Re: Surname Origin
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In reply to:
Surname Origin
Clara ann Cann 2/24/07
Hi, Clara.
I'm afraid your tall ships led to a tall story.The name Openshaw is much older than opening pedestrian bridges, being first noticed in 1295, so says Joseph T. Openshaw in his The Openshaw Pedigree (1893).The village of Openshaw, now a part of Manchester, is first recorded in 1282, according to Eilert Ekwall's English Place Names, which says that Openshaw means an unenclosed wood.
Michael