William Henry Duignan (16 August 1824 – 27 March 1914)[1] was a solicitor who lived in and around the town of Walsall for his entire life. He was better known as an antiquarian, writer, historian and local politician and wrote a number of books and pamphlets about local history and especially on the etymology of place naming, many of which are still available today.[2]
William Henry Duignan | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1824 Walsall, England |
| Died | March 27, 1914 (aged 89) Walsall |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
| Known for | Antiquarian, writer, local politician |
Life edit
Duignan was born of Irish descent in Walsall in 1824; his grandfather, latterly a master at Walsall Grammar School, had emigrated to England from County Longford.[3] He had three children, Florency-Mary, Ernest-Henry, and George-Stubbs, by Mary Minors, of Fisherwick, whom he married in 1850; and a further three children, Bernard, Carl, and Oscar, by Jenny Petersen, of Stockholm, whom he married in 1868.[4] An antiquarian and etymologist,[5] he wrote three histories of place names and a monograph on Rushall Hall,[6] where he had lived for 29 years.[1] He travelled widely around Britain and Ireland,[5] earning the nickname "the man on a tricycle" after his preferred mode of travel.[7] He was often accompanied in his travels by the Staffordshire businessman and writer Willam Henry Robinson.[8]
Works edit
Duignan's most widely known works are his three etymologies of place names in the West Midlands, Notes on Staffordshire Place Names (1902), Worcestershire Place Names (1905), and Warwickshire Place Names (1912); all are still available in reproduction form today.[2]
Arms edit
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References edit
- ^ a b "W. H. Duignan - a Walsall Irishman at the Heart of the Town". Walsall Local History Centre. Walsall Borough Council. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ a b "List of books by William Henry Duignan available at Amazon". Amazon. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Duignan family pedigree". Library Ireland. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ O'Hart 1989, pp. 424–425.
- ^ a b Ball 2008, p. 88.
- ^ Hall & Burgis 1983, p. 537.
- ^ Browne 1974, p. 44.
- ^ "William Henry Robinson". Literary Heritage. Shropshire County Council. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Grants and Confirmations of Arms, Vol. H". National Library of Ireland. 1880. p. 256. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- O'Hart, John (1989). Irish Pedigrees: Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation (5th ed.). Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 9780806307374.
- Ball, Stephen, ed. (2008). Dublin Castle and the First Home Rule Crisis: Volume 33: The Political Journal of Sir George Fottrell, 1884–1887. Camden Fifth Series. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521519212.
- Hall, N. John; Burgis, Nina, eds. (1983). The letters "of Anthony Trollope". Vol. 1 (1835–1870). Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804710763.
- Browne, Harry (1974). Joseph Chamberlain, radical and imperialist. Seminar studies in history (5th ed.). Longman. ISBN 9780582352148.
Bibliography edit
- Notes on Staffordshire Place Names (1902) ISBN 978-1110699377
- Worcestershire Place Names (1905) ISBN 978-0548228364
- A Forgotten Worcestershire Monastery (1910)
- Warwickshire Place Names (1912) ISBN 978-1152844902
Further reading edit
- Howard, Christopher (March 1965). "'The Man on a Tricycle': W. H. Duignan and Ireland, 1881–5". Irish Historical Studies. 14 (55): 246–260. doi:10.1017/S002112140002037X. JSTOR 30005525.