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What did an alias signify?

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  • What did an alias signify?

    The register entry for the marriage of my 5g grandfather in 1782 gives the name I expected and an alias. Why might this have been? Is the alias likely to be a useful surname to follow or a red herring?

    scuda
    Pitman / Pittman in North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia

  • #2
    Scuda, it could mean that he was illegitimate in which case one surname would be his mother's and the other one his father's. Or it could be that one was his original surname and his other was his stepfather's. I would definitely say worth following up.
    KiteRunner

    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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    • #3
      I believe an alias was sometimes used in connection with copyhold tenancy of land. This isn't something I know much (anything?!!) about though. Have a read here:



      About an eighth of the way into the article a paragraph starts:

      "Years ago some widow had made her will"

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      • #4
        Other possible reasons for alias:

        A foreign name, eg: Bunker (Boncoeur) and Goodheart
        A surname taking a long time to solidify - this was particularly true in Wales, but happened in other places as well.

        Some aliases can persist for over a century.
        Phoenix - with charred feathers
        Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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        • #5
          I have also seen some snotty Vicars writing "alias" because the parents were not married in his church, or THEIR parents were not married in his church - nonconformists, possibly RC.

          My 2 x GGF goes by an alias and slips easily in and out of each name. His parents WERE married, long before his birth and I have no idea why he uses the alias name (or why someone else uses it for him?). He finally settled on his "real" surname after his father died.

          OC

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          • #6
            I read somewhere that it was sometimes used to distinguish between generations of, for example, "John" Smiths. It would be interesting in these examples to find out why the particular alias used was chosen.

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            • #7
              Modem

              Now that's an interesting thought, because, in the example I gave above, there were two men of the same name, same birth year, same occupation, who had fathers with the same name and mothers with the same first name - they were related of course.

              In fact, I followed the WRONG family initially, because I looked at the man with the "right name" and decided that was him. It wasn't, and I wasn't at that time aware that he was using an alias!

              In my case, your explanation makes perfect sense! Thankyou, I had never thought of that.

              OC

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              • #8
                it could mean that he was illegitimate in which case one surname would be his mother's and the other one his father's.
                Thanks everyone for your ideas. This one of KiteRunner's is the possibility that had occurred to me, but now I see there are more lines of investigation than I had thought. A visit to Gloucester Archives is called for, I think!

                scuda
                Pitman / Pittman in North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia

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                • #9
                  It simply signifies that the person used two names.
                  Cheers
                  Guy
                  Guy passed away October 2022

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                  • #10
                    I have one family - two children, different fathers and both are giving their mothers maiden name and then the alias as per their fathers. They werent illegitimate so Im not sure why they ended up using mums maiden name. They are even buried with that name on the headstones.

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                    • #11
                      Hm as Guy has pointed out it is simply a person who used other names and it may well be they used more than two. Don't forget the crimininals/spies/dissidents who changed names frequently for whatever reason suited them. Many Irish dissidents use alias!

                      Janet

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Janet View Post
                        Hm as Guy has pointed out it is simply a person who used other names and it may well be they used more than two. Don't forget the crimininals/spies/dissidents who changed names frequently for whatever reason suited them. Many Irish dissidents use alias!

                        Janet

                        That is interesting Janet & Guy, how does that account for one of mine naming his children the same way?

                        His baptism just shows mother's name "xxxx", so I presumed he was illegitimate (although no entry to say so). When he married he used another surname entirely "yyyy", then when his children were born he used his mother's surname "xxxx" & his alias "yyyy" (the name he married with) and his children were all baptised with his name on marriage "yyyy" with alias "xxxx" after that?

                        I was told by the local Family History Society is was to do with land etc.


                        Joanie

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                        • #13
                          Janet

                          Whilst I agree with what you say about people using aliases to obscure their identity, that doesn't really explain why it would be boldly entered in the parish register - you'd hardly tell the vicar that your name was really Bloggs if you were on the run and using the name Snodgrass!

