Friday 23 February 2007

Daglish or Dalglish?

This week I found a new web site "The Internet Surname Database" which promises to tell you about the origins of your family name.

If you are a Daglish, at some time you have probably had others mis-spell or mis-pronounce your name! If you live in the UK, the name is often confused with Dalglish (after footballer Kenny Dalglish) or Dalgliesh (after Adam Dalgliesh, the fictional detective in novels by crime writer P.D. James).

So, is there a connection? Well, according to this web site there is - see details below.

It seems to me that it is likely that the name Dalglish has its roots as a place name in this area of Scotland - there are villages of Over Dalgliesh and Nether Dalgliesh on the B709 road south of Ettrick by Tima Water.

However, so far the widely held view that Daglish is a variant if Dalglish has not so far been supported by our research in the Daglish One-Name Study.

For now this remains a big unanswered question - if you have any thoughts or information we would be pleased to know!

This interesting and unusual name, with the variants Dalglesh, Dalglish, Dagleas, Dagless and Daglish, is of Scots origin and is locational from a place "above the sources of the Tinna Water in the parish of Ehrick, Selkirk". It was first recorded in 1383 in the form Dalglas and derives from the Gaelic "dail", field and "glas", green. Unfortunately it seems that some early individual of the family were connected with disturbances of the peace and got on the wrong side of the law, for example George Dalgleish, confidential sevitor of the Earl of Bothwell, was executed for participation in the murder of Darnley in 1567. However in the other extreme, Simon Dalgles was Canon and Prebend of Askirk in 1448 and offshoots of the family established in Timmygaske, Fife "successfully avoided any distinction". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Symon de Dagles, which was dated 1407, in the "Register of the Great Seal of Scotland", during the reign of King James of Scotland, 1406 - 1437. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Copyright: Name Orgin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2006

Sunday 18 February 2007

Coal Mining in County Durham

Many Daglish families worked in the coal mines of County Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire, often living in mining villages which grew up around the pits. Life was hard and working conditions often dangerous.

For anyone interested in coal mining in Durham I would strongly recommend a visit to the Durham Mining Musuem web site. The site includes a wealth of material, including a history of mining, details of individual collieries with historical maps and reports of the all-too common disasters.

The site lists details of those who lost their lives, which includes the following:
George Daglish - died 1912, age 34, Browney
James Daglish - died 1876, age 13, Usworth
John Daglish - died 1894, age 20, St. Helen's, Workington
Stodart Daglish - died 1928, age 48, Murton
Timothy Daglish - died 1905, age 21, Dean & Chapter
Vincent Daglish - died 1961, age 37, Murton
William Daglish - died 1855, age 71, Littletown
I am grateful to Kev Duncan, the webmaster of the Durham Mining Museum site, for providing the photo above of the sadly neglected grave of Stodart Daglish at Murton Cemetery.

Olly takes on the Dragons


Olly Daglish, a surf instructor from Newquay, appeared on the first of the current series of the BBC show Dragons' Den looking for a £50,000 investment in his Ollypop surf towel product.

“It all happened so quickly", Olly said. I was contacted by the associate producer of the Dragons' Den early in November. He’d read about Ollypop in the press, loved the idea and asked me if I'd like to apply to go on the show. He sent the application through and after a lot of deliberation I thought what the hell, filled it out and sent it back. Three weeks later there I was in the Den!”

Olly asked for £50,000 in return for 20% of his company and, although he did not get the money, has no regrets about going on the show.
For more details see the Ollypop site.

The Daglish water gauge


This instrument was made by T.B. Winter & Son of 21 Grey Street, Newcastle on Tyne. There is a plate which shows Daglish's Water Gauge - see below.

Water entered from behind into the U-shape pipe and there is a measure.

Any information about this would be welcome - how old it is, how it worked or the makers T.B. Winter & Son from Newcastle.


Robert Henry Daglish of Crook, County Durham


I recently acquired an old beer bottle, which has on it "R H Daglish - Crook". In this case Crook is the name of a place in County Durham.


I believe this bottle was made for Robert Henry Daglish (1865-1911). Robert's father was Matthew Daglish, who was a coal miner - but in the 1881 census was an inn keeper at the Heights of Alma public house in Mount Pleasant, near Crook.


Robert Henry was twice married - to Elizabeth Storey and later to Elizabeth's sister Ada. He died in Harrogate in Yorkshire but his home was in Hope Street, Crook. His occupation at time of death was given as Saddler and Wine and Spirit Merchant.


It would be interesting to hear from anyone with knowledge of this family or of the area in which they lived.

Saturday 17 February 2007

Welcome to The Daglish Family Blog

A warm welcome! I hope this will be of interest to those who share the Daglish family name or have some connection to it.


As far as we can tell, the Daglish surname originates in County Durham and Northumberland in the North of England - but over time has spread through most of the UK and to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.


For more information, please see the Daglish One-Name Study.