November 2009 Quiz

This month’s question is pretty simple: What is the derivation of the name “Pendleton”?

A. Gaelic: In Gaelic, “Pen” means “the top” or “summit” and “Hulton” means “hill”. Combining the two, Pen-Hulton means “Top of the hill.”

B. French: Before the middle of the 15th century, men were known by their father’s name, e.g., John’s son William would have been known as William of John. One of our ancestors had been named “Pen” and his father was “Tun”, he would have been known as Pen of Tun, or in French, which was widely spoken in England at that time, Pen de Tun.

C. Anglo-Saxon: The original family name was “Pendle” and “ton” is the equivalent of the English word “town”. Pendleton means the town where the Pendle family lived.

Check back next month for the answer!

-- ANSWER

While I think each of the three languages may have had some influence, the correct answer is: A. Pen-hulton is Gaelic for “top of the hill.” I did find a couple sites on the web that state that “hulton” means “town on the hill” and I think that is probably correct, and that would make Pen-hulton “town at the top of the hill” and would refer to the place where the family lived.

There are at least 2 places in England called Pendleton. One is in Lancashire, about 30 miles north of Manchester and the other is a section of Salford in greater Manchester itself. It appears that Thomas Pendleton, the great-grandfather of Brian Pendleton (the first of our ancestors to live in America), was a resident of the latter.