Bernhardt-Klingnar-Robb Valentine b. 1881 Rossie Island, Craig.

[Liviani]

Hello everyone. I have query about the name used for someone in my tree Bernhardt-Klingnar-Robb Valentine. It's clearly not your typical Scots name used in 1881. I've always been intrigued by this name. I've not found anything significant on Google, other than modern people with similar names (and they are usually German).

This is probably a long shot, but does anyone have any idea where a name like this would come from in Rossie Island in 1881? I haven't found anything on Scotland's People other than the gentlemen named above.

Here's some background to the family -

Bernhardt K R Valentine was born in September 1881, Rossie Island, Craig to parents; Joseph Valentine and Mary Hillock. Joseph and Mary married in Kirkcaldy in 1874. Mary was born in Kirkcaldy. Joseph was born Marykirk, Kincardineshire and further back they are from Kincardineshire generally. No obvious conections to Germany or other countries in mainland Europe. Mary's parents were Andrew Hillock born Abbotshall, Fife and Barbara Walker born Haddington.

Joseph and Mary have other children who all have typical names for this time period -

James b. 1875 Dundee
Barbara b. 1876 Dundee
Joseph b. 1877 Wormit
Andrew b. 1879 Arbroath
Agnes Wylie b. 1883 Burntisland
Mary Hillock b. 1885 Burntisland
Catherine Ann b. 1887 Burntisland

In the 1881 census Joseph, Mary and their first 4 children are living in Carnegie Street, Montrose, and Jospeh is a General Labourer. The family are in Kinghorn by the 1891 census.

In the 1901 census Bernhardt is the head of household of a bothy at Pitlochie in Strathmiglo, Fife.

Bernhardt marries Helen Wood Greenfield Riddle in 1907, St Giles, Edinburgh. Their children are named;

Elizabeth Greenhill Riddle Valentine
Mary Hillock Valentine
Joseph Valentine

No repetition of the name Bernhardt here.

I'd also like to add that there was an RCE regarding the spelling of the name on Bernhardt's birth entry. The spelling was altered from Bernhardt-Kingner-Robb Valentine to Bernhardt-Klingnar-Robb Valentine. So the spelling must've been important to the family. This was corrected less than a month after the birth of Bernhardt.

Any insights appreciated. Thank you!

[Kay99]

I wonder if this baptism might be in some way related??


Name    James Bernhard Klingner Robb
Gender    Male
Birth Date    23 Jun 1856
Birth Place    Towie,Aberdeen,Scotland
Father    Alexander Robb
Mother    Helen Reid

[Kay99]

In 1881 James above was a medical student in Aberdeen - Might he have delivered the Valentine's son

[Kay99]

James B K Robbs father was also a doctor so maybe James was named after this physician??  He was born 1810 in Dresden, Germany , married in 19 Jan 1845 Portsoy, Banffshire and later emigrated to Canada

[Liviani]

Hi Kay99

Wow, thank you so much for finding all of this info! My search skills have been subpar as I wasn’t getting the results on SP.

Without going into detail, I did notice last night that these first names possibly exist in a person today.

Your research does indicate where the names stemmed from, what a wonderful find.

I’ll do some more research into James B K Robb. Perhaps he was posted down in Montrose for a while. Wonderful to see where the name originated from too with Julius.

[Liviani]

In 1881 James above was a medical student in Aberdeen - Might he have delivered the Valentine's son

I think this is James B K Robb, in Montrose postal directory, at 145 High Street, just with his middle initials the wrong way round. I can’t seem to find a date for this directory, but he was practicing in Montrose.

[Kay99]

Great find re James Robb.

I always remember researching unusual christian names for a friend's great grandfather and it turned out he got them from the families neighbour

[Liviani]

Great find re James Robb.

I always remember researching unusual christian names for a friend's great grandfather and it turned out he got them from the families neighbour

I often wonder if the neighbours helped with a birth or pregnancy and so the child was given a name to honour them.

My great grandmother was illegitimate and had a middle name that I couldn’t place. I initially thought that it was the father’s surname, but after years of piecing through DNA matched and making up theoretical (and private) trees, that this probably wasn’t the case.

My ggm’s mother ended up giving birth miles away from her home - New Aberdour and she was from Banff and Macduff. The middle name used was McQueen. I discovered there was a family living there with that surname, Hugh and Margaret McQueen. I like to think that this family looked after her and helped.

[hanes teulu]

James graduated from Aberdeen University, Faculty of Medicine, April 1881

The Degree of M.B.
James Berhardt Klingner Robb, M.A., Portsoy