Our
family has what many consider an unusually-spelled surname. We don’t think so,
of course; we think Shepheard spelled our way is quite normal. Over the
centuries clerks and vicars in Devon, England, where our family originated, recorded
members of the family under a great variety of spellings. Even today, many
people and organizations persist in spelling our name differently. Overall,
though, we have resisted the temptation to conform to what these erudite
persons believed our name should be.
As
far back as 1633 our name has been spelled with the double vowel. I suspect
that it goes even further back but I have not yet found documents any older. In
that year the name of my 7th great-granduncle, John Shepheard, was
entered into the baptism register of Cornwood parish, Devon. The baptism of his
brother, William, was also recorded as Shepheard in 1638. William turned out to
be a bit of a black sheep in the Shepheard family (no pun intended) when he
tried to have a forged will of another brother, Sampson, put through probate in
1685 (see my blog
post of November 26, 2013). Interestingly, on all the court records of that
case the family name is shown as Shepheard as well – even the documents written
in Latin.
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Baptism entry in the Bishop’s Transcripts for
Cornwood parish, Devon: “John Sonne of Nicholas Shepheard was baptized ye 20th
of June”
(image courtesy of Plymouth and West Devon Record Office - PWDRO)
To
me, the important records in establishing the spelling of our surname are those
which contain actual signatures of family members or that can be relied on as
accurate facsimiles, such as marriage entries, wills and other legal documents.
One
case where several records exist with signatures concerns my 4th
great-grandparents, John and Jane Treby Shepheard. They were first cousins
(their fathers were brothers) so we have documents that show both of their
names as well as those of their parents. John Shepheard and Jane Treby Shepheard
were married in 1791. The entry in the church register has both of their
signatures as well as that for whom I believe was Jane Treby’s brother,
William. All are clearly spelled their names as Shepheard. In fact, Jane Treby
was quite emphatic when she signed her name, using very large letters.
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Entry in the marriage register of Cornwood parish,
Devon for John Shepheard and Jane Treby Shepheard; both bride and groom signed
the register
(image courtesy of PWDRO)
On
the marriage entry for Jane Treby’s parents, Nicholas Shepheard and Mary
Barratt, Nicholas’ surname was accurately recorded by the parish clerk as shown
by his signature. One of the witnesses to this marriage was Mary’s step-father,
Arthur Jefferys. Mary signed her name as Barratt but it should be noted that
there are other records where, again, those recording information about her
used different spellings, most commonly Barret – but that’s another story.
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Entry in the marriage register of Cornwood parish,
Devon for Nicholas Shepheard and Mary Barratt; both bride and groom signed the
register
(image courtesy of PWDRO)
Often
a clerk would write the surname the way he thought it was and the individual
would sign his name the way it should have been recorded, such as on the
marriage entry for John’s parents, Richard Shepheard and Mary Collins. The
clerk wrote “Richard Shepard” for the groom but he signed his name “Richard
Shepheard”.
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Entry in the marriage register of Cornwood parish,
Devon for Richard Shepheard and Mary Collins; both bride and groom signed the
register
(image courtesy of PWDRO)
Jane
Treby, herself, was not so fortunate in always having her last name recorded
properly. On her baptism she was identified as Jane Treby Shepard. In spite of
the fact that her father demonstrated his surname through his signature, all of
his children were recorded in the baptism register with different spellings:
Nicholas Shepard in 1761; William Shepherd in 1763 (his burial record in 1796
has the same spelling but a document related to his will shows his name as
Shepheard); Mary Shepherd in 1765 (her burial in 1766 was recorded as Mary Shepard);
Amey Shepard in 1767; Jane Treby Shepard in 1769; Sampson Shepherd in 1771
(both his burial record and his death certificate also show Shepherd but on his
marriage entry he signed his name as Samson Shepheard); Arthur Shepard in 1773
(the entry for his burial shows Shepherd); and Thomasine Shepard in 1775.
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Entry in baptism record of Cornwood parish, Devon: “August
11. Jane Treby dr of Mr. Nicholas & Mrs. Mary Shepard” (image courtesy of
PWDRO)
There
is a reference to Jane Treby on a document concerning a property in Westlake,
Ermington parish, Devon. Her name, along with that of her husband, John, and
sister, Thomasin, are spelled out as Shepheard but Jane Treby is indicated as
having made her mark. It begs the question of whether Jane Treby was completely
literate and that perhaps she had practiced her signature before signing the
marriage register in 1791.
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Part of a release document concerning a property in
Westlake, Ermington parish, Devon in which are named John Shepheard, Jane Treby
Shepheard and Thomasin Shepheard, all of whom received a payment of £20 from
Sampson Shepheard, brother of Jane Treby and Thomasin, upon his assuming
ownership of the property (image courtesy of PWDRO)
As
a general observation, where family members could read and write, they
invariably spelled their name Shepheard. Many individuals were not literate and
accepted whatever spelling the clerk or vicar used in the baptism or marriage
registers. There are many examples of quite different spellings used for the
same individual at different times of their lives.
All images reproduced here are used
with the kind permission of the Plymouth
and West Devon Record Office (PWDRO). Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four
parishes in Devon, England. He
has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a
past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly
journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides
genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
