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Warne(s)

Ellen Warne(s) ca1839-1885

Warne

meaning and origins

“This interesting surname is of English locational origin from either Wearne in Somerset or Warne in Marytavy, Devonshire. Wearne is recorded as "Warne" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was originally the name of the stream of the place. The name means "alder stream" and is derived from the British (the extinct Celtic language of the ancient Britans) "verno" or the Welsh "gwern" meaning alders. Warne is recorded as "Wagefen" in the 1194 Pipe Rolls of Devonshire and is composed of the Old English pre 7th Century elements "wagen" meaning quaking plus "fen" a fen or marsh; hence "quaking fen".”  I have checked out various other sites, and alder definitely seems to be the common theme.

Variations

Wearn(e), Warn, Warnes

distribution in England and Wales

in 1891 the Warnes were very definitely centred in Cornwall, Hampshire and Dorset, which fits with our Ellen I think.  London figures highly of course, and then Suffolk and Devon.  So our lone bearer of the name does not seem to have strayed all that far

Just about the shortest line I have.  Ellen Warne(s) is the only person we know of in this family and her origins are completely unknown and so this is a mystery line.

 

I have chosen to represent it with a this stylised gypsy caravan in a forest, because there is reason to believe the Warnes may have been gypsies, and also because I don’t know much.  It’s all hidden.   I have no facts to confirm the gypsy thing. Just rumours and a feeling.

Hastings andPortsmouth

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