I have often wondered who, in my family, started to use a hyphen in our name.
It would almost certainly be one of two men who were educated at Cambridge and made a career in the church as vicars and upwards. My Grandfather was one of them, a Great Uncle the other.
We know that William Roberts (possibly from Birkenhead), probably a Master Confectioner, married a Prudence Page in the mid 1800s. They had several children and all were christened with Page as their last Christian name.
The two men both made their names in the world, so either could have done it as a prestigious move, the most likely one being Great Uncle, the Dean of Salisbury.
My modest research is through their books - Grandfather’s on roses and Great Uncle’s on religion - both of which I have quite a few.
Grandfather (the Reverend Frederick) I learned from books, articles, reports and obituaries, was a much loved and gentle character. He was Vicar of Scole, Halstead and lastly Stratfield Saye, and must have been quite a commanding figure in the world of roses as he became President of the National Rose Society around the turn of the century, writing extensively in their annual and editing other books on roses. He generally used the hyphen, favouring it with his writings and the rose named after him.
The Dean (the Very Reverend William), on the other hand, used his gold embossed name with hyphen on the hard back covers of his religious books, but seldom with the inside text.
The Very Reverend W. Page-Roberts with a religious past in Eye, Veere Street, London and (Dean of) Salisbury, seems to have been a far more flamboyant character than his brother. His obituary says he was a great traveller and noted raconteur. He had a yellow and blue limousine car made for him by Scout (of Salisbury). The covers of his books on religion seem always to have had the hyphen and title in gold leaf on their outer covers, but omitting the hyphen in the texts.
He married a Baroness and (presumably it was him) had a coat of arms, crest and motto created.
So, from my modest researches, in going through their books and articles, it would seem that the Dean instigated the heraldry and hyphen.
My own use of the hyphen might be considered as cursory. I use it in my books and articles but no longer in my art. And my youngest son, who is a Custodian at Holland Park in London, has not only abandoned the hyphen but the family name as well. There’s flexibility for you.
So as far as the hyphen is concerned, I think we might call it a “floating” one - used on a whim if desired, as a form of continuity and legality - or not at all.
