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Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:48 pm

A colleague of mine is expecting her first child on this propitious date and I have, not surprisingly, suggested (tongue firmly in cheek!) that her offspring's name should reflect the fact!

Not having the slightest interest in matters AZW, the expectant mother has thrown up her hands in horror at the thought, although I did hint that I had contacts who, I'm sure, would be able to come up with all sorts of suggestions.

Having already seen Rorke and Vince rejected out of hand, no doubt the contributors can come up with some more acceptable suggestions ...?

Peter

P.S. Of course, the birth may not take place on the expected day at all - I have suggested she checks when "the Dead Moon" is due!

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:42 pm

I don't suppose she'll take too kindly to "Gonville" then?

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:31 pm

One of my company officers was patriotic enough to have a little girl on 22 Jan (well he didn't - his wife did...is that the oldest joke in the history of the world?).

Whenever I bump into him I always enquire after little 'Shaka' which, when we wet the baby's head in the bar, I distinctly remember him agreeing to call her. I think from the dirty look his wife gives me, though, that they may not have gone through with it, and that the baby may actually have been christened something else. I have no idea what. To me she will always be Shaka!

M

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:48 pm

I'm afraid it's the obvious from me -

Boy - Anthony

Girl - Toni

Coll Wink

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:59 pm

Peter...you know I think a piece of information that would be helpful would be where your colleague is on the income track..fact is there are class differences among families when picking names for their children...anyway do you think there's a chance that Ebeneezer or Abigail would interest them??...could start a new trend... Wink

....

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:24 pm

,
A Rorke's drift man , namely Sgt Frederick Augustus Milne of the Buffs had a daughter born on Jan 22nd ( 1902 ) , she was named ADA RORKE MILLNE . Wink

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:50 pm

Dear all,
another uncanny connection with this date is the fact that Her Majesty Queen Victoria died on 22nd January,1901 22 years to the day after the battle of Isandhlwana.Does anybody know if there is a time of death recorded for her departure.Cheers.

Tony.

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:54 pm

Well, that's not a bad start!

Simon - Well, she just might! It is, after all, a distinguished half of a name of a Cambridge Univ college.

Mike - a great story. Perhaps it was the baby's sex which snookered your suggestion? Makes me think we ought to consider female names too. Which, of course, Coll has - and yes, Coll, I'd have laid a pound on that choice from you! Income, Rich? How vulgar! Highly respectable & well bred, that's for certain. Income irrelevant (although Gonville would certainly suit better than, say, "Hookie"!) Sapper, interested to see that Millne of The Buffs bestowed the name which my friend has already rejected. Perhaps I should try again with that one by emphasising the Canterbury connection?

Hang on, just had a thought. Doesn't Dabulamanzi mean "the breaking of the waters" or something similar? Better not go there, as they say ...

Tony, from memory (I don't mean I remember the event!) I'm pretty sure it was 6.30 pm, as in one of my talks I regularly show an illustration from the page of a school log which contains an entry by the master to the effect that HM died at 6.30 pm. Very roughly the same time 22 years previously that Chelmsford's force was approaching the saddle and the RD hospital was getting a bit hot?

Peter

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:20 am

Dear Peter,
cheers for that interesting addition to the other facts I quoted.
I was trying to work out if the death of Her Majesty Queen Victoria possibly coincided with the times of the partial eclipse that occured over South Africa 22nd January 1879.Thanks.

Tony.

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:46 am

The following message was read to the crowd gathered outside Osborne House on the 22nd January :-

"Her Majesty the Queen breathed her last at 6.30 p.m. surrounded by her children and grandchildren "

Graham

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:32 am

How about 'Warwick'? I know both male and female babies given that as a Christian name and it would be connected to the name of the Regiment.

Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 4:47 pm

,
With regards time of passing , FRED HITCH VC ( and not a petty criminal EVER ) passed away at 6 :30 pm on the 6th Jan 1913 . Had FRED lived i am sure the only lie he would have uttered in his life was his age when trying to enlist when World War One erupted .

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:52 am

Peter,

can you inform us regarding any further news of the birth of your colleague's child?

If the 22nd is the magic day, I have a suggestion for a girl's name. My wife was born shortly after 9am on January 22nd and her mother named her Dawn. With a bit of a stretch I believe it can be obviously linked to the movie title 'Zulu Dawn.'

As an additional point, sometimes Dawn gets a bit upset as myself and my two little chaps are generally fairly excited that day and she questions whether it is her birthday or our remembrance of the day's events being reason for our mood.

On the upside, I've yet to forget her birthday!

Cheers,

Steven

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:52 am

Stephen

A nice story. Well, things are still on track for the 22nd but of course not that many births occur on the actual day expected, so we might have to find a name which fits an occurrence later in the month! Either way, it'll be interesting to see if we can fit a character to the actual name(s) chosen, although if it's a girl I don't suppose it'll be easy.

Not sure I'll have the courage to tell her she's missed a great opportunity if the 22nd passes without result, nor that some very helpful suggestions are coming in from all over the world!

Peter