WHAT'S IN A NAME?

 

My sister's been creating a family tree for some years and has carefully curated history over many generations from Scotland, Ireland, France, Canada, Australia and England. She just returned from overseas where she spent some time in Norfolk, having chased down information on the Franklins, a part of our family on my father's side.

Norfolk has a rich history with the population descending from the Iceni tribes (Boudica lived there) and intermingling with Romans, Picts, Saxons and the ubiquitous marauding Vikings.

"You've got to pick a pocket or two"

My sister's research centered on a relative - Horace 'Money' Franklin who was a direct ancestor of the maternal side of my father's family. His name intrigues me and I've often wondered where the 'money' nickname came from. Research shows that the family were landowners and likely well off before, for unknown reasons packing up and heading for Australia in the mid 1800s but I've always had an image in my mind of a Fagin-like character and imagined old Charles Dickens borrowing his name and image for Oliver Twist.

I was thinking of this last night due to this character in the Harry Enfield clip I put in the previous post: LOOKS FAMILIAR

I've never been to Norfolk but the place-names are familiar to me from film and literature and, coincidently I'm reading Bill Bryson at present. He lives in Wymondham, Norfolk and often writes about his local area.

The archives my sister looked through as well as the tombstones in the cemetery local to where they lived showed the odd Christian names that have endured in our family - Ruby and Lorinda for example. No Horaces though. I suggested to my sister that her daughter's firstborn (sex as yet unconfirmed) if a boy could be named 'Horace'. I might as well have suggested 'Money' for the look that she gave me.