My father's grandmother was named Elizabeth Bryce, or possible Brice. She was born in Ireland in 1828 , the daughter of George and Jane. In the 1841 census the name is spelled as Brice, but the family believes the name to be Bryce, as two of her grandsons had Bryce as their middle name. She lived in Durham, England in 1841. On the marriage lists she is listed as Elizabeth Price, but everything else negates that spelling, especially as Price is a Welsh name.
George (1801) and Jane (1806) , as well as sons James (1826) and George (1831) and Elizabeth were born in Ireland.
The rest of the children, Ann 1833), Robert (1836), William (1840), Alexander (1840), Daniel or David (1843), John (1846), and Richard 1847) , were all born in Durham, England.
George the father appears to have had something to do with paper in Ireland. In 1851 James was a labourer, George a blacksmith, Robert a forgeman, William a ropemaker. These are best guesses, the writing is rather illegible. The daughter Ann was a servant at that time with a couple named Lead.
I have no idea where in Ireland Elizabeth was born as the census only ever says Ireland, so any further information on this family would be very gratefully recieved.
Saturday 16th Mar 2013, 03:51PM
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Expect the spelling of the name to vary.
The idea of a correct spelling for a surname or a place name is very much a recent phenomenon and before that, especially in Ireland, there was no consistency. Names were spelled phonetically and each variation was down to the whim of the particular person (often an official) recording the information. With family names you will see the spelling change all the time as the records go back. This rarely indicates a particular deliberate decision to alter the spelling. Not everyone was literate, but even when they were, exact spelling simply wasn’t something they bothered about. In addition to varying the actual spelling, acquiring/dropping O’ or Mac prefixes was also very common.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Saturday 16th Mar 2013, 06:18PM -
Thank you, yes I find the same thing with other ancestors. The spelling wasn't really what I wanted to find, but a little more about these people in my family tree.
Thank you though, for replying.
hochiwich.
Sunday 24th Mar 2013, 05:09PM -
Brice/Bryce = Breslin/Bresland/Brisland/Briceland:
My Great Grandfather, Patrick Shovelin (1822-1864) was born in Ireland and died in Scotland where the death certificate listed his parents as Patrick Shovelin, farmer, and " Agnes Bryce (Breslin) " , Ardara, Co. Donegal. In Ireland Bryce was sometimes synonomous with Breslin/Bresland/Briceland. Breslin is a common family name near Ardara Town in Killybegs Lower Parish and nearby Inishkeel Parish in Southwest Donegal. Agnes would have been born circa 1800, however I have been unable to further confirm her identity through available records. Often the information in old death records might be only as reliable as the informant who may have been illiterate or not precise. Often the first name as listed might be the name by which the deceased was commonly referred to and not the actual Christening name that would normally appear on birth and death records.
Ed Shevlin
Thursday 28th Jan 2016, 04:42PM