to archives than family history! If you have any questions about the list, please contact me using the form provided. P.S. In case you are wondering, my favourites are Abraham Thunderwolf and Freke Dorothy Fluck Lane. If you have any comments or queries about the lists, contact me by completing this form:
For any other queries about Cornish family history, etc, e-mail cro@cornwall.gov.uk or contact: The County Archivist Tel: +44 (0)1872 323127
|
|