'Urricanes 'Ardly Hever 'Appen

One of my all-time favorite movie musicals is My Fair Lady. I can't tell you how many times I've waltzed around my bedroom to "I Could've Danced All Night," or burst out singing "The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plane" during the throes of a gusty rainstorm. What normal, well-adjusted and devoted Audrey Hepburn fan doesn't???

Remember the part where Professor Higgins tried to teach Eliza her "H's"? Just in case it's slipped your mind, I'll gladly help refresh your memory: He taught her the phrase "In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen." Eliza's pronunciation went something like this: "in 'artford, 'ereford, and 'ampshire, 'urricanes 'ardly Hever 'appen." Oh how I love that distinctive Eliza Doolittle accent! Well, this little snippet came to mind as I searched the 1911 Census of England for my third-great-grandfather, Alfred Roberts. The search took me a bit longer than expected and I wondered why. How hard could it be to locate a man named Alfred Roberts? His name wasn't difficult to spell, and it was common enough. Finally, I located the family by searching for his wife, Elizabeth Roberts. When I saw the digital image of the census page, I understood why I couldn't find Alfred before:



It seems that the census taker recorded Alfred's name phonetically, as he likely pronounced it..."Haffred," rather than how it was actually spelled. I imagine that when I meet Alfred Roberts in the next life, he'll come up to me and introduce himself as Grandpa Haffred...accent and all. :)