Do You Know Ten English Family Name Meanings? - Ten Popular Jobs - And Statues To See

 It is easier to remember people's names if you recall the jobs which the names mean, probably a job held by their ancestor, or even their ancestor's boss. I have at least one book about family names, and several about first names.

Names associated with jobs

1 Archer (like author Jeffrey Archer), 

2 baker

3 barber

4 bishop

5 carpenter - made wooden items, spoons, furniture, housing

6 carter (who drove carts or maybe made carts)

7 clark  (clarkson was the son of a clerk, writer come secretary, or maybe a religious cleric)

8 Cook or cokson meaning son of a cook

9 cooper - maker of barrels

You can see a stue of comedian Tommy Cooper in Wales near Caerphilly Castle. More details in Wikipedia.

Statue of comedian Cooper near Caerphilly castle, seen in the background, in Wales. More details in Wikipedia.

10 draper made drapes or curtains

11 gardener or gardiner - worked in gardens

That is more than ten, but there are many more.

glazer - person who makes windows

knight - roade around on a horse

Lee means shelter in English, and in Chinese Lee or Li means plum tree

Statue of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong. Photo in Wikipedia.

miller - ground corn at a mill

Priestley - priest's woodland clearing, owned by the church. A common name in Yorkshire in England, and Scotland in the UK, also the USA and Canada. See the statues of Priestley the scientist in Yorkshire. See the statue of author-playwright J B Priestley whose time-slip play An Inspector Calls is used by many schools for English O level exams.

Statue of J B Priestley in Bradford, Yorkshire.

shepherd - looked after or herded sheep

smith - usually blacksmith, since a silversmith would be called silver, or silverman, and a goldsmith or person working wiht or selling gold bards or gold jewelery and items might be called gold or goldman

tailor/taylor- sewed by hand, later by machine (as in Elizabeth Taylor the film star)

Bust of Taylor in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Another Believer - Own work

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico (2021)

thatcher - who created thatch or thatched roofs, made of bundles or dried straw, before clay was dried and made into tiles (as in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher). A statue of Margaret Thatcher is in Grangham, Lincolnshire, England. A bust of her is outdoors in the Falkland Islands, in the capital, Stanley.

Statue of Margaret Thatcher in England.

weaver - wove textiles

wheeler - made and repaired wheels for wagons

woodman - worked with wood, or in the woods

You an buy books about statues, such as London statues (I have that one) and on surnames (I have one of those, ) and on baby names (I started collecting books on baby names when my son was born  more than 40 years ago and I now have more than ten books on baby names. Magazines on Parents and babies often give away books on baby names with their springtime editions. Some first names are derived from names of parents. 

Useful Website

ancestry.com (I tried loading up the link but it wiped out the entire post, so I have just given you the generic name. Add name meaning.)

https://www.oxfordreference.com

wikipedia.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inspector_Calls

Please follow this blog. Share your favourite entertaining, educational posts for travellers with friends and family.

Can you recognize English and other accents?

Years ago I had a BBC record of accents. Actors used to play these over and over to learn accents. I thought it was very difficult and wondered how you could ever learn them.

However, now I find accents easy, so long as you stick to no more than a sentence or two.

Flag of UK

London
Let's start with London. I am a Londoner. I speak with received pronounciation. My voice sounds like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.

The Queen's English
I speak the Queen's English. If the queen were to abdicate or die tomorrow or next year or later, and a king came on the throne, I would be talking the King's English. The Queen's English and the King's English are the same thing. It just depends who is on the throne. (See the film / movie The King's English.)

The flag of England.

If you want to learn to speak English clearly, listen to the BBC news readers. Or listen to Her Majesty the Queen delivering the Christmas Message. Listen to Prince Charles, William, and Kate.

English Accent
English is mostly accented on the first syllable. Good MORning. HAPpy BIRTHday. By contrast, Chinese and Japanese are staccato, to the English they sound like machine guns.

