SHORTEN

Born 20 Dec 1854, Sprowston, Norfolk³
Christened 24 Dec 1854, St Mary, Sprowston, Norfolk, England⁴
Died 29 Jan 1933, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada⁵
Occupation: Farm labourer (1881, 1891) machinist labourer (1901)⁶
Abode: Wroxham Rd, Sprowston, Norfolk (1881,1891,1901)⁷

Born 19 May 1861, Pearse's Field, Sprowston, Norfolk⁸
Died 31 Jan 1930, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada⁹


DID TREMENIA INVENT HER OWN NAME?

Tremenia’s birth is registered with her name as Amelia and she appears in the 1871 Census as Susanna and the 1891 Census as Jemima. When she married George SHORTEN on 4th October 1879 she was Tremenia and as Tremenia SHORTEN she appears in the 1881 Census. She gave her first child the name of Lily Tremenia. Lily Tremenia’s own child, born in 1903 had the name Lily Tremenia SENDALL.

From where did she get this name? Perhaps it was the name of a relative or acquaintance or perhaps she saw it in a newspaper. If one searches FreeBMD which give most births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales from 1837 to 1920, there are only the three occurrences which I have noted above. There are also no occurrences of alternative spellings such as Treminia. Tremenia does not occur in The Times from 1785 to 1985.

After these two SHORTEN and SENDALL families emigrated to Canada, sometime before the census of 1911, it seems that the name Tremenia was removed from England. This name does not appear in the England and Wales 1911 Census (note the database is not yet complete) nor in recent electoral registers (2000 and 2004).

Search on Ancestry.co.uk produces no more Tremenias in England but shows a small number in the United States. The earliest entry in the Census Records is Tremenia TOLARCI in the 1910 Census. There is a birth index entry Tremenia Latorya WALL in North Carolina and a marriage index entry for Tremenia Rowena BURNS. In the US Public Records there is Tremenia R AUSTIN, Florida, Tremenia R Oliver and Tremenia WALL, North Corolina.

A Google search finds five people: Tremenia R OLIVER, Albany, New York, Tremenia R AUSTIN, Deerfield Beach, Florida, Tremenia WALL, Biscoe, North Carolina, Tramenia MISKEL, Gulfport, Mississippi and Tremenia SMITH, Forrest City, Arkansas.

There is a suggestion that the “correct” spelling is Treminia, but the English and other records do not support this. In the All British Columbia Death Index, we do however find the granddaughter’s death in 1954 recorded as Lily Treminia SENDALL.

There has been a suggestion that Tremenia is derived from an Italian place name, but this is based on a single Google reference to a Brazilian birth certificate which gives a place of birth as “Cassan de Treminia”. This is identified with Cazzano Di Tramigna. No doubt the Brazilian registrar was doing his best with the Italian words.