Origin- Herradine

Where did my name come from?

©GeraldineBanksAug2024

I am very excited to share this story, my Christian Name “Geraldine” is I don’t think Worldwide, it is however present in mainly the Northern Hemisphere with a spattering in the Southern Hemisphere due to emigration and also the expatriate longing for home, whereby children are christened with names from the long lost home Country.

Mine, however, has an origin I only found out recently through some papers that a long lost uncle (recently deceased) passed on to me in his last will and testament. Uncle James had moved to Spain in the 1960’s, somewhere near Valencia. He had married a Spanish Lady and had a three beautiful children, two boys and a girl.

Although very sorry to hear of my uncle’s passing , I was unable to attend his funeral. However, I was most surprised to receive a package through the post from the Spanish Executor of his Estate. The parcel contained some papers and a family tree and also a letter of explanation from Uncle James. Apparently my father who abandoned my mother along with me when I was a few months old, had a secret. A past that he thought very dark and that should be concealed. He was off course Spanish, but his relatives had all been pirates.

The family tree went back to the 16th Century, and even mentioned the exploits of the Pirates and in some cases their sorry end “hanged for Piracy”. It did make dark reading, however, the men on my father’s side seemed to have much success with their Pirating , all being Captain’s of their own ship’s at an early age and some receiving money and awards from Spanish Royalty for their exploits.

However, one particular area was highlighted by my Uncle, it was my father’s great, great grandfather, he had been married to a lady called “Herradine” and she my uncle explained in his letter had been the great love of his life. The wad of papers along with the family tree, explained her role in ensuring the family’s future fortune, she was the driving force behind all my late relatives achievements.

It had been my father’s wish to call me “Herradine”, but due to a language misunderstanding at the registry office and possibly an error by my mother, it was transcribed as Geraldine. However, in my mind and particularly as I am learning Spanish it will always be “Herradine” to me.

The End