It makes me mad!

[Keith59]

Hello,
This is my first Topic Here!!
But can any one tell me why Everyone Keeps Referring to my family name form Ockham & Wisley in Surrey as "WOOLGAR"?
When in fact it is "WOOLGER", that's the name on the Grave stone in the Cemetery at Ockham and Wisley,
Yet some people still put them down as Woolgar, I just wished there would get it Right. It was the Woolger's that came from Surrey, The Woolgar's came from Sussex,
Thanks for letting me get that of my chest.
Keith

[PrueM]

Hi Keith

Who's "everyone"?

It could simply be a case of them recording the name as they have seen it.  Spellings were not standardised until well into the 19th or even 20th century, as more people became literate, so a name might be spelled many different ways in the course of your research.

My family name (which we spell McKAY) has been recorded as MCKAY/MACKAY/MACKIE/MCKEE/M'KEE and so on.

Cheers
Prue

[Keith59]

Hi Prue.

I do know what you mean,
But it was posted at  people who can see from the Grave stones that it was spelt Woolger but they still  put it down as Woolgar, You can't put it down as one name, when it states the other, or things haven't changed that much from the 1700s,
Like your self and your name, I just wish they would get the spelling right,

Keith

[Jeuel]

Keith

I'm not sure what you mean.  If people are citing the gravestone reference then of course they should state what is on the gravestone.  But names DO change.  I've found lots of first names and surnames written differently by the same clergyman in the same parish over a number of years and nearly all the names in my tree are a different version from the one that first appears in the records I've found.

In any case I don't think its worth getting mad over.  Life is too short!

[Redroger]

Keith, I've found 13 variants of the fairly rare surname Luffman; in his own will Shakespeare spelled his own surname at least 3 different ways. Go back far enough and the Woolgars and Woolgers are probably the same family anyway. I once knew two brothers one spelled his surname Jessup, the other Jessop, both swore the other was wrong. Relax, you will not be able to change things, and spell the name the way you want.