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In the 1873 diary of my 3rd great grandfather Thomas Hitchcox (1797-1874), written at Fullarton, South Australia, he writes about his son William (1821-1902) and another person who I suspect to be William's wife Sarah Ida Eustace Lithgow, who according to their 31 Oct 1854 marriage notice, was the "only daughter of the late D. Lithgow, Esq, M. D., Collon, County of Louth, Ireland."

However, he has not written Sarah, and instead appears to have written Saisy, but not clearly.

Some examples of that writing follow:

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The last line above from Sunday 26 Jan 1873 starts "Wm & Saisy(?)"

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The middle line above from Sunday 2 Mar 1873 starts "Wm & Saisy(?)"

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The last line above from Sunday 20 Apr 1873 starts "Wm & Saisy(?)"

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The last line above from Sunday 1 Jun 1873 starts "Wm & Saisy(?)"

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The last line above from Sunday 21 Dec 1873 after 10 days saying that he had been very ill/unwell, and in a shaky hand appears to start "Wm & Sasie(?)"

Is Saisy a known 19th century nickname for Sarah in Ireland and/or England?

Thomas and William had emigrated from Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire, England to South Australia in 1854 and 1851 respectively.

William and Sarah had only two children (both daughters):

  • Josephine Elizabeth born 4 Mar 1857 at Glenelg, South Australia

This is how he writes her name on 13 Apr 1873, as "Josey":

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  • Ida Eustace born 10 Aug 1860 at Glenelg, South Australia

This is how he writes her name on 13 Mar 1873, as "Ida":

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so Thomas does not appear to be referring to one of them.

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  • Neither First Name Variants by Alan Bardsley or The Oxford Names Companion has Saisey recorded as a variant of anything that I can find.
    – user6485
    Jun 24, 2017 at 11:13
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    To me, it looks more like "Suisy", and so could be a variant of Susie/Susan.
    – ACProctor
    Jun 25, 2017 at 9:30
  • @ACProctor I think his "a"s often look like "u"s - see genealogy.stackexchange.com/a/13022/19 - but I just added another one where it looks more like "Sasie" (or "Susie").
    – PolyGeo ♦
    Jun 25, 2017 at 9:38

1 Answer 1

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Sadie was a common nickname for Sarah, so perhaps that was where the Saisie came from. People also got nicknames based on a brother or sister being unable to pronounce their name when they were young. This type of name would be unlikely to be recorded as a variant.

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  • I just googled "Sarah Sadie Irish" and came up with a number of death notices linking the name and nickname, so I think Sasie being a variant of Sadie is a very reasonable theory - thanks!
    – PolyGeo ♦
    Jun 27, 2017 at 21:21

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