Featherstonhaugh

Featherstonhaugh, also spelt Fetherstonhaugh and Featherstonehaugh, is an old English surname that was originally Fetherston. The name comes from Featherstone Castle in Northumberland, from the Old English {{lang|ang|feðere}}, 'feather', {{lang|ang|stān}}, 'stone', and {{lang|ang|healh}}, 'corner'.{{cite book |last=Fancher |first=Patrick A. |date=2013 |title=Diana, Princess of the Royal Forest of the Peak: From Domesday to Derbyshire with the Eyres, Fanshawes, Featherstonehaughs, and Fanchers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mW3tBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |publisher=Lulu |pages=39–48 |isbn=978-1-300-88178-0 }}

The name is usually pronounced as speltDebrett's Correct Form, ed. Patrick Montague-Smith, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 1976, p. 381{{cite news |last1=Doughty |first1=Eleanor |title=How to pronounce English names, from Belvoir to Featherstonhaugh |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/comment-opinion/how-do-you-pronounce-belvoir-featherstonhaugh-and-bagehot-227460 |access-date=12 November 2024 |work= Country Life |date=29 May 2021 |language=en}} though commonly shortened to Fetherston.{{cite news |title=How Do You Pronounce Fetherstonehaugh? B.B.C. Announcers Have Now Got The Key |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003150/19390413/068/0004 |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=Bradford Observer |date=13 April 1939 |page=4}} The popularly known pronunciation of {{respell|FAN|shaw}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|æ|n|ʃ|ɔː}}) originated with Irish holders of the name. Other pronunciations include {{respell|FEE|stun|hay}} or {{respell|FEE|ster|hay}}.{{cite news |title=Is Your Name? FEATHERSTONE. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003329/19300919/247/0018 |access-date=12 November 2024 |work=Leicester Evening Mail |date=19 September 1930 |page=18}}{{cite journal |last1=M. |first1=O. |title=Featherstonehaugh |journal=Plum Lines|date=Summer 2001 |volume=22 |issue=2 |page=13 |url=http://www.wodehouse.org/extra/PL/PL_v22_nr2.pdf |access-date=12 November 2024}}

Notable people

Fetherstonhaugh baronets

{{Main|Fetherstonhaugh baronets}}

Artistic and fictional works

  • The Featherstonehaughs, a British dance company
  • "Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh", an episode of the TV series Nanny and the Professor.
  • Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge (the middle name pronounced "Fanshaw"), a fictional character in the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse.
  • Marcus Featherstone's terrier "Foon" ("written 'Featherstonehaugh'") in the detective novel Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (1931).
  • Harry Featherstonhaugh in the Lady Hardcastle Mystery Books by T.E. Kinsey.
  • Piers Featherstonehaugh is the protagonist in the game The Gene Machine.
  • In E. M. Forster's Maurice, Clive Durham refers to a Featherstonhaugh who has a pianola. In the film, he pronounces it "Feestonhay".

See also

References

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Category:English toponymic surnames