Who was Ghorst TAWNEY, Barber, in 1752 Cambridge will

[bedfordshire boy]

Hi Keith

Mary wasn't the only child of Ghorst and Phebe - there's also Ann born 13 Feb 1750, father "Gosh"! I wonder if a son may have been Francis as a Pheebe was baptised in 1778, daughter of Frances and Alice

I suspect Ghorst's father may have had the same name - there's an Elizabeth Tawney christened in 1728 at Littleport, parents Ghoret and Catherine on the IGI. Unless of course the 1748 marriage was a second marriage for Ghorst - there's a marriage of Pheebe Tawney in St Mary the Great in 1763, but Phillimore's Index doesn't state that she was a widow. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was a second marriage for Ghorst - dependent on the age of John Johnson when he died it's more likely that Ghorst was an older age, at least of an age with John.

I question whether the name Ghorst is a christian name at all. I wonder if he was given the name Ghorst after the surname of a family member - there was an Elizabeth Ghorst baptised in Littleport (there's a pattern emerging here!) in 1661. Whilst she is the only Ghorst in Cambs there are almost 1600 Gorsts elsewhere in England on the IGI. And there was an earlier Goates family in Littleport

Searching on the IGI for Europe there's not a single occurrence of a christian name Ghorst, save the 1748 marriage
David

[Keith Sherwood]

David,
A fascinating and exhaustive bit of research on this particular demon barber of Cambridge and his roots/desendants!  And it looks entirely possible that he did indeed derive his forename from that rather unusual GORST family name.  With the Dutch very much in evidence in the Fens from at least the 17thC, I imagine this might be where the name originated from.
Amusing to see how often this name was misheard or mistranscribed over the years too...
keith

[AndrewMartin]

There's a Will with The Littleport Society and The National Archives for a Richard Swan, grasier of Littleport, dated 1708, who leaves items to Gohrst Tawney. Might be worth a look:

https://www.littleportsociety.org.uk/catalogue/index.php/Detail/objects/2748