Genealogy Chat

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For months i've been trying to find why my g g/m and her sibs had an unusual middle name without success.It's not a maiden name for the mother etc but today i found this. Grt g/m called Martha Thorbon Elmer,her parents George Elmer and Martha Hrrison her g/f John Harrison but in the '41 John Harrison has a mariner in the house called Willm Thorbon! Coa someone check the following image please,i don't believe my eyes. Civil parish: Heacham Hundred: Smithdon Source information: HO107/782/8 Registration district: Docking Sub-registration district: Snettisham ED, institution, or vessel: 2 Folio: 5 Page: 5 Thanks Glen

hiya Glen, dont wanna rain on your parade but it looks like Horbon to me, if you look at first letter, it matches with the H of Harrison, but it Could be a T, was trying to see if there were any others on the page but i cant see any, sure looks good though. perhaps it was his best mate or something, which is why the name is in family??? Julie

Glen Yes, it definitely does say that. Do you happen to know whether Rebecca's maiden name was Thorbon...just wondering if perhaps William was her younger brother and therefore the naming of Martha and siblings with Thorbon as middle name could well be that they were named after their grandmother's maiden name...as some families did use this type of naming pattern. You would need to find the marriage of John Harrison to Rebecca to confirm this. Other than that, perhaps he was just an extremely good friend of the family who may have helped them out in some way and they wanted to show some kind of respect by using his surname in their offspring (esp if he did not have kids of his own).

Definitely Thorbon Glen If you enter just Thorbon in a general ancestry, all years search you get a group of them living in Guernsey - I guess youve seen them. There are close variations of the name which show up for Ireland and Scotland.

Hiya Glen, just checked previous page and found a Thomas, so compared it with The query, and it looks the same, so Id say yep it is Thorbon. but H does look VERY similar, Julie

Hi Glen, Definitely looks like Thorborn to me. (First thought it might be an H instead of a Th, but there's an extra little bump before the o that's not in the other H's, if that makes any sense?, so definitely looks like Th.) I have several of these unusual middle names in one line of my family: Overton - named after sister's husband Armstrong - named after the mother's stepfather Danforth - named after family that took the father in when he went to live in America Rowson - named after close family friends.

Hi folks,thanks for looking 1851 marriage cert for Marthas parents show bride as Elizabeth Martha Harrison,the marriage was just before the census. Elizabeths father quoted as John Harrison,an innkeeper. 1851 census although married Elizabeth is with her mum,at the 'Flowerpot Public House,hubby is with his parents. Robert Barrett abt 1824 Beeston, Norfolk, England Lodger Great Dunham Norfolk >>>> Elizabeth Elmer abt 1827 Heacham, Norfolk, England Daughter Great Dunham Norfolk Rebecca Harrison abt 1783 Lynn, Norfolk, England Head Great Dunham Norfolk John Hibbard abt 1778 East Lexham, Norfolk, England Lodger Great Dunham Norfolk Robertson abt 1830 Great Dunham, Norfolk, England Servant Great Dunham Norfolk Glen

The 61 just to show where my thoughts come from (although the kids aren't recorded with the middle name,the bmd refs do show them) Elizabeth Elmer abt 1827 Heacham, Norfolk, England Wife North Elmham Norfolk Elizabeth Elmer abt 1853 Dunham, Norfolk, England Daughter North Elmham Norfolk George Elmer abt 1825 Elmham, Norfolk, England Head North Elmham Norfolk George Elmer abt 1858 Billingford, Norfolk, England Son North Elmham Norfolk Martha Elmer abt 1855 Billingford, Norfolk, England Daughter North Elmham Norfolk Thorbon Elmer abt 1851 Dunham, Norfolk, England Son North Elmham Norfolk William Elmer abt 1860 Worthing, Norfolk, England Son North Elmham Norfolk Glen

No Wilsons in the family are there? The group in Guernsey (master mariner) have a visitor from England with surname Wilson?

In my North Norfolk family, Lee Jarvis and Stirges C Jarvis were brothers named after their aunts' husbands (who were possibly god-fathers) If Mr Thorbon was a merchant seaman, his records should be at Kew...

I don't know if it does really prove anything,BUT it does seem a huge coincedence. In the 41 Elizabeth Martha is in another pub!!This time in Cromer. Just seems the Thorbon name and the pubs were part of her life in general somehow. Glen

Or put another way Glen, drinking and sailors!

Oh Pheonix haven't we seen a maritime connection elsewhere with my tree!! As well as my coastguard George,his son Joseph became a master mariner,but i never troubled you with him. This seems to be getting a bit more maritime as we go.LOL. Shame i can't find Elizabeth Martha Harrison c1828,Heacham on the IGI.The 61 census was her last appearance,she died in 1863. Strangely the surnames in the other households from the 41 with William Thorbon all look familiar for marriages with the Elmer family. I feel a busy day or two coming up. Glen

Glen, probably nowt, but just struck me, I think the Thorbon in Guernsey was a Martha?

BTW, failing to find Turbon Elmer (and your website) on Google I tried different search engines. Altavista threw up this: thurbon/thorbon/elmer/chambers Author: louise munro Date: 23 Jan 2006 6:13 AM GMT Post Reply | Mark Unread Report Abuse Print Message looking for a connection martha thorbon / thurbon elmer from lincolnshire england It's on an Ancestry board, so you may have already contacted her.

That's interesting. It's my ex partners daughter.Wonder why she posted that,i haven't heard from her for months. Glen

Just another bit of Forrest Gump thought processing here - my (gorgeous - sigh) GP is called Thorman and is from Scotland. I would have thought the Thor bit must be originally scandanavian.

Morning all Just had a peep at the 1871 and 1881, William Thorbon abt 1799,widow and retired master mariner,born Guernsey,living in Guernsey with two unmarried sisters on the above census. Looks a strongish match for the 1841 William Thorbon abt 1801 born Foreign Parts,mariner. Now if i could just work out the marriage of John Harrison to Rebecca unknown i might get somewhere.Wonder if Rebecca unknown and William Thorbon are related. Glen

ER,. erm, I did give you the lot in Guernsey yesterday - were you too busy forming the TWATS to notice my efforts!