ffewell!!!!

[Susie1]

Now I'm confused.  I took it to still be F but double FF. Going on the List, does anyone else think its S, like Clincher.  Either way it dosn't help, Because have people over the years assumed it was F and it's carried on as F, or did people assume it was S and that would be the Sewell family. Or was the Sewell & Fewell all the same family and it has been passed down however people translated it.  The problem is these ff's I have found in Takeley are they our Fewells or not.
Propbably won't get your answer till I get back now.
But it will be interesting to find out if anybody knows.
Sue

[Clincher]

When I first started my family history I was misled for some time by the old way of writing some letters. It was nothing to do with the name Fewell (or any variant of that name) but there was confusion between what looked like an f and, I eventually discovered, was intended to be a double s  was one of the main areas. As long as people are aware of the way words were written in the past they won't be misled and people can make up their own mind how names should be spelt.

[Reggie]

Now I'm confused.  I took it to still be F but double FF. Going on the List, does anyone else think its S, like Clincher.  Either way it dosn't help, Because have people over the years assumed it was F and it's carried on as F, or did people assume it was S and that would be the Sewell family. Or was the Sewell & Fewell all the same family and it has been passed down however people translated it.  The problem is these ff's I have found in Takeley are they our Fewells or not.
Propbably won't get your answer till I get back now.
But it will be interesting to find out if anybody knows.
Sue

Sue
I have attached a couple of clippings out of a will that has some "ss" for your consideration.  When you get into wills you will certainly see the way the spelling was in those years.  This will was in made in 1780's.

The words in the attachments with "ss" are: Blessed and Successors
There is also a word with "ff": Freehold. but I can only have 2 attachments in this post.  I will post another with the word Freehold.

Hope this helps.

Reg

[Reggie]

Now I'm confused.  I took it to still be F but double FF. Going on the List, does anyone else think its S, like Clincher.  Either way it dosn't help, Because have people over the years assumed it was F and it's carried on as F, or did people assume it was S and that would be the Sewell family. Or was the Sewell & Fewell all the same family and it has been passed down however people translated it.  The problem is these ff's I have found in Takeley are they our Fewells or not.
Propbably won't get your answer till I get back now.
But it will be interesting to find out if anybody knows.
Sue

Sue

Here is the word Freehold

Reg

[findem]

Hi Susie,
Reggie has given two very good examples which has put the problem into perspective.  I first came across the fs with a Harriss ancestor, Harriss was spelt Harrifs.  I think we can safely assume that ff is F and that an f is not an f when it is fs.  It's good that you brought the problem to our attention, there are several ancestors I am chasing in the 1600s so I needed to be aware of the ff.  I already have quite a few ancestors in the 1600s but fortunately none of the surnames started with an F.

I recorded my Harrifs as Harriss in both my computer database (Brother's Keeper) and on a hard copy Family Group Sheet.  If I have to record a ffewell I will record it as Fewell and add notes as in my Harriss.  I believe it will cause less confusion that way, especially if as I hope, my grandchildren will hand down copies (hard or computer) to their kids.  When all is said and done though personal choice will be the prerequisite.  I suppose that in a family tree chart where say a ffewell is shown to be an ancestor of a Fewell, it really doesn't matter too much which way the name is written.

[Susie1]

Hi all
I'm back.  While away I went into the institute of Heraldic and Genealogical studies in Canterbury (Can't stop me, even when I'm away) and picked up an alphabet chart and there is a difference between the old writing for a Capital F and the old writing for S.  I also spoke to some people while I was there and the ff in the Takeley Parish records is F not S.  So as far as I am concerned they are Fewell's.  Especially as ffrances, ffrancis, ffebruary and ffewell are all with the same ff.
We also on route to Kent, went via Canfield and stayed at the old Rectory, overnight on friday and on Saturday morning went to Little Canfield graveyard and could not find a single Fewell grave.
I am not saying that there wasn't any, but there was none in all those that were readable.  There was a lot that I couldn't read and a lot that had lost their headstone.  I also went to Great Canfield, but couldn't find a church or Churchyard there, then went into Takeley parish churchyard and couldn't find any Fewell's there either.
Sue

[findem]

Hi Susie,
Great job, although I was confident that ff was an F, it's always reassuring to have a definitive answer from experts in the field.
I've found searching graveyards for ancestors pretty much a waste of time, it seems only the recent ancestors headstones remain.  I suspect affluence plays a big part, I wonder how many Ag Labourers could even afford a headstone, those ancestors who had a trade might have afforded a headstone but perhaps not always of the quality to remain readable over a century or two.