Genealogy Chat

William Sowan gives birthplace circa 1836 as Hexham, Whitley Mills, Newcastle etc

I cannot find William before 1871, when he is living south of the Thames. Sowan is a vanishingly rare name. Certificates are yet to get, but if he couldn’t spell, might his real name be Swan, mangled by mere southerners to Sowan? Or anything else? Can anyone spot him before he makes the long journey south? He is a labourer on every census I’ve found him on. Any advice gratefully accepted.

So we are missing him from the 41 to the 61 then?And the surname is really Sowan? Glen

who is he living with in 1871 did he marry in the name of Sowan and did that name go on?

From 1871, when I find him in Plumstead, William's surname is Sowan. It is spelt like that for his marriage, the birth of his children and every subsequent census, his death and for all his children. But I can't find him when he is still in Northumberland, which makes me wonder if he adopted the name or accepted a misspelling.

Me wonders if he was possibly North of the border,Hexham being pretty close to Scotland. As you have probably seen,ranked search throws up Simm and Sim as well as variations on Sowan. Glen

Although he never seems to provide the same birthplace twice, my gut feeling is that he was born in Whitley Mills - a vanishingly small place three or four miles south of Hexham. Said Hexham for those who had never heard of Whitley Mills, and Newcastle for those who'd never heard of Hexham either.

It looks like Sowan is a mis-spelling of Scarlet Pimpernel(l). Hmmmmmmm will throw a few odd names at this one. Glen

Thing that struck me Brenda, were the number of McSowans from Ireland. The other little group seemed to be in Cornwall. Then there were a number of recent Sowans from Asia! Possibly a military connection there, eh? Swain could be a possible, couldnt it?

I just did a no name Birthplace Whitley and then Hexham search of the 51,and nowt really near the name for the area.Simms,Sim and Stain(es). Keep looking at William Simm abt 1838 Hexham with father as Woodsman with 5 acres. How about Swinn? Glen

Hi Heather The logical way for a Geordie to make his way south is by boat, so the wretched man may have been awol for a census (or two!) I know it's not my family, but as I can't get to the FRC before it starts heaving with 1841 users, I'm tempted to get that marriage certificate of 1878, to see if he does have a father.

Hi Other Geordie spellings!! Soan Soun Soen Soens Steve

Thanks for those suggestions, Steve. Sorry for being slow in getting back. Work really gets in the way of research, doesn't it! I found a William Love and was tracking him, but as the surname seems to be the same on several censuses, it probably isn't a mistrancription. Scarlet Pimpernel sounds just about right. Grrr. Thank you for your ideas, folks.

Brenda, just on way out (well, to shops that is). You dont think he could have been a Mc and dropped it do you? Also, good thought about the S and L!

well it's got me stumped. I don't know what else to try at the moment. Glen

As an elderly resident of the NEast I've been trying for 20/25 minutes to dredge, from the back of my mind,some possible dialect, mispronunciation & poor transcriptions that could produce 'SOWAN' as a surname. Your choice of SWAN seems the best bet. In dialect terms 'Swan' would have been phonetically said as 'SerWan' or 'Ssswan' a dialect pronunciation which is still in use today. Which in turn when said by those using a southern dialect could quite easily be mistranscribed as 'SOWAN'