How to pronounce ancestors names.

[JenB]

That's the posh way (ough) - locally Bruff

That’s what I meant 

[Gan Yam]

That's the posh way (ough) - locally Bruff

That’s what I meant 

There is Brough in the north east of the county of course and slightly west of it is Brougham, which you would just expect to add "am" to the pronunciation, but no it becomes Broom! 

[Top-of-the-hill]

   When I was looking up a friend's Kent ancestry in 1911, the old grandfather was born in "Almsted". It is really Elmsted, but reading that spelling, I could almost hear him saying it.
    There are quite a lot of pitfalls for the unwary in Kentish place names, as I suppose there are everywhere - the pronunciation has changed, but not the spelling.

[clayton bradley]

I have a simple request. Do I pronounce Jennet with the stress on the first syllable or the second? It's the name of many 16th century ancestors.

[andrewalston]

I have a simple request. Do I pronounce Jennet with the stress on the first syllable or the second? It's the name of many 16th century ancestors.

I'd run with stress on the first syllable.

It morphed over the years into Jane, which has the stress early on.

It was common in the registers round my way until the turn of the 20th century.

[Mart 'n' Al]

Have you considered that it might need a French pronunciation, with a silent 't', as Jen-A?

Martin

[Mike in Cumbria]

Place-names are difficult too.

How would you pronounce Ulgham?

or Slaithwaite or Torpenhow?  (Neither as you might think!)

Trpenha - this makes me think us Cumbrians have problems with the placement of the letter "r" in placenames as the pronunciation bears no relation to it spelling - thinking about Burgh, Longburgh, Drumburgh and Thurstonfield!

Or Melmerby   (pronounced Melermby.)

[JenB]

Or Melmerby   (pronounced Melermby.)

Oh no, I’ve been getting it wrong all these years!

[Mike in Cumbria]

Or Melmerby   (pronounced Melermby.)

Oh no, I’ve been getting it wrong all these years!

You've been marked out as an outsider!