Shakespeare
In Shakespearean plays the kings and queens and heroies and heroines, the important characters, speak with a pronounced rhythm.  This makes them sound grand. The sentences are like waves of even length, so you expect them to last a certain time and to finish at a certain point. By contrast, the servants and commoners have short seetnences and exclamations with no particular rhythm.
ast word, the toastmaster rushes forward with his hand out to say thankt you, but no , the speaker is off again.

So remember to tell the listener, the audience, the toastmaster of the evening, the interviewer on radio or TV, whether you have finished.

Statements end with a lowering of the voice at the end. When poeple ask questions, their voice goes up at the end. The last word of a speech should be an important word,, one you can say loudly and emphatically.

Foreigners who end a sentence with a voice up at the end leave you expecting they will continue. maybe it's a rhetorical question, one which they answer themselves. If a speaker ends on a high note, the Toastmaster of the evening is confused. He doesn't know whether the speaker will continue. Should he stand up and shake hands? On the other hand, if the speaker ends with a definite and emphatic word, that's the end.

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister.

Listen to speeches by Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, she was sent to speech lessons and  taught to speak with a lower voice to sound more msculine and more authoritative.

Winston Churchill, who gave speeches on the radio during WWII.

The United Kingdom includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. if you drive or take the train west you reach Wales. Where is it, W for west, w for Wales.

The flag of Wales showing the Welsh droagon.

Welsh Accent
The Welsh accent is very singing, singsong. I go there every year, so I just imagine I am lsitening to the people welcoming me. Boy-o. Welcome to way-ills. Your voice goes down on well and up on come, down on way and up on ills. The intonation is down up, down up, down up.

The Edinburgh accent is refined, fainter than the Glasgow accent. To remind myself of the accent, I say refained, and Edinbrrrrr. I think of a head mistress, or teacher, in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, or my friend Fiona.m, I recommend


The flag of Scotland

Scottish Words Wee and Bonnie
Add the word wee for small. A wee lad, or a wee lassie (girl). The voice tends to go up slightly at the end of a phrase or sentence. If you are not sure of the intonation, to remind yourself, just try a sentence with the words Edinburgh and wee and make it a question. is the wee lad from Edinbrraaaa?

Of course, you know the word of Auld Lang Syne, old long time, translated as old time's sake. You can practice or listen to a reading of a Scottish poem for Burns Night, or practise Auld Lang Syne.
As a child I learned the songs, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and the plaintive song, you take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before ye .. on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Loch is lake.

Glasgow accent
The Glasgow accent is stronger. I say Glasgee, to remind myself.

For the Northern Ireland accent, listen to Ian Paisley. I think of the Oirish, to be sure. Some opeole say the Irish never say to be sure. But it's a handy reminder to get you in the mood or to help you to recognize the accent. There are plenty of Irish songs.

Whether or not you can speak in the accent, play a few songs and you will soon learn to recognize them.

If you want to watch a film, I recommend a film with Alec Guinness such as The Ladykillers. I have suggested this to Japanese friends and pupils and they loved it.

But the best way to learn an accent is to visit the country.

Useful websites
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, author of Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and speaker, speech tutor, teacher of English and other languages

Where's the statue? What's the Story? Sherlock Holmes, find me Paddington Bear and Dalida.

Chopin Statue

Problem
Where's the statue? Heroes and heroines, famous and fictional characters, their statues decorate cities and inform us about history all over the world.

Answers
UK Airports tend to have statues of planes but London's railway stations are good places to see statues of people.

London
Paddington Bear is in Paddington Station, London, England. A fictional character travelling, the little lost bear, lost in large Paddington station, who is easily found, is fun for children.

Also in Paddington see the state of Brunel, wearing a top hat. Why on Paddington? Because he was the pioneer who built the railway going west to Wales, building bridges, literally and the ship to take travellers on to the USA. Brunel University in NW London is named after him.

Nelson, elevated on his column in Trafalgar Square, looks out over the heads of visitors. If you are into history, pop into the nearby National Portrait Gallery.
Oscar Wilde is reclining, near Trafalgar Square. You can stand or sit beside him for a selfie.

