I don't usually get hung up on the spelling of names before the 20th century, but I've never before seen the spelling "Protasia" or the middle name "Mulled." Pretitia's name has been spelled many ways in various records and sources, but "Protasia" is not one of them, which is the current spelling on her Geni profile. She also didn't have a middle name, such as "Mulled." It was very rare for English people prior to the 19th century to have middle names. There's no known birth or baptism record for her, so the will of her father, Richard Tydings, is the earliest known record, and her name is spelled "Pretitia" there. A document that she signed with her mark, a deed by her sister, Mary Dowell, spelled her name "Pretiotia." Her husband, Dutton, named her "Pretiosia" as his executrix in his will. Other spellings include Presoecie and Pretiotia (see below), but nothing like "Protasia".
Evidence of other spellings includes:
1. On 8 Aug. 1717 Presoecie (x) Lain witnessed the sale of a tract from John Boreing (no wife signed) to Jonathan Tipton. [Baltimore Co., MD Land Records TR#A:417-419] That no wife signed, she was apparently deceased. That "Presoecie" signed rather than her husband Dutton was because he was probably deceased, and a marriage was intended between John Boreing and Presoecie (Tydings) Lane.
2. On 22 January 1718, John Boreing and wife Pretiotia sold a tract of land to Thomas Ford. [Baltimore Co., MD Land Records TR#RA:524-528]
3. Dutton Lane, Jr., son of Pretiotia married Dinah daughter of John Boreing. John Boreing for love and affection for his "son-in-law" gave him a tract of land on 20 January 1741 [Baltimore Co., MD Land Records TB#A:166]
So what's the evidence that supports the conclusion that "Protasia Mulled" are the best names? In the absence of evidence, I think her birth name should be changed to "Pretitia," the spelling in her father's will, with "Pretiotia, Pretiosia, Presoecie" given as AKAs.
== Sources ==
* Prerogative Court, Wills of Maryland, Liber 6, folio 40-41, Will of Richard Tiding, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C914-J9H4-Y?i=607&....
* ''Maryland, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777'' (digital images, Ancestry, accessed 29 Mar 2024), liber 18, folio 530, image 528, will of Dutton Lane naming wife Pretiosia Lane as executrix. http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagser/s500/s538/000000/00002....
* Maryland State Archives (digital images, MDLANDREC, https://mdlandrec.net), Provincial Court Land Records, 1709-1719, Vol. 720, p. 74, Mary Dowell deed witness by Pretiotia Lane and Dutton Lane, 14 Sep 1711.
