B is for....

B is for….

Following is my next foray into the Gould “Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge”

B? Oh bother, I don’t have any ancestors whose name springs to mind starting with B! There are my first cousins Brian and Barbara, but I best not discuss them as they are both alive and kicking! (Hi guys) Maybe I should just skip B?

There are a couple of Bessie’s and Bertha’s, but too distant and not particularly interesting. So I checked my maternal database instead of my paternal one – yes, I keep them separate, and low and behold who could resist:- Bartholomew Burrows from Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire – I do love a good alliteration!

So B is for Bartholomew

Bartholomew Burrows is the name of my 6x Great Grandfather. There’s not a lot I can tell you about Bartholomew, who lived between 1732-1805, but I am now in the process of writing to a local genealogist at the Eaton Bray Family History Page, who is willing to check parish records and eventually I will be able to flesh Bartholomew and the other 10 family members from this village, out somewhat. He does come from a reliable source though; my cousin J is most particular in sourcing her (our) ancestors.

Just like Agnes, Bartholomew is no longer in the top anything to do with names in this day and age, despite the popularity of (or because of) “The Simpsons” and their favourite son, Bart.

The origins of Bartholomew lie in both Hebrew and English, but are essentially the same.

In Hebrew, Bartholomew means: Son of Talmai (Talmai is a variant of Tolmai, meaning abounding in furrows.) Famous bearer: St Bartholomew was an apostle of Jesus Christ.

In English, Bartholomew means: Son of a farmer. Used as both a surname and given name.

Burrows means: This interesting surname is of topographical origin for a "dweller by the hill", deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "beorg" or the Old High German "berg" meaning a hill or mountain. However, it is also suggested that the surname derives from the Old English "burh" or Old High German "burg" meaning a fort. In the Middle Ages any sizeable habitation had to be fortified, so the surname may refer to "one who lived by the fort". The surname is first recorded in the mid15th Century. In the modern idiom the surname has many spelling variations, including Burroughes, Burrows, Burrus, Burris, Burriss and Borrows. 

Eaton Bray, is a very pretty village and civil parish in the English county of Bedfordshire. It is part of a semi-rural area which crosses into the parish of Edlesborough in Buckinghamshire.

The village name Eaton is a common one in England, coming from the old English eitone, meaning "farm by a river". It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Eitone. The suffix Bray refers to Sir Reginald Bray (d. 1503) and the family that once owned the manor or castle in this village.

Aerial view of Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire

So from this we can imagine that Bartholomew was a farmer, whose ancestors lived near either near a hill or a fort. 

Sources:

Meaning of names

The Internet Surname Database

Wikipedia