Name that book, family history edition
March 15, 2018 8:56 PM
According to family lore, my great-great-grandmother named her son after a character in a book that she liked. This literary character's name was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather to my father and partially to me.
The title of the book is a mystery. Can you tell me anything about a book written before 1891 that includes a character named Percy Winfield?
Assuming publishing was more geographically constrained back then, my great-grandfather Percy Winfield was born in Philadelphia in 1891 to a father who was first generation Irish American and a mother was either first generation Scots American or an immigrant from Glasgow (details unclear).
My great-great-grandmother's brother also had child named Percy Winfield (b. 1907); the story goes that this book was shared between my g-g-grandmother and her sister-in-law who also liked the Percy Winfield character enough to name one of her children after.
So this unknown inspirational book would have to be available to the Scots-Irish immigrant community in South Philly in the late 19th century, but may have been published in the US, Ireland, or the UK.
Assuming publishing was more geographically constrained back then, my great-grandfather Percy Winfield was born in Philadelphia in 1891 to a father who was first generation Irish American and a mother was either first generation Scots American or an immigrant from Glasgow (details unclear).
My great-great-grandmother's brother also had child named Percy Winfield (b. 1907); the story goes that this book was shared between my g-g-grandmother and her sister-in-law who also liked the Percy Winfield character enough to name one of her children after.
So this unknown inspirational book would have to be available to the Scots-Irish immigrant community in South Philly in the late 19th century, but may have been published in the US, Ireland, or the UK.
Is the idea that both parts of the name were definitely inspired by the book, or could it be just the Percy or just the Winfield? (I'm assuming Winfield was a middle name and not the surname, right?)
posted by trig at 12:17 AM on March 16, 2018
posted by trig at 12:17 AM on March 16, 2018
There is a book called the Percy Anecdotes that mentions a Whinfield (p. 237) ... not one name, but maybe a tangent?
posted by bwonder2 at 2:16 AM on March 16, 2018
posted by bwonder2 at 2:16 AM on March 16, 2018
The Road that Led Home by Will E. Ingersoll has a character named Percy Winfield
posted by belladonna at 4:57 AM on March 16, 2018
posted by belladonna at 4:57 AM on March 16, 2018
(On edit: I see this was published in 1918, but maybe the author reused the name from a previous book or short story he wrote?)
posted by belladonna at 5:03 AM on March 16, 2018
posted by belladonna at 5:03 AM on March 16, 2018
There were a few Percy Winfield OtherLastNames born not long before 1891.
I wonder if it was necessarily a character in a book or perhaps an author?
posted by blue_wardrobe at 1:32 PM on March 16, 2018
I wonder if it was necessarily a character in a book or perhaps an author?
posted by blue_wardrobe at 1:32 PM on March 16, 2018
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posted by filthy light thief at 9:40 PM on March 15, 2018