Expert on British surnames Dr George Redmonds of Lepton has died

Examiner byRobert Sutcliffe


He had a wonderful gift for languages and study says former Wakefield MP David Hinchliffe

An internationally recognised historian who specialised in the origin of surnames and place names has died aged 82.

Dr George Redmonds, of Lepton, died in Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on Friday, August 10. The funeral service will be held at St John’s Church, Lepton, on Wednesday, August 29, at 2pm.

He was born in Bradford, and taught for several years at Huddersfield New College and gave up his secure job as a senior lecturer at the former Huddersfield Polytechnic to become a freelance historian in 1974, earning a living through his local history publications.

His widow, Ann-marie, nee Burke, recalls them determining at the time that if they could earn £40 a week they would manage and she helped the family income through a pottery shop. The couple met at a jazz club in Northumberland Street in October 1962 and got married at LindleyMethodist Church, on 27 July 1963.

They went on to have three children and two grandchildren. Ann-marie said: “We know that he is well-known in the academic world, but we knew him as a wonderful husband, dad and grandad and however much he is missed by others, we will miss him more.”

George studied at Birmingham University before teaching modern languages in London, Nairobi, West Germany, (as was), and his native Yorkshire. He was awarded a PhD at Leicester University in 1970 for his research into Yorkshire surnames , and in 1973 his work was published as Volume 1 of the English Surnames Series.

David Hinchliffe, who was MP for Wakefield between 1987 and 2005, said: “Dr Redmonds’ family and place name work was based on the apparently simple proposition that the only way to find real meaning and understanding was to look at their very earliest written appearances. “His language skills enabled him to master the complexities of medieval Latin to remarkable effect, from which came significant findings on the origins of family names.

“Along with his good friend, Dr David Hey, Prof Stanley Ellis and others, George Redmonds was arguably one of the scholars who, in the late 20th century, helped validate the study of Yorkshire’s local history as a serious and important activity. “He lectured extensively to local history classes and societies and family historians, travelling to Australia, New Zealand and the USA to speak on the origins of English surnames. He enjoyed showing visitors to this country from abroad the locations from where their surnames came.

“Along with other local historians, Cyril Pearce and Jennifer Stead, he helped to produce many editions of the journal Old West Riding which ran from 1981-1995. It was seen as a vehicle for the growing number of amateur historians to publish their work.

“In 2001 he presented the BBC Radio 4 Series Surnames Genes and Genealogy.

“His many published works included Surnames and Genealogy: a New Approach (1997), Names and History (2004), Christian Names in Local and Family History (2004) and, along with Turi King and David Hey, Surnames, DNA and Family History (2011). “In 2015, Dr Redmonds produced his extensive Dictionary Of Yorkshire Surnames with thousands of entries, giving the names’ linguistic meanings, geographic origins and distribution.

“Throughout his many years researching records, often from the medieval period, he kept meticulous notes of what he found, which enabled him also to produce The Vocabulary of Coal Mining In Yorkshire, 1250-1850 in 2016 and A Vocabulary of Wood, Wood Workers and Wood Management in Yorkshire last year. His Yorkshire Historic Dictionary is also due to be published in the near future.

“Away from his research work, Dr Redmonds and his wife were staunch supporters of the Huddersfield Giants rugby league team.”