What I hope to do here is not only collect all the variants I can, but also map dates and places where they are first and last recorded. Hopefully when this is done, I can then use the information to formulate some sort of graph or diagram to show the spread of the variants, and also their decline as we approach the early 19th century. While some instances of variants are clearly spelling mistakes or a true variation of the same name (for instance the same person, two different records, two different spellings), some are regional and some are just plain confusing. I seem to have a pocket of my ancestors in Alfold who were all written as "Strudwhick" for a while. Whether this was a consious decision at the time by the family or a clerk that dealt with them I will probably never know. What ever your opinion on variants and whatever the reality of the situation, it is clearly an interesting subject which needs to be looked at in more detail.