Monday, August 14, 2017

TO 'E' OR NOT TO 'E' - THAT IS THE QUESTION FOR BRIGG TO PONDER



Did this street name in Brigg once have a different spelling?
Brigg Blog has been re-reading The Courts and Yards of Brigg - an excellent local history book published during the early 1980s.
There are a number of documentary references within to CAREY Lane.
Yet, as our recent picture shows, it is CARY Lane on the street signs and on the board fixed to North Lincolnshire Council's public conveniences near the Wilko store.

The Brigg book  reproduces ORIGINAL pages from a catalogue of Elwes property offered for sale in Brigg during 1919.
The catalogue employs Carey Lane  with an 'e' in every instance.
Were these  uncorrected errors almost 100 years ago, not spotted at the time the catalogue was printed?
Or was Carey, rather than Cary, the spelling then in use on the street signs?
We don't have the answer, but someone may know.
The book reveals that this street off the Market Place was renamed  in 1869 by the Local Board (forerunner of the Urban District Council).
Earlier in the 19th century it had been known as Hett's Lane and  also Nicholson's Lane.
The Courts and Yards of Brigg suggests the choice of name in 1869 reflected a desire to recognise the status of the Carey-Elwes family "as major landowners in the town."
At the same time, the Butchery became Elwes Street.
But an internet search we've just made reveals a host of references to Cary (no 'e') going back in history.
Cary Elwes -  “The King of Brigg” - organised, around 1752, the construction of brick houses more sturdy than the old ones of timber filled in with clay that had gone before, one source suggests.
Another Brigg street for which there have been differences in spelling from time to time is Forrester Street/Forester Street.
'R' you favouring the former or the latter?


PICTURED: The current Cary Lane sign on the side of No 7 Market Place.

4 comments:

Ken Harrison said...

....another, Nige, is MORLEY/MORLEY'S YARD....throughout recent centuries the yard's spelling has regularly fluctuated between the variants. It escaped the major road/alley/yard name change of 1869..
For example, at that time, Nicholson Court became Coney Court and Quipp's Lane became Market Lane.
I recall a story of the 80s of a RC priest painting out a spurious 'S' on the Barnard Ave road sign...a picture appeared in the Scunny Telegraph...
Then we must remember, West Moor Lane became an extension of Grammar Shool Road..( after its junction with Glebe Road circa 1900's.)
And there remains some present confusion about Bigby Road....it starts at its junction with Queen Street and goes to the railway crossing....most people think it starts at the Monument.
Similarly....the Market Place is really a market place in Bridge Street....
A bit like Barnard Ave....the eastern section leading to the Monument remains Wrawby Street...
The Butchery....was previously called the Shambles....although the Butchery is still partially remembered with Little Butchery...the alleyway near Scalinis.
Recent additions to Brigg's central business district include Wesley Rd; Old Courts; Grammar School Rd South; Springs Way and Atherton Way...

Ken Harrison said...

....another, Nige, is MORLEY/MORLEY'S YARD....throughout recent centuries the yard's spelling has regularly fluctuated between the variants. It escaped the major road/alley/yard name change of 1869..
For example, at that time, Nicholson Court became Coney Court and Quipp's Lane became Market Lane.
I recall a story of the 80s of a RC priest painting out a spurious 'S' on the Barnard Ave road sign...a picture appeared in the Scunny Telegraph...
Then we must remember, West Moor Lane became an extension of Grammar Shool Road..( after its junction with Glebe Road circa 1900's.)
And there remains some present confusion about Bigby Road....it starts at its junction with Queen Street and goes to the railway crossing....most people think it starts at the Monument.
Similarly....the Market Place is really a market place in Bridge Street....
A bit like Barnard Ave....the eastern section leading to the Monument remains Wrawby Street...
The Butchery....was previously called the Shambles....although the Butchery is still partially remembered with Little Butchery...the alleyway near Scalinis.
Recent additions to Brigg's central business district include Wesley Rd; Old Courts; Grammar School Rd South; Springs Way and Atherton Way...

The Independent Brigg Line Rail Group said...

This reminds me of Kirton In Lindsey or the railway spelling of Kirton Lindsey

Paul C said...

Chapel Way in Brigg, off Churchill Ave and built in 1978, should have been Chappell Way. It was supposed to have been named after a former councillor. The spelling mistake was noticed a few years later so, fortunately, they decided to leave it.