Where did the middle name 'Clipston(e) come from?

[Bob Spiers]

I think I’ve responded to more genealogical queries in the Forum, than I’ve posted, but am doing so now as one little query has never been satisfactorily answered. Here is the nub of my query.

(None of those named are living)

Bruce Clipstone Smith was born 11 Dec 1910 in Reg Dis Kettering, Sub Reg Rothwell (Northamptonshire) as per this ‘Short’ Birth Certificate.




He was born out of wedlock to a Sarah Smith (Sarah Jane Smith) a fact known and not disputed by the family. It is also backed up in a recent GRO search where there is a ‘- ‘against the maiden name of the mother.

Sarah later went on to marry Arthur Willmott in 1914. Bruce was brought up by Arthur & Sarah and before joining the Army changed his name by Deed Poll to Willmott.

(It was postulated that Sarah had married Bruce’s father and later had more two children within the marriage. All regarded as siblings, which as they had the same mother, they were)

But where did his middle name Clipston(e) originate? In the 1911 Census Bruce is recorded as just Bruce Clipston aged 3 months, living with his single mother and Smith grandparents. The Transcription records him as Bruce Clipstone – which aligns with the spelling on the Birth Certificate


Why was he not recorded as Bruce Clipston(e) Smith? Was it:


(a) the mother’s attempt to identify the father (a not uncommon practice) or

(b) a Smith family name (or possibly, but unlikely, from the Willmott side).

I carried out a quite thorough search in 2011 to try to resolve this niggling query and occasionally off and on since. I found Clipstone same name researchers who confirmed the surname was variously Clipson, Clipsom, Clipstone. I also found numerous Smith-‘Clipxxxx’ connections in the period and more or less the same Northamptonshire area. (None it must be said connected with Willmott). Nothing ever stood out as being the likely answer, but I might have missed something?

It may or may not be a ‘Brick Wall’ but it is a mystery of sorts. Bruce was always known as Bruce Willmott and knew he had been born out of wedlock to a Sarah Smith, and indeed spoke about the Deed Poll change of name. He never spoke about his middle name and, of course, no one bothered to ask him. Later the family did puzzle over it and as I began my research, so did I.

Any suggestion or pointers welcomed.

 

[PhilGee]

Probably not the answer, but I have a Harold Holte Fox, later known as Harold Holte Barnes, in my maternal tree where the "Holte" is a "family name" of the father (Thomas Barnes) who married Harold's mother a year after his birth. The subsequent children also had the name "Holte" preceding Barnes, as did Thomas' two sisters. A descendant of the family thinks "Holte" is from Thomas' paternal grandmother.

Phil

 

[jorghes]

It could suggest that the "Clipstone" is the surname of his father - wasn't that a practice to add the surname of the father to illegitimate children's names? The other idea I could suggest is, like Phil, it's a family surname from somewhere.

My illegitimate gg-grandfather's first/middle names were "John Thomas Jones" and his older, also illegitimate brother's names were "Samuel Leadbetter"; I simply presumed that they were names taken from the names of their fathers (there is no evidence of either surname elsewhere in their particular branch of the family tree). It's unlikely that their mother's eventual husband was their father, as both used their mother's maiden name for the rest of their lives (as far as I can make out for my gg-great uncle) - although my gg-grandfather gave his step-father's name on his marriage certificate as his father.

I also have a lot of examples of children having middle names that are family surnames, my Scottish g-grandfather was "Henry Forbes" which was the full name of his grandfather, and his sisters were similarly named after their grandmothers. I also have a slightly more odd example where I have an ancestor with the name "Richard Bunbury" (which was a family name that was then handed down) where "Bunbury" was the surname of his uncle (or possibly his great-uncle). One of my other gg-grandfather's was given the surname of his mother for a second name; which was a tradition in that particular family.

 

[Margery]

My husband's maternal grandfather had the given names of Elijah Leary. Interestingly, his mother's sister was married to Elijah LEARY. Hmmmmm....

 

[SuzanneD]

Are there any, or many, men surnamed Clipstone living nearby in the 1911 census? Should you find one living in the next street or lane, you might have a candidate for a father, especially if he is a married man.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Are there any, or many, men surnamed Clipstone living nearby in the 1911 census? Should you find one living in the next street or lane, you might have a candidate for a father, especially if he is a married man.

