Regular readers of the FWL blog will more than likely be aware of my penchant for a bit of athletics viewing. I am no great athlete myself – though the 10,000 steps a day (plus) is still being maintained (thanks for asking!) – but I have been an avid follower of UK Athletics for over 30 years. We – the GB Team – are not always prolific medal winners in international meetings/championships. In fact, our relay squads are pretty renowned for not actually managing to get the baton round in the 4 x 100m men’s event.
There have been occasions where our ‘leading lights’ have achieved bronze medals though. Like at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona…. our 4 x 400m men’s relay team won bronze in 2:59:73, just 22/100ths of a second behind Cuba (who do not regularly win medals in this event, I hasten to add!). At the same Olympics, Kriss Akabusi won bronze in the 400m hurdles and the women’s 4 x 400m relay team also won bronze with Sally Gunnell on the last leg.
Unfortunately, some parents have chosen to call their children Bronze. Oh I know…. there are some daft people out there! Bronze Dale Thorne was born in 1966 in Newmarket and Ancestry lists two more recent births for Bronze’s – one registered with both Elliott and Tams surnames in 2002 (Bronze Don) and Bronze Tulloch in Lambeth in 1999. Bronze as a surname is more prevalent in England and Wales than you might think with references in dozens of catalogues on Ancestry and collections in FindMyPast, generally in the twentieth century. There is only ONE in 1881 – Harriet A. Bronze, a seven-year-old boarder in Accrington – so maybe some good ol’ mistranscriptions and there may be others hiding just waiting to be located by budding genealogists! There are certainly very few England/Wales BMD entries….
Maybe parents who have competed at national level in sport and aspired to winning medals (or maybe have won medals) decide that naming their children something ‘stand out’ is a good plan…. I have to say, I really don’t think it is! Harper Seven – where did that come from? Good idea? I am not so sure. Allegedly, it was after a famous (favourite) author and a number on a football shirt – I ask you….
I’d leave Bronze for the medals – it’s one better than fourth but seriously not for use in people’s names.
Source image: British Olympic Medal theft
