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ONS
INDEX
Welcome
Welcome
& Overview, Background, Myths Exploded, Quotable Quotes,
Awards, Site Search
Introduction
About
these webpages
Shelvock
Location
Geography
& Geomorphology
Origins
of the Family Name
Earliest
origins of the family names
Where
& When?
Occurrence
of the family names from the C16th - present day
A
History of Shelvock Manor
The
place and local environs providing the family name as well as some
other associated families
The
SHELVOKEs
The
story of engineering prowess and how a family name will become
extinct in modern times
The
SHELVOCKs
The
story of one couple's destiny to preserve the original family name
from extinction
A
Brief History of Halesowen
The
town that became the centre for the modern family name of SHILVOCK
Demography
and Statistics
What
the data is telling us
Noted
People
An
offbeat listing of anyone with a notable recorded history
Commonwealth
War Graves, Memorials
The
names of those who served in the armed forces, those who
sacrificed their lives and other stories
Researchers
and Family Contacts
Names
and email addresses from around the World
Data
Bank
Birth,
Death & Marriage Indices, census information and other public
domain data from around the World.
SHELVOCK
One Name Study:Family Trees (1581-present day)
SHILVOCK
One Name Study:Family Trees (1639-present day)
"Most
Wanted"
Enquiries
still seeking an answer - maybe you can help?
SHELVOCK
- The Music
6
sets of instrumental music inspired by the place and
history.
Composed and played by the Webauthor
Contact
Info
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-
Welcome & Overview -
Welcome to the
award-winning Worldwide One-Name Study
(ONS) into the rare family names of SHELVOCK
& SHILVOCK and their many
spelling variants, including SHELVOKE
Aerial
Photograph above Shelvock
SHELVOCK
- a
name of Saxon (Old English) origins - from the Old English 'scelf'
or 'scylf'
meaning a shelf of level ground, or flat topped hill, and 'ac'
meaning oak, taken from the
ancient Manor of Shelvock and nearby locality, near
Ruyton-IX-Towns, Shropshire, England, originally pronounced
"shelf'ac",
"shelv'ak"
or "shelv'oak",
but today as "shel'vock".
All families with this name
today descend from one small surviving C19th group. There were
only 25 individuals of voting age with the name in the UK's 2000
Electoral Roll, all connected to the same small family tree with
one exception. More recently, www.surnamedb.com suggests that the
Welsh "oeg"
for salmon may be the second syllable, thereby making Shelvock on
a bank of a river with an abundance of salmon. As there is no
immediate proximity of Shelvock to a river, and the combination of
Welsh & OE may be an unusual one linguistically, I continue to
favour the explanation that matches geomorphology.
SHELVOKE
- a variant of the SHELVOCK name
which has small clusters in C18th/C19th Wolverhampton, Willenhall,
and the West Bromwich & Aston areas of Birmingham. In the
C20th the variant spelling survived for a time with one individual
worldwide holding the name in 2008 and is the third most common
name variation. C20th records show the name to be connected to
some families in Birmingham then Tamworth, but also in the London
area (Lambeth, Croydon, Bromley & Hitchin) before 1945. The
origin of the name may well be the true original Anglo Saxon
pronunciation of SHELVOCK, where one particular branch of the
family pronounced the name in its original form, with a longer "o"
sound, i.e. SHELVOAK (also an occasional spelling variant).
The SHELVOKE name survives a
small number of UK firms, the most notable of which is Shelvoke
& Drewry, which later became incorporated into
Shelvoke Dempster, Dennis
Shelvoke, & other spin-off companies. There were
only 9 individuals of the name in the 1901 census, and one
surviving person only in 2008.
SHILVOCK
- pronounced "shil'vok"
- the variant created in the C17th/C18th by Black Country (North
Worcestershire/South Staffordshire) dialect and is the dominant
spelling today with many hundreds of related families. In Clent &
Halesowen certain families also had the following clan aliases:
SHILBURNE, BARLOW, PROPHET, MANLIE & DAY, apparently to
distinguish themselves from each other. This appears to be based
on some earlier maternal family names (at least demonstrated for
DAY). Many of these families still have ancient stories of lands
in Shropshire which supports the evidence provided in this Study
that this name derives from SHELVOCK, although no ownership rights
have ever been documented.
