Surname Saturday: Buckingham

The BUCKINGHAM surname appears first with my maternal great grandmother, Annie Marian nee BUCKINGHAM later EDGCOMBE.  I say it appears first, because I am working backwards from myself.  Oh, and by the way, Great-Grandma appears sometimes as Annie, sometimes as Marian, and sometimes as Mary (!) Although I think I can explain that last one, because all the Marians in our family are called 'Marie' for short, descending perhaps from my great great great aunt, who came from Ireland, where the name is often pronounced 'MAHree'...easy to see how the official from Dr Barnardo's wrote Marie down as Mary (just before her youngest brothers, Archie and Ernie, were sent off to Canada as orphans.  Well, it had to be better than the workhouse in Plymouth: imagine a workhouse in Prison Road!).

But then the provenance becomes more interesting - and departs from the Devon and Cornwall of this blog.  The 18th and 19th century BUCKINGHAMs came from Foleshill in Warwickshire, with some venturing as far as Coventry, Astley and Bedworth.  There is a hint of religion in there, too - John and Ann BUCKINGHAM named their children Adam, Eve, Habbakuk, John and James.  Perhaps I should just be content with Annie Marian.

All this could also be part of the 'Madness Monday' strand, where you write about research that has driven you mad!  Family legends: "he was a well-to-do coal merchant" translates into 'chimney sweep' in official records; ancestors being 'creative' about their age by knocking 10 years off when it suited them; ancestors changing their given names because they didn't like the ones they were given...