                          OC

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                          • #14
                            Hm, not everybody was above board getting married. Could have been using a third name. Still that is getting into the realm of speculation. All I would say is it is quite possible.

                            You do/did get people on the run from whatever and then married. I do know some that were on the run for various reasons and have seen the alias written by their name. Many Irish were involved in offences which caused them to have many alias. Still it was just a thought no more!

                            Janet

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                            • #15
                              Janet

                              I am reasonably sure my 2 x GGF, housepainter, wasn't on the run from anyone. If he was, then he was a fool (and his pursuers complete idiots!)because he lived in the same street from birth to marriage - and then in the next street from marriage to death!

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                No, I am not suggesting for one moment that everybody might have been in that position, but I am suggesting it as a possibility for some people. I do know it has been done, and it has been one of the reasons why some of the Catholic registers in Ireland are fiercely protected by many priests even today.

                                Maybe in Scuda's case it is a matter of illegitimacy.

                                And yes, I have seen in the registers Joe Bloggs alias Joe Whatever......and I certainly would not automatically think of illegitimacy in the Irish registers that I have seen. My thoughts would be on other things like I wonder what he did during the 1798 rebellion or during the 1870's troubles with the landlords or the 1916 uprising or how was he involved with the Manchester Martyrs etc. So many of these people involved in these areas did use Alias.

                                Janet
                                Last edited by Janet; 23-02-09, 22:52.

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                                • #17
                                  People used an alias in the same way as pseudonyms are used today. It does not necessarily mean they are on the run (in fact if they appear in the registers it seldom means that) but may simply wish to fit in to a certain group or differentiate from a different person or family.
                                  Often aliases passed through the generations.
                                  Cheers
                                  Guy

                                  PS Also don't think the alias is always used in place of the real name, you could have -
                                  John Moses, alias Tomas et Catherine in one entry then in the next for the same couple
                                  John Tomas, alias Moses et Catherine
                                  Last edited by Guy; 23-02-09, 22:25.
                                  Guy passed away October 2022

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                                  • #18
                                    Well, I think I'll investigate the illegitimacy idea first, as I've not found his baptism under the name I expected, and keep all the other ideas in mind. It's been interesting to see all the possibilities, thanks everyone.

                                    scuda
                                    Pitman / Pittman in North Glos (Didbrook, Prestbury, Longhope, Tewkesbury, Stow, Cirencester, etc), London & Australia

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                                    • #19
                                      Redacted
                                      Last edited by Penelope; 24-02-09, 15:48.

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                                      • #20
                                        My input to this is and;
                                        it relates to the use of 'Aliases' which before now I have always associated the term with something unlawful until I found this;
                                        England, English, Cornwall, Cornish, genealogy, family history, history, OPC, Online parish clerk, St.,St, Austell, Charlestown, Treverbyn, tin, mining, tinning, clay, Holy Trinity, manors, manorial, inns, newspaper, articles, essays, stories, story, exerpts

                                        which gives a totally different value the term and where I need assistance.
                                        I have in my ancestors a George Wood,a smuggler, who was shot dead in 1784 at Hastings and have never found his birth nor his father.
                                        (see topic http://www.familytreeforum.com/showt...ead?highlight= joboy ) for earlier associated information

                                        However the search goes on and what I have found with an incident at Hastings and from the book called 'The Smugglers' by Lord Teignmouth and Charles G Harper page 137 there is this;
                                        'There was an indictment in the Admiralty Court on 30th October 1769 of 13 men for piracy and murder on the high seas; namely,Thomas Phillips,elder and younger, William and George Phillips,
                                        Mark Chatfield,Robert Webb,Thomas and Samuel Ailsbury,James and Richard Hyde,William Geary alias Justice alias George Wood'.
                                        Of this group Thomas Ailsbury,William Geary,William Wenham and Richard Hyde were hanged at Execution Dock November 27th.
                                        My question is with William Geary who had two aliases (Justice [ presumably William as 1st name ] and George Wood) ..... could this 'George Wood' have been the father of George Wood who was shot in 1784?.
                                        Hope so ;)
                                        Joe

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