"Thanks to Ric Gellespie for additional information."
The current spelling "Gillespie" dates from about 1800.
The bride's family name was spelled the new-fangled way, Gillespie.
Quote from: Bruce Thomas on October 01, 2013, 12:36:08 PMThe bride's family name was spelled the new-fangled way, Gillespie.Catholic or Protestant? Most of the Gillespies who emigrated to North America prior to 1800 (we came over in 1794) were Protestant "Ulster Scots" - Scots who had emigrated to Ulster (Northern Ireland) in the 1600s. Catholic Gillespies started coming to America from Ireland in the 19th century due to the Potato Famine, but that didn't begin until about 1845 so I would imagine that your 1823 ancestor Gillespie was Protestant and probably "Scotch Irish."
Quote from: Monty Fowler on October 01, 2013, 11:23:38 AM "Thanks to Ric Gellespie for additional information."There have been many spellings, but that's a new one. In 1106 in Irish Gaelic (earliest known version) it was "Ghille Espaic." By 1215 when the family relocated to Scotland it had evolved to "Ghillespeck." In Scots Gaelic it became "Ghilleaspuig" which, by 1640, had been streamlined to "Gillespy" The current spelling "Gillespie" dates from about 1800.
What strikes me is that, at some point, one single person had to have spelled the name differently, right?
Many people's names and places of birth got altered on UK censuses over the years due to the person being recorded not being illiterate and the census taker incorrectly transcribing what was said to them. One of my mother's male forebears was recorded in London, with his place of birth listed as Cossey, Norfolk. Now it may be pronounced "Cossey", but it's spelt Costessey.It adds a bit of effort to records searching.