Beau Brummel, the dandy, stands near Fortnum and Mason department store. You are surrounded by smart clothes shops, upmarket He looks very dapper, in the West End, where you are amongst food shops and places to eat.

If you like literature, and it is a sunny day and you want to walk, the statue of Peter Pan is in a park where you can have a picnic. James Barrie and his supporters put the little statue in a public place without permission, but when the authorities tried to take it away, popular pressure persuaded them to leave it for the enjoyment of all then and today.

If it's raining, in London, and you have a the time and money for seeing sights, Westminster Abbey features poet's corner.

If you'd rather see people looking more colourful and lifelike, there's Madame Tussauds, next to Baker Street station. Outside Baker Street station stands a statue of Sherlock Holmes wearing his deerstalker hat.

Story of My Sherlock Statue Photo
If you don't have the money or time to queue for ever popular Madame Tussaud's, take a selfie with Sherlock's statue. I nearly lost my impatient family and ended up divorced because I stopped to wait for a group of giggling Japanese girls to finish photographing. After I obtained my essential photo, I popped into the extensive shop in the nearby Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Dozens more:
Euston station has the map maker who mapped Australia, with his cat.
Speaking of cats, two more cats are featured in London. Dick Whittington's cat, companion to a former mayor of London is a popular subject for Dick Whittington pantomimes in London at Christmas time.

Statues of famous people stand in squares or look down from niches all over London and Britain. Kings, queens, busts on buildings, equestrian (horseback) statues, and war memorials, in city squares, beside art galleries, in the middle of busy streets. Soldiers, and nurses. Florence Nightingale.

Literature fans will like Shakespeare. Musicians might opt for Handel. Or Amy Winehouse in Camden.

Which do you prefer, sculpture or painting? Combine both. If you are into art, there's a statue of an artist with his paintbrush and palette on Waterloo station. What's he doing on the station? He was commissioned by the railways to paint their stations and trains. One has to earn a living, something practical, science, travel. Can't be painting and sculpting kings, queens and rich pop stars all the time.

The British Museum has statues from Greeks, Romans, Egyptians. If it's raining, or you want a little light relief, try the nearby cartoon museum which holds events for children, adults and the elderly to learn more about drawing their own cartoons and characters.

VICTORIA AND OTHERS
Queen Victoria is near Buckingham Palace. (You'll see her all over the world, Australia, Singapore.)
See busts of Kennedy, Mandela and many more including a statue of Russian Yuri Gagarin, first man to look down on earth from space.

Years ago I bought a book of statues in London, and since then many more statues have been added.
Churchill and Disraeli are near the Houses of Parliament and PM Mrs Thatcher's statue is inside.
If you are prepared to take a trip out of the centre of the city, Karl Marx has a huge bust in Highgate Cemetery where you can take a tour.

In London you can take bus and walking tours following famous figures or including them, everybody from Shakespeare and Dickens to the Beatles. Houses of famous people in Britain include London homes as museums to Dickens and Keats, more on Dickens around Britain, plus the Brontes up in Yorkshire. You can buy books on literary trails around Britain (and other parts of the world) which usually take you past a statue or two, as shown in the books. Look in libraries and on Amazon.

Going North, Beatrix Potter's statue is in the lovely Lake district.

Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, has a famous dog which supposedly stayed devotedly by its master's grave for years. In recent years, some people have cynically said that the dog only hung around because it was fed daily by the cemetery keeper, and admired by visitors. The more humorous and easy going of us would smile and say, 'Why let the truth get in the way of a good story!'

EUROPE
FRANCE
Taking the train from London to Paris, prepare for more statues. In London's St Paul's cathedral the son of architect Sir Christopher Wren installed a p l a q u e (spaces inserted to foil spell checker) which reads, (I've remembered it in colloquial modern English) 'If you want to see my monument, look around you'. Likewise, in Paris, I cannot recall a statue to Eiffel, but I certainly remember his tower. You can't miss it, as they say.

