Genealogy Chat

think it could possibly be Jonas.

A few weeks ago I ordered the Waterloo Medal Roll book from Naval & Military Press in the UK, on the basis that I might be able to resolve the mystery by seeing a consistency in the recording of names.

The book is full of Jns, as well as John, and has no list of abbreviations.

Trying from a different angle.

Looked up Captains at the Battle of Waterloo.

One was called Charles John Barnett. He is on the Medal List under Chas. Jns. Barnett - Captain.

Sorry if I misled you there Andrew. I realised there were lots of records for the name John, but none for Jno. There were also about 20 for Jns, which must be an abbreviation for something.

It occurred to me the other day that it might be the SAME hand compiling this list and that's how he (or indeed she) finished off the writing of the name, probably with pen and ink, starting the last letter at the top to form a loop of the "0" instead of the bottom to form the same loop.

Having just said what I said above...................

I searched the Waterloo Medal Rolls for John Smith, and 77 records show !!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks ChristinaS.

I believe that, on the balance of probabilities, you are right, Jns is John. It woud be nice if this could be confirmed by other researchers who had family members at Waterloo and were listed on the Medal Roll as Jns.

Both John and William are very very common Fore Names in my familiy past, which adds weight to this also.

I have just found the following site. I have only looked at the one page, but there is lots of useful information. I have deleted most of the (very long) list, but Jns wasn't on it.

http://www.british-genealogy.com/parish-registers/

When people search a database, they will be searching for example, for the first name "William" rather than Gulielmus, etc.

Therefore we must standardise the input of first names to a modern form.

Note that Latin names were not used in every-day speech. They were only used in the written form.

The every-day speech form ("spoken" in the table below) was essentially the same as we use it today. The Margaretae Simpson of old didn't shout "Bartolomaeus... get in here for dinner!"

When transcribing parish registers from Latin, use the spoken form. That is what people will be looking for when they search a database.

This is not a definitive total list.

Latin Spoken Notes

Jno. John Abbr. of Johannes; not Jonathan. It is always John.

Just checking the Waterloo Medal List, I typed in Jns Smith - about 20 of these appeared. When I typed in Jno Smith there weren't any! So my guess would be that Jns is short for John.

Thanks for the link KenSE, looks like that was not fully resolved either !!

Thanks for all of the responses.

I am researching my GGG Grandfather, who we believe fought at the Battle of Waterloo. His Forename was William ( shown as Wm on the Waterloo Medal Roll). There is also another soldier with my family name on the Roll, Forename shown as Jns.

I do have a John in that possible year bracket, but have had no other references to a John from my immediate family being at Waterloo. I dont have a Jonas in my family tree.

In looking through the Waterloo Medal Roll there are a number of soldiers shown with a Forename as Jns. This is the only place I have come across this abbreviation.

Jno - John/Jonathan
Jas - James
Hy - Henry

And those are just a few - as said before they are from when latin was commonly used in parish records

But also look out for Jacobus for John or James as well.

ok.mea culpa..oops!!..I'll stick tp Derbyshire!

Jno is also a name in its own right and not an abbreviation for anything. It is pronounced Eeno and dates from the days when I and J were interchangeable.

Sorry, Derek, but you are wrong

You are wrong Derek. Jon is the abbreviation for Jonathan. The use of Jno for John came about when Latin names were used in the Parish Registers and Jno saved several letters.

Jno is not and never has been an abbreviation for John.......what a waste of time abbreviating for the sake on one letter........Jno is a well known abbreviation for Jonathan........
If the abbreviation is clearly Jns..I'd always go for Jonas.
Derek.

I'd agree with Reggie - it may be how they formed their letters.

Someone else had that problem, here is the discussion:
http://www.livinghistory.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14942

The abbreviation is almost certainly Jno........which is John