Severus

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 190119



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, June Ewing <doctorwhofan02 at ...> wrote:
 
June:
> Wow that does sound like it could have been the origin. I read a
> few years back that some of the names came from places in England
> either old or recent and if I am remembering correctly Snape is
> a small town some where in England. 

Geoff:
Off the top of my head, I can think of four surnames in the Harry 
Potter books which are the same as UK place names.

Snape is a small town in Suffolk, on the east coast of England, about 
three or four miles inland from Aldeburgh which is on the coast. Its
principal claim to fame is its connection to Benjamin Britten, one of the 
most influential British composers who lived here for many years. The
Maltings Concert Hall was developed by Britten.

Dursley is a small town alongside the M5 in Gloucestershire about 15 
miles north of Bristol and also of Bath. There is a very tenuous link here 
in that Jo Rowling was born at Yate, about 10 miles south of Dursley and
may have remembered the name.

The third which occurs to me is Bagshot which is a medium sized town 
in Surrey, about 10 miles south of Windsor Castle.

Finally, Flint is a county in the north east corner of Wales, just across the border
from the city of Chester.

But, to be frank, I see no hidden agenda in their selection as family names
in the books.