Purves Spelling or Orthography

Purves has an ‘occupational’ origin stemming from the “the collection or requisition of provisions for a sovereign” – Purveyanceis the feudalis a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs (click for more) right of the Crown to requisition goods and services, purchased on credit, for royal use whilst his household travelled through the country or during military campaigns (click for more) (purvea(u)nce, purvya(u)nce in Middle English and purveance in Old French).

The first recorded spelling of Purves/Purvis, the modern day forms, is Purueis and yet there are many other spellings that one needs to be alert too when researching especially early literature.

The early spoken word, Purveyanceis the feudalis a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs (click for more) right of the Crown to requisition goods and services, purchased on credit, for royal use whilst his household travelled through the country or during military campaigns (click for more), in Middle English probably had phonetic spelling and is reported as purveaunce, purveyanceis the feudalis a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs (click for more) right of the Crown to requisition goods and services, purchased on credit, for royal use whilst his household travelled through the country or during military campaigns (click for more), purvyaunce or purvyance.

In addition it was common to find a “f” representing an “s” in Latin, often “w”, “v” and “u” where interchangeable, I suspect “n” is written badly and might be a “u” or “v”, “i” may be replaced by a “y” – suffice to say surname spelling was not a strong point of the few people who could write.

If the person recording a surname (most often a clergyman, session clerk, court clerk, registrar or in the 19^th century a census enumerator) was unfamiliar with the accent of the informant or the spelling of a name, they might record the name incorrectly, or simply write it down as they heard it.