the family name "Shougat" - what might it really be published by Helenh49 on Wed, 06/05/2020 - 12:08
Hi
In the transcriptions for Cheddar, there is a marriage in 1722 with the family name of Shougat. I can't find this as a family name anywhere else and so I'm looking for suggestions as to what it could really be.
Submitted by Jenny Towey on Tue, 12/05/2020 - 10:03
Hi Helen
Is there any suggestion that Mr SHOUGAT might be from Europe - specifically Germany? There is a a German surname SCHUGARD (D is pronounced like T in German) and SHOUGAT could be the anglicised form...
Thanks for your reply. The name certainly does have a German feel to it. Are there German names around Cheddar? Her given name was Hannah, common both in English and German, so no help. No occupation. I'll have a hunt to see if I can find any Schugards in the area at that time.
(South Australia where I grew up was settled by a mix of German and English speakers so I'm well used to the corruption of German names by English speaking officials!)
Submitted by Jenny Towey on Tue, 12/05/2020 - 11:06
...regarding are there German names around Cheddar I'll leave that to the locals with greater knowledge... After George I came to the throne in 1714 many Germans came to the UK and settled.
What was her husband's occupation? (Sometimes similar trades drew people together...)
Many Germans came to the UK to work and often married locals (altho they also wrote home and asked for servants/housekeepers/assistants/apprentices to come and join them - and subsequently married one of them).
Unfortunately, women don't tend to leave a paper trail -so it would be great if you could find her father...
This is the original entry - any more ideas about what it might be? - bearing in mind it was probably written by someone with a Somerset accent writing what they thought they heard. Comparing other writing on the page it could be SHARGET?
She was marrying into the Rogers family. By 1755 one member of the family was a yeoman and another a husbandman and they are involved in leasing property, so they appear to be well established by that time.
Submitted by Les Martels on Tue, 12/05/2020 - 15:59
Couldn't leave this alone so have checked a few things out and I now wonder if the name is SERGENT or a derivative as I saw it written in the burials as SHERGANT. I then looked at the baptisms and found Hannah SERGANT baptised 28 Oct 1701 d/o John and Joyce. Do you think this is more likely than SUGAR. It is a surname that crops up many time in Cheddar.
I think you have nailed it. It matches well with the reading of the original record as Sharget. Many thanks, I would not have got there without your help.