Isabella Haldren - Halldren - Aulden - Holden

Written by Rob Bowers:

Prior to reading this it is important to note that in the 1700's and early 1800's a name could be spelled multiple ways. Fixed spelling was not introduced until the late 1700's and early 1800's. Prior to this, a priest would write down what he heard. A few years later a new priest would/could spell the same family name differently. 

A common example is the U.S. Constitution. A handful of words are quote unquote spelled incorrectly. For example, Chuse and choose. The reality was it has to do with the fact that fixed spelling was not introduced until a later date. Other words are spelled after the British spelling vs. the American eg. Labour. 

The christening record for Isabella shows her name as Elizabeth Hallden. The 1804 marriage record lists her name as Haldren. A thick accent or a priest who is hard of hearing could easily account for the differences in surnames (last names). Both the marriage record and christening record are equally legitimate records. However, in 100 years of Old Swinford parish records, the surname "Aulden" or "Hallden" never does have the "R" in it that the priest recorded in the marriage record.

There are many ways that the name "Aulden" appears in the various parish records. The most common spelling is "Aulden." However, the name also has been written as Alden, Allden, Audin, Aldin, Hallden, and Holden.

In the original parish records of Old Swinford, starting in the late 1600s, the name appears written almost always as "Aulden," and secondly as "Auden." By about 1720, the spellings "Hallden" or "Allden" appear interchangeably with "Aulden." The priest was not even consistent in spelling the name as he recorded the marriage and then subsequent christenings for children. Inconsistent spellings for surnames by parish priests was actually quite a common occurance up through the early 1800s.

The spelling of the last name as "Holden" appears at least once in the 1750s, but the spelling "Aulden" was still more popular. However, about the 1790s, the name starts to appear consistently written as "Holden." In the case of Francis Aulden & Sophia Clive's family, their children's christening records illustrate this shift in the spelling of the name, with the last three children's surnames recorded as "Holden." In Isabella's case, the name was written as "Hallden.