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How do I find a name change ?

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  • How do I find a name change ?

    Hi Everyone, I am not going to ask again about the 'European' branch of my family
    But I have a hunch that at some point the Von Spriedenbergs change their name to Franics.
    Is there anywhere I can search for name changes. (a deed poll search maybe ?)
    Kind regards John

  • #2
    "Changes of Name" guide on The National Archives may help - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...ge-of-name.htm

    You have to remember it wasn't (and still isn't) illegal to change your name to anything you want, providing it's not done for illegal purposes.
    Elaine







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    • #3
      Originally posted by john_harvey View Post
      Hi Everyone, I am not going to ask again about the 'European' branch of my family
      But I have a hunch that at some point the Von Spriedenbergs change their name to Franics.
      Is there anywhere I can search for name changes. (a deed poll search maybe ?)
      Kind regards John
      It might be worth searching the London Gazette to see if there is an announcement there: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

      Caroline
      Caroline's Family History Pages
      Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

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      • #4
        Thanks Elaine.......

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        • #5
          Thank Caroline

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          • #6
            Have you found naturalisation papers for any of them because often the name change was remarked on there and was the only formal acknowledgement.

            OC

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            • #7
              Hi OC, No I haven't found the naturalisation papers .
              Where would I search for such papers please ?
              Thanks John

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              • #8
                Another NA guide which might help ..
                Elaine







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                • #9
                  Having looked at the other thread I now realise that naturalisation records are very unlikely for this family as they had been in the UK for many decades. I think they just adopted the name Francis (not FRANICS, lol) because it was a lot easier to spell and say than von Spriedenberg. I very much doubt there was any formal declaration at all.

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    Thanks Oagain Elaine..
                    OC, my thinking about the name change was for them to remove a trace of their connection to Germany ?

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                    • #11
                      Maybe it was to distance themselves from a German-sounding name, but as they started using the Francis name much before the anti-German feeling started (around WW1) I think it was simply that it was easier to spell and say Francis than von Spriedenberg! As we can see from the other thread, the name wasn't spelled the same way twice!

                      OC

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                      • #12
                        thanks OC.

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                        • #13
                          Snap12.jpg They have the Name wrong here, on the death cert it's down as Von Spriedenberg
                          Last edited by john_harvey; 16-05-14, 20:35.

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                          • #14
                            But Steinberg is a German (or maybe Jewish?) name, not a French name! And Von Spriedenberg isn't French either. I'm sorry, but it sounds like a bit of a tall tale to me - I certainly wouldn't work in the docks if I could prove I was a French nobleman, would you?

                            OC

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                              But Steinberg is a German (or maybe Jewish?) name, not a French name! And Von Spriedenberg isn't French either. I'm sorry, but it sounds like a bit of a tall tale to me - I certainly wouldn't work in the docks if I could prove I was a French nobleman, would you?

                              OC
                              OC, I agree, I have article from two different papers with much the same story.
                              I always though that there was something 'nor right' about this.

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                              • #16
                                On reflection though, maybe there is a tiny grain of truth somewhere in the story, lol!

                                I remembered last night that I have a very distant twiglet in my tree and a similar sort of story - French nobleman exiled from France. Most of the story actually checks out, exc ept that they were not really French, they were Italian Jews living in France and working for/at the court of Louis. At the time of the French revolution they fled to England where - and here the story differs from yours - they had many aristocratic friends and connections, and they continued to make an extremely successful and wealthy life for themselves in England. Frankly, I would expect any nobleman at the time, to do the same and the fact that yours didn't, does tend to suggest that maybe they were exiled from France for something else, not "just" a political faux pas. Mine certainly never changed their name either. However, the prefix "von" to your name does hint at aristocratic connections!

                                I'm not sure how you would progress this, other than widening the search and looking for other von Spriedenbergs around the world in the 1700s and 1800s. Do you have an occupation for the "first" von Spriedenberg in England?

                                OC
                                Last edited by Olde Crone Holden; 17-05-14, 10:31.

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                                • #17
                                  Thanks OC, only occupation I have listed is a labourer.

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                                  • #18
                                    It really doesn't seem likely that a nobleman would become a labourer, does it?

                                    OC

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                                    • #19
                                      Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                                      It really doesn't seem likely that a nobleman would become a labourer, does it?

                                      OC
                                      That's right �� the plot thickens....

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                                      • #20
                                        Just throwing a few daft ideas around now....

                                        Riedenberg is a town in Bavaria and it has a castle which is/was occupied by the Stein family (Steinberg, from the newspaper?). Although it has never been French, it did at one time come under Franconia. I wonder? Bavaria underwent great upheaval around the 1800 mark and the von Spriedenbergs may have fled at that point. They may have been a minor branch of the noble family - or thought they were, perhaps through illegitimacy.

                                        OC

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