christian name help....

[heywood]

Hi everyone,

could it be Joan Smith? There is one in Wigton born 1857 in 1911 census?

best wishes
heywood

just thought.. or pehaps Joanne?

[parky96]

 I put a few different spellings of the name in searches and i found it is popular in Chinese names(guan). Although i am kind of leaning towards the name meaning something else as it was wrote by someone other than that person. A few show up in America too(male names).
I will keep trawling through the records thanks again for all your help

[heywood]

Hi Parky,

the person should show up somewhere in census records though. At the moment, I am thinking it is a mispelling but again, it is unusual for 1915 when there was more education. 
heywood

[kimhulme]

In  a book of English Christian Names(not looked at for years) it states, regarding Guenevere......."In Scotland it became Guanor, Vanora, or Wander. Gaenor is still used in N Wales"
Lots of friends, as a witness was most likely to be, or a relative,  could have a shortened name or a nickname. Where do you think I got Kim from?

[heywood]

I like those names, Kim - you can see the origins of the name which was popular a few years back - Gaynor, I think there.

Parky,
Were the bride and groom both from Wigton? Were they young people? Any Smith connections?

heywood

[parky96]

So far i believe they were both from the wigton area(which covers a wide area, lots of hamlets and villages). Havnt really gone any further back at the moment as the mans surname is quite a common one up here. They were both young when they got married the groom being 21 and the bride was 23. I will try to find out a bit more this week. The later family had a bit of a habit of naming their children one name and then changing them same names to something else - so that has been interesting in trying to find people.

[heywood]

1911 shows no Smiths with names beginning with 'Gu' inCumberland.  There is a Gwendoline aged 7 yrs in Cockermouth but she would only be 11 yrs in 1915 for the marriage.
Nothing much for elsewhere either.
At the moment, my money is on Joan- really because nothing else shows up and she can't write. 
However, she may be nothing at all to do with your couple -she could be just a passer by.
Please let us know if you find out.

heywood

[parky96]

Will do, getting side tracked at the moment on my Mothers family, but will try to get back to this line shortly