Was Cromwell a bit of a snob?
QUESTION Should Oliver Cromwell have been called Oliver Williams?
Historically, it was not unusual for a man to take his wife’s surname if she was considered to be of higher social status. this was the case with oliver cromwell’s family, who liked to highlight their links by marriage to Henry Viii’s once great favourite, thomas cromwell.
oliver cromwell’s great-great-grandfather, Morgan Williams, was a Welshborn brewer living in Putney, south-West london, who married Katherine cromwell in 1497. He used the Welsh naming structure — Morgan ap William, the son of a man named William — and also the surname Williams.
Katherine was the elder of two sisters of thomas cromwell, Henry Viii’s chief minister, who was promoted to the earldom of Essex, but executed in 1540 when he fell out of favour.
Morgan and Katherine had three sons, two richards and Walter, each of whom began using the name cromwell in honour of their famous maternal uncle. From that time, the family often used the name ‘Williams, alias cromwell’.
oliver’s great-grandfather sir richard Williams, alias cromwell, was taken under the wing of thomas cromwell and became a courtier to Henry Viii.
He profited from the Dissolution of the Monasteries in which he took an active part, particularly in Huntingdonshire.
in 1541, he was appointed High sheriff of cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. a year later, he became MP for Huntingdonshire.
in 1518, sir richard married Frances, daughter of sir thomas Murfyn, who was that year lord Mayor of london.
His heir, sir Henry Williams, alias cromwell, was a knight of the shire. His children gave up using the patronymic Williams. thus oliver cromwell’s father robert and his uncle sir oliver tended to be known as cromwell. But it did not disappear.
oliver cromwell, future lord Protector of the commonwealth of England, scotland and ireland, was born in Huntingdon on april 25, 1599. When he married, he is recorded as oliver cromwell, alias Williams.
Mark Jackson, Ipswich, Suffolk.
QUESTION What was the secret to the longevity of HMS Hermes?
The last of the centaur class carriers, the ship was laid down as HMs Elephant in 1944, but, due to post-war restrictions, was not launched until 1953 as Hermes.
Major modifications, including a side-lift, angled deck, steam catapult, mirror landing sights and a huge 3D radar, delayed commissioning until November 1959.
the ship went through two further role changes — first to commando carrier in 1973 and then, in 1980, a ski jump was added for sea Harrier aircraft.
the refits contributed to her longevity, allowing a further 30 years’ service with the indian Navy as ins Viraat after she was sold in 1984. But i believe there was something else that helped to keep the ship running for so long: she was always known as the Happy H.
i was privileged to serve on Hermes during the first commission in 1959-61 and later for a few months in 1973, and can verify that nickname was well deserved. When serving in a happy ship, the crew takes pride and extra care in its appearance, and this seems to rub off on the ship. this was especially the case during the Falklands war.
Hermes was a great ship that served her country well. Ransford T. Rogers, CPO (rtd) RN,
Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan.
QUESTION Is Dull in Perth & Kinross twinned with Boring in Oregon? Are there any other amusing town twinnings?
Dull in Perthshire and Boring in oregon were twinned in 2012. However, neither name has anything to do with being uninteresting or nondescript.
the village of Dull is so-named from a Gaelic word meaning meadow, but has also been connected to dul, meaning snare or trap.
it dates back at least to the 7th century when adomnan, abbot of iona, established a monastery there. relics of Pictish habitation from the Bronze age have been found in the area.
Boring in oregon is named after William Harrison Boring, who settled there with his family in 1874, after the american civil War. William Aitchison,
Truro, Cornwall. Owing to Dull’s tiny size, the towns haven’t met official twin requirements, so the town’s signpost has ‘paired’ with Boring. their connection is rooted in the humorous, which promotes tourism.
in 2017, the pair teamed up with Bland shire in New south Wales, australia.
Peter Smith, Durham. in 2002, Wincanton in somerset was twinned with the fictional city of ankhMorpork from terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. the government initially banned Wincanton from putting the mythical link on road signs. this was overturned and a sign prominently displaying the twinning was put up.
in 2009, Walt Disney World was twinned with swindon. Disney had sponsored a contest to find the British city that would best complement its magical kingdom and swindon was the unlikely winner.
this was down to rebecca Warren, a 21- year- old customer consultant at Nationwide’s call centre in swindon. she made a video of her home town and wrote a poem that impressed Disney.
the Mail at the time wryly commented: ‘one is a magical place where dreams come true. the other is swindon.’
swindon has three other twins: saltzgitter in Germany; ocotal in Nicaragua; and torun in Poland.
Natalie Foulds, Tavistock, Devon.