The Names of King's Norton

Does the name of this place have an apostrophe? This is the only variation remaining from the variety of names that this place has had over more than a millennium!

21st Century

Material written for this web site spells "King's Norton" with that possessive apostrophe. This is a contraction from the earlier possessive form "Kinges Norton" (see below). Although this is probably in line with punctuation convention since the introduction of the apostrophe into English during the 16th century, there is no consensus about this.

There does not appear to be any remaining official justification for this spelling. It is typically used casually and informally. An exception is the Ordnance Survey, which spells it this way.

21st Century

Some maps, recent legislation, some official publications, several books, and many web sites, spell it without the apostrophe. The current proper name of the Parish has no apostrophe. Lord Kings Norton spelt his name without an apostrophe, starting in 1965. Of registered charities, the last to spell the name with an apostrophe was registered in 1962. There have been about 10 charities registered since then without an apostrophe. There are about 17 registered companies without an apostrophe, and none with one. The 2003 legislation which defines the names of Birmingham City wards spells it without an apostrophe. However, the electoral ward appears to have had an apostrophe until quite late (at least May 1996), and it probably only lost it in 2003 (see below).

The British Medical Journal advises contributors not to use an apostrophe. This is probably the only safe way of spelling the name.

• Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2769 - The City of Birmingham (Electoral Changes) Order 2003
• BMJ - Advice to Contributors

1086

This is the name in the Domesday Book. It derives from "north" and "tun", the latter meaning a settlement (or similar, such as farmstead). See embrummie.co.uk, and "1000 Years of Brum" (Carl Chinn).

(There were several places called Nortune in the Domesday Book. Others are in Runcorn, Derbyshire, Somerset, Lincolnshire, Hampshire, and another in Worcestershire, the latter now being Bredon's Norton).

1286

Here, it started to be associated with the King. See embrummie.co.uk, and "1000 Years of Brum" (Carl Chinn).

1402 - 1672

These are dates in the UK archives network.

13th Century - 1347

These are dates in the UK archives network.

A whole variety of names! During these centuries writing was largely phonetic, and there was no consistency in written names.

1221

This is fairly obviously the precursor to "King's Norton", because after the 16th Century the apostrophe often replaced the "e" in the possessive "es" ending of words. OntaWorld - origin of the name "King's Norton" gives 1221. But did it really arise at this time? There are plenty of "less modern" versions of the name in following centuries, as shown below.

1301 - 1651

These are all names and dates in the UK archives network. Use the English strand of the UK archives network, and put one of these names, or "King's Norton" or "Kings Norton", into the "Keyword" box. (A particularly good result is seen at "Smythe Etches and Co, later Lee Crowder and Co, solicitors of Birmingham - Catalogue Ref. MS 3375").

1318

• Medieval Wythworth

1304, early 16th Century

• Welford on Avon, List of rectors, 1065-1987
• Wythall - Buildings and sites of architectural or historical interest

16th Century

• Autumn 1963 Edition of the "Eagle" Magazine - Kyngsnorton in Tudor times

1610

• John Speede map of Birmingham and environs 1610

Being a proper noun, (a name), there is no reason why the internal punctuation of the name of this place should resemble that of common nouns. That is perhaps why there is no agreement about its use in place names.

1559 - 1700

The first known use of an apostrophe in English was in 1559. This probably came from French, although that use probably followed the Italian use. The first known use of an apostrophe in Italian was 1501. ("How the Past Affects the Future: The Story of the Apostrophe". Christina Cavella and Robin A. Kernodle).

Before 1700, the possessive apostrophe was not consistently used, and earlier it was more usual simply to omit letters without marking them. See: English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course

19th and 20th Century

Printing led to greater consistency in spelling, but not necessarily in punctuation, where there was still no consensus about the apostrophe!

21st Century

Recently, the Electoral Commission has tended to define few apostrophes in UK local government ward names. This is not the result of a consistent policy. Any remaining apostrophes are typically near the end of the ward name, rather than internally. For example, the only ward names defined with apostrophes in "Electoral Changes" orders dated 2003 and 2004 are: Ashton St Michael's, Duke's, St Anne's, St Chad's, St Germain's, St James', St James's, St Mary's, St Michael's, St Peter's. (Duke's is in the Borough of Sefton, and is the only one of these that doesn't have an obvious church significance).

The City of Birmingham (Electoral Changes) Order 2003 defines all Birmingham ward names to be without apostrophes. The Boundary Committee recommendation had spelled "King's Norton", "Acock's Green", and "Moseley and King's Heath", with apostrophes. The Electoral Commission received a representation (the author cannot be identified) requesting that the apostrophes be removed. The Commission checked this with the Boundary Committee and Birmingham City Council, and neither objected. Therefore apostrophes were removed from the final order.