According to the census my ancestor was born in Pembrokeshire, but I can’t find a record of his baptism. What should I do next?
QOur family surname is Russell. However, the earliest ancestor I can find is George, his surname recorded variously as Russant, Russel, Russell and Russan. George was married to Margarette, and in the censuses he gives his place of birth as Hubberston, Pembrokeshire. His year of birth varies from 1803 to 1806. They had 10 children – baptised Rossant, Russell and Russan. One of them, William (born 1837), joined the Royal Navy calling himself Russell. His line remained Russell until the present day. I cannot find a birth record for George. Can you help?
Sheila Mitchell
During an age when levels of literacy were low, variations in the spelling of surnames were commonplace and it should never be assumed that a different spelling necessarily means a different family. Remember too that accents played a part, and a surname might be spelt as it sounded to the listener.
According to the 1841 Hubberston census, both George and Margrette were born in Pembrokeshire, and they are both said to be 35. Since adult ages in the 1841 census are rounded down to the nearest five years, this suggests that they were born between mid
1801 and 1806. When George died in 1842, his death was registered at Haverfordwest as Russan. General Register Office
(GRO) death indexes can be searched on several websites; however, age at death is generally not shown prior to 1866. The exception is the GRO’s own website https:// www.gro.gov.uk, which records George’s age as 35. However, when George was buried at St Michael, Pembroke, on 28 June 1842 (as Rossant), his age was
Arecorded as 44, suggesting he could have been born as early as 1798.
Pembrokeshire baptisms are indexed on findmypast.co.uk and include a probable baptism for George: the son of John and Jane Rossant, baptised at St Michael, Pembroke, on 13 January 1799. Not only were all of John and Jane’s children baptised as Rossant, but when the couple married at St Mary’s, Pembroke, in 1796, John signed his name “Rossant”. The family can be traced back in St Mary’s registers to the early 18th century, where the surname consistently appears as Rossant or Rosant; this, then, was the original spelling of the surname.
Why, then, did William’s name become Russell? I was unable to find his Royal Navy service record, but William may well have supplied a copy of his baptism as proof of age when enlisting, which could provide the explanation for his change of name. In the baptism register William’s surname and that of some of his siblings is recorded as Russell, so William Rossant became William Russell. Katherine Cobb