Ventnor Nicknames

In the last Century, there was a staggering range of nicknames for the people who lived in Ventnor. It was once common for almost everyone in the town to be nicknamed. Some names reflected what the individuals did, so ‘Fishy Frampton’, not surprisingly had a wet fish shop. ‘Sooty Humphries’, was predictably a chimney sweep, while ‘Putty Vincent’ was in the decorating trade.

Some appear to have been more in the way of character descriptions, whether of body or mind, for example, the bus and cab drivers ‘Potty Morris’, ‘Lanky Morris’, ‘Tricky Glaire’, ‘General Fry’ and ‘Buff Brown’. Very few women appear to have acquired nicknames. The outstanding exception was, of course, Olivia Parkes, primarily known as ‘Britannia’, but sometimes also as ‘Nell Gwyn’.

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