Honeymans and Whorltons

This information is from Dave Honneyman, for the benefit of people researching their Honeyman or Whorlton family history.

Dave tells me that they find themselves confronted by a particular problem dating from the early 19th century.

On 1 March 1818, Ann Whorlton’s baby boy George was baptised in Hutton Rudby.  No father’s name was recorded, and he was baptised as George Whorlton.

On 17 August 1819, Ann Whorlton married Thomas Honeyman (George’s father?), and George grew up in their household.

Thereafter, young George’s surname seems to have alternated between Whorlton and Honeyman.  He was George Whorlton on his marriage to Hannah Simpson, but George Honeyman for all the censuses.  When his daughter Sarah married Andrew Dodsworth in 1877, freebmd.org records her surname as Whorlton (I don’t know whether researchers have obtained this marriage certificate), while an entry on familysearch (source not recorded) gives her surname as Honeyman.  This has naturally led to confusion!

Dave concludes,

“So anyone who has an interest in further study of his family tree needs to be aware that if they can't find a particular record as a "Honeyman", then they should look for a "Whorlton" record instead and more than likely find it.”