Historical questions

Rizzo · Mar 23, 2009

This is possibly a dumb question, but when writing a historical romance, how do you name the houses where the Hero or Heroine live? Do you make them up or are the names lifted somehow from the area where the house, castle, whatnot is situated? Like, why is Mr Darcy's house called Pemberly and why is Mr Rochester's house called Thornfield Hall?

I've read both Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, along with a few others, but haven't studied them enough to remember if there was ever a passage where this was explained. Does anyone know?

firedrake · Mar 23, 2009

I write historical fiction and I make the names up. For example, one house is called 'The Beeches', mainly because the house is surrounded by Beech Trees.
Houses can be named for the villages they're situated in. As for English place-names...they originate from a number of sources, anglo-saxon, norman, viking, celtic, roman.

I could go on and on and on.

Rizzo · Mar 23, 2009

sweet, thanks a ton

Gillhoughly · Mar 23, 2009

Making up a name for the house is likely best, but do a Google search on it to make sure your sub-conscious memory didn't provide something real.

Some of those old houses are now stately homes, with tours, t-shirts, and trademarks!

I'm sure that for Thornfield Hall the author wanted to impart a feeling of menace and discomfort. She'd not have gotten that with something like Greenfield or Richfield Hall!

Maybe you can do a Google map search of the area where your story is set and mix up place names there to create your house. It's also helpful at showing the geography of the surroundings. Knowing the lay of the land adds color to the narrative!

Stacia Kane · Mar 24, 2009

A great book to get is What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. (Sorry, forget the author offhand.) Not only is it a fantastic resource for all things Regency-into-early-Victorian, but it's just plain fun.

There's a whole section on house names, and what sorts of buildings were named what, which will help add versimilitude.

girlyswot · Mar 24, 2009

I'd do a Google search for defunct peerages. Often the really grand houses were named for their occupants (or vice versa). Also significant events (e.g. Blenheim Palace was named for a battle).

Slightly less grand houses were often named functionally for their surroundings. I grew up in The Brick House, for example. Also local placenames and geographical features. Again, google maps of the local area would be a great place to look.

Be sure that you know what sort of house it is and use the right term: Manor houses are very different from Halls, for example.

Deb Kinnard · Mar 24, 2009

So far I've made all mine up. But, since so far many of them are in Cornwall, this is easier than in the rest of England. One stately home I've used for more than one story is called Mossock. It just sounds Cornish to me, and I "know" what the house and its outbuildings look like.

If you google English place names (there are books and sites devoted to this, and the results are fascinating), you can get all kinds of hints about how things were named. You can go back to the ancient languages for some of the names. For example, "afon" or "avon" just means "river". There are elements meaning dark, bright, hilly, forested, etc. You could even combine several old elements and come up with your own compound word...though chances are someone has done this eons before you!

Have fun naming your places, and IMO the more evocative, the better.

Rizzo · Mar 24, 2009

Gillhoughly said:
Making up a name for the house is likely best, but do a Google search on it to make sure your sub-conscious memory didn't provide something real.

Some of those old houses are now stately homes, with tours, t-shirts, and trademarks!

I'm sure that for Thornfield Hall the author wanted to impart a feeling of menace and discomfort. She'd not have gotten that with something like Greenfield or Richfield Hall!

Maybe you can do a Google map search of the area where your story is set and mix up place names there to create your house. It's also helpful at showing the geography of the surroundings. Knowing the lay of the land adds color to the narrative!

That's actually one of the things that had me worried when I made up a name for a castle. I wasn't sure if a place with that name had already existed in that period of time, or if authors were even prone to using real names since everyone tells you to do as much research as possible and get your facts straight. So I wasn't sure if making up a name to a place that never existed was cheating or not

DecemberQuinn said:
A great book to get is What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. (Sorry, forget the author offhand.) Not only is it a fantastic resource for all things Regency-into-early-Victorian, but it's just plain fun.

There's a whole section on house names, and what sorts of buildings were named what, which will help add versimilitude.

It's funny that you would suggest that book because I actually have it! I got it off the internet a little while back, but had yet to actually read right through it. So now that you've suggested it and I don't have to wait for delivery I'll just take a peek at the section you suggested

As for google, I was never very good at using it, but probably because I was never specific enough in my searches. The next time I look for something in a house, manor or Hall. By the way, what is the difference between a manor and a hall? I never knew there even was one :S

girlyswot · Mar 24, 2009

Hall.

Manor house.

English architecture.

AllieGirl · Apr 4, 2009

This doesn't go back historically enough, but in New England, it is still common practice for families to name their houses, especially vacation homes. They are named after the original street name (Elmford House), the first family that owned it (Stein House), the person who built it, or sometimes what it used to be used for (Smith Manor).

Historical questions

Rizzo

firedrake

practical experience, FTW

Rizzo

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective

girlyswot

Deb Kinnard

Rizzo

girlyswot

AllieGirl

Sin is geographical