William Gifford's origins

In another discussion on this topic Erica mentioned some useful warning signs that could help alert researchers to this sort of problem. I found it so valuable I'm going to repeat it here in the hopes that it might help someone else, too!

From Erica: "There were some great "warning signs" mentioned in this case we should always keep in mind:

1) middle names. I actually ran across the first documented use of a middle name in New England in VR of Narragansett, Rhode Island, with the editor's annotation of "a first.". He was a Quaker family lad by the way, and it was I think the 1680s.

2) there is a computer translation of what was meant to be "Mary or Sarah" into Mary Sarah. Which then got parsed by more computer programs into

First name: Mary
middle name: Sarah

Well - no. She's "either" Mary or Sarah (or "no record but based on family naming rhythms we make an educated guess that the 1st daughter was named after the father's mother Mary, and alternately, she's the 2nd daughter, so named for the mother's mother Sarah ..." etc.)

Which is why at the very least "chasing the citations" of a compiler is a great way to assess quality & learn what they based their decisions on ... Which eventually became the cryptic record of

Mary Sarah"

Here's another interesting link that discusses "Mysteries of William Gifford": http://www.pcez.com/~bigshoe/du/Elli/tupper.html

Btw, just want to tag in the relevant profiles:

William 'the Tailor' Gifford, of Sandwich
William Gifford
William Gifford

Jennifer is there any reason to wait? Seriously? The research done by the poster on the Gifford list seemed quite good. Please go with it, cite him of course, & prune away ...

Here's Paul Gifford's page

https://home.comcast.net/~pgifford11/

Hmm - looks like he's associated with our Allen's of Sandwich MA ....

K, if you say so! Just didn't want to step on toes. I'll dive into it tomorrow!

Erica Howton

Starting work on him now. Can you please add a Curator Note along the lines of "Do not confuse with other William Giffords in England and the Colonies in the same time period. The father of this William Gifford was NOT Philip Gifford of London; this William Gifford did not marry Patience Russell nor Elizabeth Grant." ? It would be frustrating if people start adding back the wrong relationships as I'm breaking them! Thanks.

Oh geez - another spurious pedigree in wide circulation (sigh). I'm going to make "unknown parents" also.

Just tagging in the project name where we discovered this tree

http://www.geni.com/projects/Chase-Lane-Rundlett-Huntoon-and-surrou...

Thanks, Erica. The unknown parents profiles are a good idea!

"Unknown" parents aren't foolproof, but they do help.

see also the Dutch-project we made for the 'problem' of unknown parents:
* http://www.geni.com/projects/naam-oudsten/6214

Am finishing William 'the Tailor' Gifford, of Sandwich now - need to add his children to the project til they've been cleaned up as they seem to have some merge-madness as well...

Private User: Since becoming an armchair genealogist, I had my doubts about middle names of people that lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, I do seem to remember stumbling upon one or two *supposedly well-sourced* 16th-century Brits that had middle names. If I remember any, I'll mention them here.

Perhaps they were nobility? At any rate, I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule. I know for a fact that the way my life works I no sooner "announce" a rule than someone will immediately come up with an exception! /grin

Not being an expert I have to rely on the expertise of others, though, and this one seems to be a pretty widely-accepted "rule"...

There are indeed rare instances of middle names in England after Henry VIII broke with Rome. (The old canon law prohibited multiple names.) Middle names start becoming increasingly common in the 16th and 17th centuries, but they were still very rare.

Always be skeptical when you see someone in England or America before about 1800 with a middle name. My experience is that the problem usually a result of merging two different wives or not being sure which of two men might have been the father.

Thanks, Justin, that helps clear up some of my confusion!

Okay, William Gifford, the Tailor (c.1615 - 1687) is as fixed as I can make him. I've straightened out his tree, annotated his children, and added them all to the Chase/Lane project.

Eyes, please, lots of eyes on William? I'd appreciate it if anyone who feels the urge gives him a going-over. Thanks in advance!

The d'Este family of Italy was already using multiple names by the mid-17th century, and James II's second marriage, to Mary of Modena (Maria Beatrice Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este) may have popularized the idea. (They named their son James Edward Francis.)

Yes, Maven. I said England and America. It's an important cultural difference. The Catholic ban on multiple names was swept away during the Counter-Reformation. One of the reasons England was slow to adopt the Continental fashion was precisely because it was Catholic and therefore suspicious. Same basic idea as calendar reform. You'll see Protestant countries following one practice and Catholic countries another.

We probably need to put Puritan names in a different category. Praise God Barebone is said to have been christened Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebone, but that doesn't mean he had multiple names ;)

Puritan names belong in a category all their own. :-D

One of my own family spurious pedigrees is the "fault" of a Puritan name.

Thanks-be-to-the-Lord Perkins was (unfortunately in this case) literate & signed a letter supporting her Concord minister is one of them "sprinkle versus immersion" baptism fights. I think she was on the side of - "it's dang cold here, can't we just sprinkle, like, symbolically?"

Unfortunately the "Perkins" got cut off in the copy technology used in the 1650s, and until fairly recently, she was noted in genealogies by the name

Thanks Lord

And of course all kinds of "Lords" associated - particularly The Lord so & so who married Dorothy Bird.

She named her daughter (who named her daughter etc etc)

Thankful

Now THAT'S a great story!!! Oh, my goodness, all those generations of well-meaning people earnestly copying the same mistake over and over - and then the muddled lords added in. Sheesh.

I doubt there's a more frustrating avocation - but the rewards are equally great!

Erica Howton: I think that I might be a descendant of hers. Can you please post a link to her profile?

Thankslord “Thanks” Shepard

Would love see more tree build outs. I tend to concentrate at the immigrant generations & have not yet connected all lines ...

I have a few waiting in the wings, but with over 275,000 people in my personal database to either add to or modify on Geni, it could be a while before I get to them...

Erica Howton: Thanks for the link! I didn't think that she was a daughter of Thomas Lord of Towcester by Dorothy Bird like I had seen in numerous places. I appear to be a 10th great grandson. The line of descent to me looks like this:

[Thankslord “Thanks” Shepard]

[Thankful Dill]

[Thankful Reade]

[Peter Read]

[Sarah Pierce / Cummings] / [Unknown Profile] (merge needed here)

[Abel Pierce]

[Harriet Robinson]

[Mary P. Willey]

[Calvin Lucien Willey]

[Lyla Caroline Warden]

[John Murdoch Warden]

[Jeanne Murdoch Rigali]

[John Albert Rigali] (me)

(Sorry to everyone for taking the thread off topic.)

Hmm we'll have to get that better hooked on Geni because you're currently showing something twisty

http://www.geni.com/path/John+Albert+Rigali+is+related+to+Thankslor...

(I love this stuff )