In Paris the two cemeteries which draw tourists are Père Lachaise and Montmartre. Three notable ladies honoured in France by statues are Joan of Arc, actress Sarah Bernhardt, and singer Dalida.

The person from modern times is Dalida. Her name is adapted from Delilah. You can see her white statue against a black background in Montmartre cemetery. A square is named after her and you can see her statue near her house in Paris.

The sexy singer and dancer had Italian parents, was born in Cairo, and lived in France, and sang in French and Italian, Arabic and Hebrew, Japanese and many other languages. She was able to sing in several languages and address and converse with fans in several languages. She won many awards. You can see her website and watch her on YouTube. Her fiancé shot himself after losing a competition and later she committed suicide.

(And the moral is? Don't get depressed by the jury. Keep dancing and singing because you are loved by your fans. There's always somebody, somewhere, family or friend, fan or stranger, now or later, who wants you to live, as long as possible.) You can take a Dalida walking tour.

RUSSIA
Moscow, named after the Moskva river, has a statue of Peter the Great, who founded the navy. He stands amid the sailing ship, surrounded by water. The water is a suitable setting for a statue featuring a ship and a man who founded the navy.

Water has the added benefit of protecting the statue from crowds obscuring it so you can get a better photograph. A water barrier protects the statue from damage, whether deliberate or the indentations of the hands of admirers.

SUMMARY
UK
LONDON
Bear, Paddington
Beau Brummel
Brunel
Cats: Whittington's cat; cat and mapmaker, Euston.
Charlie Chaplin
Churchill
Eros
Freud
Marx
Napoleon
Spike Milligan, Finchley
Nelson
Paddington Bear
Peter Pan
Shakespeare
Thatcher
Oscar Wilde
Victoria
Wren
ENGLAND
The Beatles, Liverpool
Les Dawson, Lytham St Anne's
Eric Morecambe, Morecambe
Norman Wisdom, Sefton Hotel, Douglas, Isle of Man

WALES
Tommy Cooper, Caerphilly.

SCOTLAND
Dog, Edinburgh.

USA, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, ISLANDS & REGION
NEW YORK
Charging Bull, Wall Street, New York city, NY state.
George M Cohan, Times Square.
Statue of Liberty
WASHINGTON
President Lincoln

OTHER
Presidents, Mount Rushmore
Christopher Columbus, Puerto Rico
Christ the Redeemer, Rio?
Horse, Virginia.
Will Rogers, Oklahoma, USA

AUSTRIA
General Radetsky, Vienna (Radetsky was the man for whom the march was written.)

BELGIUM
Mannequin Pis, Brussels.

BULGARIA
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in front of the House of Humour and Satire, Gabrovo.
 Charlie Chaplin statue stand outside in the Park of Humour and inside are two Cat statues.
CHINA
Sun Yat-Sen.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Wenceslas, Prague.

DENMARK
The Little Mermaid, Copenhagen.

FRANCE
Bernhardt
Dalida
Eiffel
Joan of Arc

ITALY
David (biblical)
Puccini

NETHERLANDS
Anne Frank, Amsterdam

POLAND
Chopin, Warsaw

RUSSIA
Nikolai Gogol.
Peter the Great, Moscow

SINGAPORE
Raffles. Bust in Raffles Hotel. Statue on waterfront.

SWITZERLAND
Charlie Chaplin, Vevey.

AUSTRALASIA
Captain Cook.
Dame Edna Everage, Melbourne, Australia.
Sir John Monash, Melbourne (WWI Commander; Monash University of in Australia and other countries.)

Tips
See Wikipedia for lists of statues by country, tallest statues in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equestrian_statues_in_the_United_Kingdom#Scotland
My top trip to see statues and a museum is the museum of humour in Bulgaria.s
http://www.humorhouse.bg/engl/book.html

I have only given you a brief glimpse of the statues to see worldwide, but enough to entertain you with their stories, inspire you to seek them out to see statues and research more.
-ends-
Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts about statues in London and elsewhere. Please share links to posts.