Genealogy Chat

hi im helping a friend.she has a george buttery who changed their name to battery.is there any where we could look to find out why or how.many thanks

Depending when it was it could just be how the name sounded to an enumerator or registrar. If the persons couldnt read or write then they would be unaware of any spellings

Agree with Shirley - Buttery to Battery isn't really a name change. There weren't standardised spellings in the past as we have now. It's like my own ancestors Haycocks to Haycox, or Boore to Bore - same name, just variant on spelling.
Jan

Probably just a simple mistranscription......unless you have documents which say otherwise

No its nothing like that.my friend is albert battery.his father in 1911 was george buttery.we wondered if there is a record of name changes.

Christopher, I really think it's just a variant. You can call yourself what you like, and spell your name how you want, as long as it isn't for fraudulent purposes. In practice these days that is more difficult as there are so many official documents requiring your name, but back then it was less of a problem.
If you were going to go to the trouble of changing your name officially I can't see why you would change just one letter! Maybe they just thought Battery sounded better??
Where did you find this variation, on a cert maybe?
Jan

I am not saying this is them - no idea! - but just an example. The name on the census image is Buttery.

1911 England Census

Name: Herbert Arther Battery
Age in 1911: 36
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Hull
Civil parish: Great Grimsby
County/Island: Lincolnshire
Country: England
Street Address: 143 Macanay St Grimsley
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Marint Fores General Dealer
Registration district: Grimsby
Registration District Number: 422
Sub-registration district: Great Grimsby

Herbert Arther Battery 36
Sarah Ann Battery 39
John Roibert Alfred Battery 10
James Arther Battery 8
George Henry Battery 6
Maryrtnn Battery 4
Coxratious Battery 22
James Albert Battery 20
Robert Taylor Masor 15

Jan

Was your friend born in 1930 in Willesden?
Thanks

Added:
But parents' marriage in Oldham, and deaths in Kent.
Some more information, please.

patchem, think I've found same family as you. It looks like the same sort of scenario where my Leonard's became Lennard and my Jeffrey's became Jeffery. I reckon it was all down to literacy.

...going back through photocopies of original parish records in a Suffolk church, I found my Cattermoles, in a few generations became (amongst other names) Catmole Catermoulle and eventually, Kackermoulle. The spelling of the parents surnames names were even different from one child's baptism to the next :-S
Obviously the spelling changed according to who put it in the register.

A more recent name change I know of is a friend with the surname Fargin. Their grandfather landed in Liverpool at the turn of 20th century with the surname Farjeon, but with his thick Irish accent, was misunderstood and called 'Fargin'. He was registered for work with this name - so it stayed.

Was your friend born in Middlesex in 1930?

If so then this is his parent's marriage (surname recorded as Battery):-


Name: BATTERY, George
Registration district: Oldham
County: Lancashire
Year of registration: 1923
Quarter of registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Spouse's last name: Dingsdale
Volume no: 8D
Page no: 1254

Name: DINGSDALE, Ellen
Registration district: Oldham
County: Lancashire
Year of registration: 1923
Quarter of registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Spouse's last name: Battery
Volume no: 8D
Page no: 1254

However in the 1911 census this George seems to be recorded as Buttery:-

1911 census transcription details for: 4 Barlow Street Oldham

National Archive Reference:
RG14PN24494 RG78PN1404 RD469 SD2 ED24 SN205
Reg. District: Oldham
Sub District: Oldham Central
Parish: Oldham
Enum. District: 24

Address: 4 Barlow Street Oldham
County: Lancashire

Name Relation Condition/
Yrs married Sex Age Birth Year Occupation Where Born

BUTTERY, William Head Married
26 years M 56 1855 Carter Shropshire Keyharcel
BUTTERY, Elizabeth Wife Married F 55 1856 Ilse of Man Kirton Andrews Resident
BUTTERY, Florence Gertrude Daughter Single F 25 1886 Tailoress Oldham Lancashire
BUTTERY, George Corlett Son Single M 22 1889 Textile Engineer Oldham Lancashire
DIPPLE, Herbert Wallie Boarder Single M 31 1880 Telephone Engineer Warwickshire Wylde Green

If this is the family you mean then I think it is a simple case of mis-transcription somewhere along the line which was quite common until the mid 20th century.

Kath. x

I can understand and agree about mis-transcription.
However, the pronunciation of Battery and Buttery is quite different.
If one is Buttery in 1911 and calls oneself so, to have a marriage and birth as Battery implies 2 people not understanding the accent or writing it down incorrectly, surely?
There is only one George Battery in the possible time scale (as I and MarieCeleste have already referred to).
There are very few people in the deaths from 1916 to 2006. (And Ellen appears to have been replaced by Florence)
It seems strange that 2 people would choose this spelling over Buttery - and I have a related interest in this as it appears in my family.
That is why I think we need more information from Christopher.

The pronuncuiation would change, depending on the area you are from, and the dialect you speak, and indeed, to whom you are speaking!!

Farjeon may be pronounced 'Fargin' in some areas of Ireland, and not others, but is still spelt 'Farjeon'.
Go out of the area and some official will spell it the way they hear it.

'Buttery' could easily become 'Burry', and in East Anglia (and other parts of the country) it's a simple step from 'Buttery' in the local dialect sounding like 'Battery' to an outsider.