Fitzherbert Batty

Son of Philip Batty of Castletown Delvin, Co. Westmeath, and brother of Espine Batty (q.v.). Resident planter in Jamaica.

1. Matriculated Brasenose 09/11/1809 aged 17, BA 1813, of Lincoln's Inn 12/05/1808.

2. The daughter of Fitzherbert Batty and Marie Ann Baly [sic] was married (to George Lockhart Smith) 28/06/1848 in Kingston, Jamaica, when Fitzherbert Batty and Marie Ann Baly were witnesses.

3. Fitzherbert Batty is allegedly the source of the adjective 'batty' to describe harmless eccentricity, he having been certified in 1839. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, however, puts the first use of 'batty' in this sense as 1922.

T71/852 St Catherine claim no. 553; T71/856 St Mary claim nos. 382 (Bagnold Spring Estate) and 383 (Richards Pen); T71/855 St Thomas-in-the-Vale claim no. 170 (Hopewell).

1. Ancestry.com, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 [database online].

2. Roman Catholic Church, Kingston, Jamaica Marriages 1839-69 R-S www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com [accessed 18/04/2011].

3. Webster's, at least according to http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Websters-Dictionary--Other-Eponymous-Terms-93358.html [accessed 18/04/2011]; Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Vol. 1.