« Reply #17 on: Sunday 29 January 06 16:41 GMT (UK) »
I have wondered why there was the interchange- do you have any knowledge? I know that the first name Alexander is shortened to Sandy in Scotland but why this in Suffolk?
Just another mystery to add to the pile of unsolved!
It seems to happen more in some parts of the country than in others. I have come across the same family being Sanders/Saunders/Alexander or Saunderson in a few parishes although I had always assumed it was a cross between a local accent and an accident of spelling (after all some people are still not very good at it now we have standardized spellings!). It can make life difficult if the Saunders in one parish were prolific. Generally I take down all incidents from each parish of the possible spellings to see if any equate to the same people. You can see how it happens when a family removes to another area or even county where there is a difference in dialect. I hope you enjoy reading Lydia as much as I did.
Brian
Saunders Norfolk and Suffolk. Barkway and Barkaway - anywhere.
Mottershall anywhere
Ellis Clerkenwell/Camberwell
Saunders, Woodrow, Leggett, Potter Norfolk
Stacey, Booth, Pennington, Graham, Bennett, Hall, Mawson West Yorkshire
Cooper Cheshire/West Yorkshire
King, Sanger, Hiscock, Gray Wiltshire/Dorset/Hampshire
Barton, Ivett, Minns Cambridgeshire
Palfrey Suffolk
Cox, Crew, Burry Middlesex/Hertfordshire
Burrows Essex