Like many generations of girls, my mother fell in love with L.M. Montgomery's 'Anne of Green Gables' series of books. When she met and married a handsome man with the ancient Anglo-Saxon family name of 'Shirley', the obvious choice of name for her first born was 'Anne'. 'Lesley' got tacked on in front, which is another story. And so I was named.
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It was a thrill to arrive on Prince Edward Island and to see so much of 'Anne' everywhere. The islanders still love her and she is a big draw card for the tourists.
According to research by one of my uncles, the surname 'Shirley' was first recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086 and it is the only name written that has an unbroken paternal link to the present day.
The name has various meanings but the general idea is it describes the people who live in the bright wood clearing.
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