Person talk:Edward Jowett (1)

Edward Jowett [17 February 2012]

Please read Dr. Hazen's article in Vol. 94 of NEHGR.--jaques1724

I will look at this item. But changing the spelling, which was not consistent in the time this person lived, to a spelling that has never been used among the community of genealogists up to this time only adds confusion. I see no reason to change the primary spelling but have no problem adding the alternate and using the alternate for his parents, etc. --Susan Irish 18:10, 16 February 2012 (EST)

Dr. Hazen points out that Horatio Gates Somerby did his usual sloppy (may be too kind a word to describe his work) job in providing the English data on this family. My intent was to provide the correct spelling, as used in Bradford for the father (with Jewett as an alternate), but to leave the American part of the family as is since it was always "Jewett" here. Note that the parish register has the marriage (and her second marriage), four of the five baptisms, and his burial as "Jowett rather than Jewett."--jaques1724 19:07, 16 February 2012 (EST)

The article in NEHGR Vol. 94 beginning on page 99 was published in 1940. The writer notes that a wide variety of spelling was used to refer to the relatives of the immigrant Jewett family members. The parish registers transcribed show the various spellings used by the parish clerks for the various members of the family at time of recording bapt., marriage and death. Even today we can find online images of marriage certificates which were filled out by a minister and then signed by bride and groom which show different spelling by the minister from the spelling used by the participants.

Surname spelling was not consistent in the early 17th Century. The writer chose to use the spelling Edward "Jowett" as the name of the head of this family because the transcription of a particular parish clerk's hand writing was deemed to use that spelling.

The signature pictured on page 104 of Maxmilliam Jewett actually is spelled "gowitt" when the characters are compared to a palaeography tutorial of alphabet from 1588. --Susan Irish 01:20, 17 February 2012 (EST)