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                                                   Today is born the seventh one

                                                   Born of woman the seventh son

                                                   And he in turn of a seventh son

                                                   He has the power to heal

                                                   He has the gift of the second sight

                                                   He is the chosen one

                                                   So it shall be written

                                                   So it shall be done

 

                                                   (Iron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)

 

Doctor Butterworth Holden was my great-great uncle. He was born in 1860, the youngest son of George and Ellen Holden and the younger brother of my great grandfather George Henry Holden (see Family Tree).​  The use of ‘Doctor’ as a forename is replete with myth, legend and folklore. It has long been believed in Europe and the United States that a seventh son is especially lucky or gifted with occult powers, and that the seventh son of a seventh son has healing powers. In Scotland, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter was said to have the gift of second sight (prophetic vision).

 

So what of my great-great uncle ?  His birth certificate confirms his ‘given’ namesThe first thing to be said is that it was not as uncommon as might first be thought. Simon Youngi reports that the mid 1800s in Blackburn saw the highest use of ‘Doctor’ as a forename - 18 in the period 1851-61. The folklore kicks in when we consider the possibility that the use of ‘Doctor’ was linked to the birth of a son being the ‘seventh son of a seventh son’. The legend here is that such individuals were imbued with special or even magical powers. It is perhaps best captured in the Iron Maiden lyrics (see above).​ Doctor Butterworth Holden was indeed the seventh son of George Holden’s nine children – see family tree. However, he clearly is not the seventh son of a seventh son. His father is the first born with eight siblings (five brothers and three sisters). Indeed, highlighting the lack of evidence to support the myth Simon Young argues that his research suggests: firstly, that ‘Doctor’ was used as Christian name in the nineteenth century and that it was used particularly in and around Blackburn. secondly, that whilst most ‘Doctors’ were indeed seventh sons there was no prima facia evidence of them being the seventh son of a seventh son. In the specific case, then, of the use of ‘Doctor’ by my family it offers no real challenge to the conclusions of Young.

 

Yet questions remain as to the decision made by George and Ellen in respect of their youngest child. Genealogical research suggests forenames were generally speaking a matter of conscious decision making on behalf of their parents. As regards Butterworth - my great-great uncles second forename - the rationale is clear; to maintain and honour the mother’s maiden name. We can only speculate about the use of ‘Doctor’. Was it aspirational - the hope being that this child would escape the traditions of employment in weaving and become a professional of some sort? Possible, but surely unlikely. The most likely explanation would seem to be that, in the mid 1800’s, and whether steeped in legend or not, it was somehow deemed ‘appropriate’ and ‘suitable’ to name a seventh son ‘Doctor’. Of course, as is evident from the family tree, Doctor Butterworth was only 1 when he died – cruelly denied the opportunity to be the mystical healer of folklore legend!! He is buried in Blackburn Old Cemetery along with his father, mother and two of his siblings. Whilst his siblings and indeed the next generations of Holdens have their stories and achievements as a legacy, little Doctor B has only his name. But does not this name, rare and distinctive, give Doctor Butterworth Holden a memorable legacy imbued with just a hint of lasting magic?