Now that's not a bad idea Suzanne although it has to be tempered somewhat by the fact I have already isolated over 30 candidates in the (main) Kettering locale by Clipston or a variant of an similar age +/-5 years (although the latter could be way out of course) by a birth search. But combing the immediate area from the 1911 Census might well be revealing, but will not of course 'prove' anything, but thanks for the tip.

By the way I have discovered new evidence to account for the delay in Sarah marrying Arthur 4 years after Bruce was born. He had been previously married and his wife died c1913, so this would leave him free to marry Sarah in 1914 and possibly supports that Arthur Willmott was the father. However the 'Clipston(e) factor still nags so I will now pursue the Census and see what occurs! I will of course report back.

 

[Tony]

Just to add to the intrigue, there's a village called Clipston about 10km west of Rothwell, Northants, as per Streetmap. There's another one near Nottingham, too. I would guess that these are more likely to be the origin of the surname than directly relevant to your query.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Just to add to the intrigue, there's a village called Clipston about 10km west of Rothwell, Northants, as per Streetmap. There's another one near Nottingham, too. I would guess that these are more likely to be the origin of the surname than directly relevant to your query.

Thanks Tony and I admit that fact was pointed out to me by a 'Clipston' same name researcher some years ago. I did have a dabble at the time looking into it but could find nothing to connect the place to the family, though cannot rule out your surmise that it may have accounted for the origin of the surname, or vice versa the place. (I have some historical backup to the latter with my own surname Spiers associated with both Spierston (& Little Spierston) in Scotland).

However, I do now have a favourite 'black sheep' based on work rather than neighborhood (though often the same thing). As many will know Northamptonshire - based around its main towns of Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Rushden - was (and still is to a degree) renown for its Boot & Shoe industries, employing many hundreds within the area, both men and women. A majority of the Smith's of the family in question worked in the 'boot and shoe' (as it was known) as did many of the Willmotts'. Both Sarah and Arthur were in the trade (so an intimate relationship not out of the question especially if they worked alongside or close). Arthur lived in Northampton with his first wife in 1911. Sarah as we know single, living with her parents and baby Bruce in Rushden.

I found in the 1911 Census a 'Clipstone' (who I will not name as it is purely a theoretical exercise) lodging with his wife in Rushden; not exactly the next street as Sarah, but close enough. He was 26 to Sarah's 31. He a Shoe Stitcher; Sarah a Boot Closer (someone who stitches the sole to the upper).

So it is entirely plausible to suggest that perhaps he and Sarah had an affair and Sarah became pregnant. As the 1911 Census reveals, Sarah likely under pressure from her parents identified her baby as Bruce Clipstone. Later when registering his birth it became his middle and he was given her maiden name of Smith. It all fits of course as does Sarah having the opportunity 3 years later to marry a widower named Arthur Willmott willing to take on her child. This expounds how the 'Clipstone' middle name could have come about but sadly will have to remain as pure conjecture for now, and perhaps all time. Meanwhile Arthur as the father remains on the books!

 

[Gillian]

Slightly off track: my father was posted to Clipstone Camp (Nottinghamshire) in June 1915. He had to march there from Epsom in Surrey, all of 155 miles. In a letter to his mother he wrote. On the way they suffered from both severe heat (Dad thought he got sunstroke!) and pouring rain. From Clipstone they went to Tidworth on Salisbury Plain, and from there, in November, to the trenches in France.

 

[Britjan]

Every so often I like to amuse myself with looking up surname alternatives and the free versions of the Canadian 1901 and 1911 census give quite a range as you can see when I enter Clipston as a surname.

 

[Bob Spiers]

Every so often I like to amuse myself with looking up surname alternatives and the free versions of the Canadian 1901 and 1911 census give quite a range as you can see when I enter Clipston as a surname.

How fascinating, and explains how 'soundex' searches play havoc with the surname you set out to discover. In my own Tree I had fun and games searching Cunnington and Fennellow using just 'wild cards', never mind introducing a 'soundex' search. Wild card searches for Clipston produced 5 variations and that was bad enough.