Note: Some SHILVOCK descendants
today, particularly the USA, have the SHELVOCK name as a result of
name changes during US immigration processes. The uncommon name
has resulted in dozens of variations existing in the UK's written
records (particularly census) due to mistranscription, such as
SHILOOCK & SHILLOCK. These are highlighted in this study as
they are discovered. So far, there are over 45 spelling variants!
This website also has
information on the origins of the C19th/C20th family of
SHILVOCK-WRIGHT, and other
persons who may have one of these unusual family names as a middle
name. In a unique example a daughter has been given the name of
Shele after her SHELVOCK grandfather.
Importantly, these webpages
document the true story of the origins of the family name, which
despite the unusual spelling and foreign sound is a family name of
very early English origins. Commercial "genealogy" firms
that sell certificates describing the names with a foreign origin,
even suggesting the families have 'crests' or entitlement to bear
coats of arms are incorrect and misleading. There are no coats of
arms for SHELVOCK or SHILVOCK and those advertised are often the
one belonging to the THORNES family of Shelvock.
It has been speculated that Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle who lived at Cliffe House, Ruyton, near
Shelvock, may have used the name as a basis for his legendary
detective Sherlock Holmes, however this author believes it is more
likely to be derived from his time as a resident in Aston,
Birmingham, where he lived near Sherlock Street and reputedly
bought his fiddle from a music shop there.
- Some Family
Myths Exploded -
Despite family tales, the
family name does not originate from Poland, Ukraine, Norway,
Denmark, or any other foreign parts;
The name has no connection
with occupations such as tailoring or an association with plums,
as promoted by certain companies defining origins of family
names;
The families are not
descendants of "red-haired Jewish gypsies from Eastern
Europe";
What myths where you told
as a child?
There
are many connected webpages and numerous downloadable data files
on this site. The contents are a culmination of nearly 30 years
research by this webauthor, with contributions from many
individuals worldwide. Despite the rarity of the names, most
families have been successful in finding some "long lost"
relatives through these pages. All modern families are probably
related within the last three centuries, specially those bearing
the name SHELVOCK and those SHILVOCKs in the West Midlands. With
your input some of the connections can be proven. 2007 celebrates
the 10th year of this ONS on the Internet.
In addition to finding contacts
actively researching this name or just interested parties, you can
also find detailed information about the origins of the name and
an extensive reference data of public domain information (birth,
death & marriage indices, family trees, etc). There is also a
list of ongoing projects where you can contribute to the research
effort if you have a genuine interest in the names.
The best way you can help the
study is to relate stories about your family so I can see where
you fit in. Even to a small degree, all families worldwide have so
far contributed. By covering the C20th - the period of current
living memory - there's a good chance you can be taken back
several hundred years or receive help to research your own family
once your grandparents origins have been established.
The Index from the UK 1901
Census has been added, demonstrating many of the typographical
errors by those who thought one of these names must be something
else. If you're part of the greater Black Country family
(Halesowen & Stourbridge), then your family information is key
to sorting the hundreds of families in the area that aren't yet
linked. Somehow, you're all related!
While browsing, why not
download and listen to my concept music album "Shelvock"
inspired by some of the findings during the course of this study?
Data, new information or
occurrences of this name, and feedback on this site is encouraged
and welcomed though Email.
The
SHELVOCK/SHELVOKE/SHILVOCK ONS
Often
copied by online encyclopedias, but never equalled! It is my
intent that this site should be the definitive resource.
Top
ranked in Google searches, so why go anywhere else?
Thanks for your
interest and participation in the last 1000 years of this family's
history.
Please note:
This site is for the amateur genealogist/family
historian and no offer of professional research is intended or
implied. Maintenance of this website and contributions to research
are purely on a volunteer basis by a distantly-related enthusiast
who has normal work & family commitments. Data is all public
domain information (PDI) and other family tree information has
been supplied by consent or interpolated from PDI. I do my best to
keep information as accurate as possible, and I welcome
collaboration and feedback on extrapolation or corrections based
on your own information. Research has been over more than a
25-year period and sources are improving all the time. Some data
and conclusions may have been corrected and subsequently open to
reinterpretation. Therefore, you are strongly recommended to
verify all information at source, and don't just take my word for
it!
Please report any
difficulties in navigating this site or any errors, however small.
Many thanks.
Best wishes,
Mark
A. S. Grace - One-Name
Researcher - The Geneal Geologist
[Please
refer to the CreativeGraces
Home Page for
my latest contact info]
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