Saints and their possessions
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:50 am
I've been wondering about traditional church names in English and how the possessive is used.
For example, the Church of St Mary is usually known as St Mary's Church, and abbreviated to St Mary's. For dedications ending in 's' we tend to use the clipped clitic: St James' Church (although it is often pronounced as if it's St James's). I've noticed that non-saintly dedications do not take the possessive: Holy Trinity Church, Immaculate Conception Church etc. The question is how we should treat the dedications to All Saints or All Hallows. Should we add an apostrophe (All Saints' Church) or not (All Saints Church)? Is the former just fussy?
For example, the Church of St Mary is usually known as St Mary's Church, and abbreviated to St Mary's. For dedications ending in 's' we tend to use the clipped clitic: St James' Church (although it is often pronounced as if it's St James's). I've noticed that non-saintly dedications do not take the possessive: Holy Trinity Church, Immaculate Conception Church etc. The question is how we should treat the dedications to All Saints or All Hallows. Should we add an apostrophe (All Saints' Church) or not (All Saints Church)? Is the former just fussy?