Ahadish Brelstaff

The online version of the 1901 UK Census contains this entry:

Name: Ahadish Brelstaff

Age: 49

Where born: Haughton Le Spring, Durham

Administrative County: North Riding

Civil Parish: Guisborough

Occupation: Milk Seller

The name 'Ahadish' is an error; the man was called 'Obadiah Brelstaff'.  I presume the person (or algorithm) that transcribed the handwritten original misread the 'O' for a curly capital 'A', the 'b' for an 'h', and the small 'a' for an 's'.  (I notice that they have also misspelt the name of 'Houghton le Spring' too.)

Obadiah was the head of the family that adopted my grandfather Walter in 1903. That is how we came to hijack the name 'Brelstaff'.  On a visit to Great Ayton, probably in the early 1970s, Walter took me to see Obadiah's grave in a churchyard there.  The name 'Obadiah' seems to have been handed down for at least 3 generations, see these 3 entries in the 1851 Census records:

Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 0, Administrative Area: Houghton Le Spring, Hetton Le Hole

Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 39, Administrative Area: Houghton Le Spring, Hetton Le Hole

Name: Obadiah Brelstaff, Age: 88, Administrative Area: Guisborough