Elias or Edward?

[Jean999]

My great grandfather was called Edward Tunnicliffe, a farmer living in Denstone, Staffordshire.

I have been puzzled to find references to Elias Tunnicliffe in 1872 and 1876 trade directories.

There are no corresponding birth, marriage, death or census records for anyone called Elias Tunnicliffe, so can only conclude that my great grandfather, Edward, was using Elias as a pseudonym.

Has anyone else found an ancestor using a pseudonym for trade purposes? Any suggestions why he should do this?

 

[Tim]

Are you sure they are the same person? Could they have been a brother, uncle or cousin?

 

[trebor]

My maternal line is from Staffordshire and in my research I have regularly come across the name Tunnicliffe - it appears quite common in the area - also in Cheshire.
A variation of Elias is Elijah could the record be in this or another form?

 

[Jean999]

I am 99.9% certain that Edward was using Elias as a pseudonym. If Elias was another individual, I would have expected to find both Edward and Elias in the trade records for Denstone.

 

[peter]

Elias is a Biblical name.

It was not unusual for non-conformists to take a Biblical name - my 3G grandfather was baptised as John, and appears as John on the 1841 Census, but in 1851 and 1861 he is recorded as Ebenezer, and this is the name on his death certificate.

I had great difficulty convincing myself that they were one and the same!

 

[pjd]

I have a reverse situation:
Born Amos Pullan 1840, Amos in 1841, 1851, 1861 but known as John in 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901
Died as Amos again in 1910
Seems he left home & used the name John but was still officially Amos