England « Faulder Family Genealogy

17 August, 2010

Suggestion that “Faulder” is a corruption of “Folder”, one associated with (Sheep) Folds.
However, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests that the modern word “Fold” (as in “A pen or enclosure for domestic animals, esp. sheep”) is derived from the Old English “Fald” – this would suggest that it is the “Fold” spelling which is the corruption.
The OED entry for “Fauld” also gives the following examples (amongst others):
- 1788 BURNS My Hoggie ii, The lee-lang night we watch’d the fauld, Me and my faithfu’ doggie.
- c1470 Henry the Minstrel, The actis and deidis of the illustere and vailßeand campioun Schir William Wallace v. 177 Twa scheipe thai tuk besid thaim of a fauld.
- 1802 R. ANDERSON Cumberland ballads 49 Auld Marget in the fauld she sits.
The Scottish Tour guide, Sandy Stevenson, notes that “fauld” is an alternative Scots word for “field”.
Also within Scottish phonology, it is noted that “auld” often reduces to the modern “old” – again supporting the argument that “Fold” is a corruption of “Fauld”.
An alternative derivation of the surname is that it is derived from a maker of “faulds”. A “Fauld” is the piece of articulated armour that straps onto the bottom of the breastplate. It usually consists of two or four flared pieces called lames. (Example (bytheswordinc.com))

The Family tree of Eileen Fell’s father-in-law Francis Steinthal and his wife, Emeline Petrie.

In World War One, their children changed their surname to Petrie (see The Family of Eileen Fell)

The marriage of Robert Faulder and Anne Jackson in 1754 is the earliest record (in Parish Registers) that I have found for the main Faulder line.

Family Tree showing the two half families descended from her two husbands (both named Robert Faulder).

Eileen Mary Fell was a first cousin of my paternal grandmother, Marjorie Fell Faulder (née Lendrum). Her mother Elizabeth Fell was a sister of Eileen’s father Henry Fell.
Eileen was shown by Marjorie Fell Faulder (in her notes) to have married a Paul Cuthbert Petrie, but I could not find a reference to this marriage.
I could however find a reference to a marriage to a Steinthal – but not to his death.
It turns out that Paul Steinthal had changed his name during WW1 to Petrie (his mother’s maiden name).
Searching through on-line sources such as the London Gazette and the London Times plus being provided with photographs of a family memorial helped identify Eileen’s descendants and their immediate cousins.