ly helpful in tracking down early Beck family history.

David Harris, (1.4.6.5,11.4.) an Angli- can priest and a native of Murray Har- bour, visited St. Paulinus Church in 2011 and recorded his thoughts of how things might have gone the day that Vere was baptized.

“As I walked up the path through the Churchyard,” David wrote, “I thought about how back in 1783, a couple ap- proached the vicar of the parish - prob- ably walking up this same path - to have their new baby baptized. The couple were John and Martha Lucy Beck. During the Father David Harris service of Baptism, when the child was officially named, or “chris- tened”, the vicar would have required John to answer this simple request: “Name this child” John, would have proudly responded, “Vere.” Here I was standing in the same place Vere was named and baptized”

But why Vere? Was there an older family member named Vere? It’s not a very common name and its origin is uncertain. Some sources say its German and others say it’s French. The web site, behindth- ename.com, says it’s from a Norman surname which was from a French place name, which was itself derived from a Gaulish word meaning “alder.” Another source describes it as an upper-class sur- name in England with connotations of nobility due to Tennyson’s poem “Lady Clara Vere de Vere” which praises the simple values of simple folk. Whatever the source and meaning, it has always seemed to be an appropriate name for someone ushered into this world by the Great Meteor.

It’s not clear how long the family lived in Crayford after this, but they moved to Scotland sometime in the next two years. John Mar- fleet discovered a listing for the family among Scottish birth records. It showed John and Martha Lucy Beck and seven children in records from a church in the community of Old Kilpatrick, on the north

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