The speaker on Wednesday 16 April will be Major Shaw McCloghry who will ta on the History of Bloxham School. Major McCloghry was a master at Bloxha School and after he retired he became the school archivist and is now an author! on the school history.
In February Dr Cyril Dunsby, Phd, gave us a talk titled ‘How you got your name Surnames can be traced back to river names (Celtic and Pre Celtic), place names (Anglo- Saxon, Norse or Norman) and other surnames from the years 1200-14C Names were not written down but passed down by word of mouth so they were quite often modified as the years passed by. Some names were used as a reference to the type of job someone did e.g. Sutler (Shoe maker), Dyer, etc. They were al created to show the relationship between father and son e.g. Hudson (son of Hu etc, while others were Norse names for locations like Thorp (Farm) Both; (Valley). Anglo Saxon names like Ton, Ham, Ford, etc, were also used as was ” the place of ” like Oak (Sevenoaks), Lea (Atlea). Nicknames were also used ‘ were not as common as the others and could refer to the appearance, physiq temperament, or habits of the person. Wise, Snow (colour of hair). Bull and many more were adopted. Other later influences were the result of immigration and anglicising of names like the Jewish name Burkaviche became Burke. At the enc the meeting those who had previously supplied their surnames to Dr Dunsby w treated to an explanation of how and where they originated. It was an excel’ evening and we were very impressed by Dr Dunsby’s knowledge and wil making the subject so interesting and enjoyable.
Meetings start at 8pm (doors open at 7.30) in the Jubilee Hall, and end with co and friendly discussion. Visitors are very welcome (entry £2.50). 22nd June 2008 – Summer Outing to Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire – art treasu historic gardens, restaurant. Coach leaves the Elephant and Castle at 9.00am and arrives at Belvoir arc noon, after a coffee break at Melton Mowbray. The coach will leave at 4.30 returning to Bloxham about 6.30pm. The cost will be in the region of £16 if the coach is is full. For more details contact the secretary, Jill Puckering or visit website www.bluebellweb.co.uk/history.