In this page from the Avoch Valuation Roll for the year 1889-90 (Ref: CRC/4/2/6) you can see several nicknames for fishermen tenants living in the parish of Avoch on the Black Isle. Common surnames at the time included Patience and Jack and nicknames like Dod, Tot, Bookie, Canky, and Rory were used.
Valuation Rolls are an excellent resource to use if you’re tracing a building or person and you have an address or rough address. They will tell you the address of a proprietor, tenant and occupier and the yearly rent or value of the property. Sometimes they will list the occupation of the tenants which can be very useful when you’re researching family or local history. In parishes where you have many inhabitants with the same surname, you can often find tenants’ nicknames or ‘bye-names’ listed which can help differentiate between individuals.
Find out more about Valuation Rolls and how they can help with your research.
