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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Somerset => Topic started by: Julie Curnick on Saturday 15 June 24 12:33 BST (UK)

Title: Robins als Whelier
Post by: Julie Curnick on Saturday 15 June 24 12:33 BST (UK)
Hello
8 years ago I requested some information on the Robins family of Somerset.  Though later generations lived in High Ham, my focus is on St Mary's Buckland and Bruton. I have been widening my search trying to find when they adopted the alias of Whelier.  I have trawled countless registers FreGen etc and cannot find the connection.  The Whelier/Wheler/Wheeler name has been adopted by a few the Phelps and Cop families. I have seached 150 yrs with nothing coming to light.
Was this name associated with an employer or a land holder or gentry?  I have not been able to find a marriage between a Robins and a Whelier on FreGen to explain the als name.
Does anyone have any ideas?  I have to resolve this to sort out which branch of the tree to follow.
appreciate anything you can throw my way.
Thank you
Julie Curnick
Title: Re: Robins als Whelier
Post by: KGarrad on Saturday 15 June 24 13:12 BST (UK)
On GenUKI, under Devon, there is an essay on Alias names.

https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/NamesPersonal/AliasesDiscriminant

It's worth a read. :D
Title: Re: Robins als Whelier
Post by: Julie Curnick on Sunday 16 June 24 10:24 BST (UK)
Thank you for that KGarrad.
I had already accessed that article and understand the forms of aliases.
The alias seems to have been used for a short period of time, just enough to muddy the waters.
I have not found an instance of a Robins - Whelier marriage. So perhaps the Whelier/Wheeler relates to an occupation eg
"Wheeler: a textile worker who operated a spinning wheel, a mining worker who controlled the pit ponies, or a craftsman who made wheels."
Or was there an employer who his father worked for?

So any ideas or data you can come across would be most helpful.

thanks

Julie