Mum and son called Henley and Marlow

HENLEY Sargeant’s mother, Kirsty, had planned to call her “Nicole” or “Fleur” but this changed on the drive to hospital during labour.

It was May 11, 1993, and Mrs Sargeant, together with husband Paul, had been travelling home to Newbury when, soon after arriving, she discovered that she was nearly eight centimetres dilated.

They quickly hopped back into the car and drove to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading when Mr Sargeant took note of a sign en route pointing to Caversham and Henley.

Half-jokingly, he suggested Henley as a name for the couple’s baby girl, an idea Kirsty was initially resistant to.

However, after Henley’s grandfather, Colin, said he liked the name, it stuck, and the off-the-cuff suggestion became the first choice. Henley, who is now aged 32, says the name has served her well and she loves it, not only for its uniqueness but because it suits her outgoing personality.

She said: “Throughout the whole pregnancy, my mum always called me Fleur and my dad kept saying, ‘“’That’s a really unusual name, I’m not sure on it’.

“But she was adamant. So they got personalised stuff with it on and they felt that was my name and that was that.

“Then, on the way to the hospital, because I was born at the Royal Berks, my dad said to my mum, as a joke, ‘Let’s call her Henley’. He said to look at the roadside and that he loved it because it is so unusual and no one else will have it.

“My mum told him not to be ridiculous but my dad said, ‘No, let’s do it’.”

But the interesting family names do not end there.

After becoming a mother herself, Henley, who works as a nurse in Newbury and Winchester, found herself struggling to find a name for her second child.

Looking around for inspiration, she noted the town Marlow, next to Henley on the map.

Henley said: “When I fell pregnant and had a little boy we could not decide on a name.

“We were going through every name there is. Because I’m a nurse, I’m really fussy because I come across so many names all the time.

“I said, ‘Let’s look at the map and see what names there are locally’, because Henley is a nice place and we made a joke that we were going to call him Windsor.

“Then I saw Marlow and I thought that it had a nice ring to it and that it’s off the Henley Road. I said to my mum, ‘I’m going to call him Marlow’ and she loved it.”

Now aged 10, Marlow is the middle child of Henley’s three boys, Harrison, 15, and Bertie, five. His surname, Sargeant, is similarly fitting, as his father is a policeman.

Henley’s older brother, Kyle, was named after the city in Texas.

Marlow and Henley have been visiting their namesakes for years and enjoy posing next to signs.

Henley said: “Every year, on Marlow’s birthday, which is in February, we go to Marlow. We go to the park, have lunch and into the little old-fashioned toy shop and have our photos taken.

“Then we go along to Henley and walk along the river and then have my photo there.

“I’ve come to Henley since I was child with my parents. It’s a lovely place, always lots to do and it has a community feel to it.

“My whole life I have been told, ‘Oh like Henley-on-Thames? Henley Regatta?’”

Henley said that the pair will often adopt “code names” when visiting their namesakes so as not to cause confusion. She said: “Once we were in Henley and my partner was calling me and everyone was looking at us when we were in the park. Now I go by my middle name.”

Now more than three decades on Henley said that she could not imagine being called by any other name — even if she does mistakenly get called “Henry” on occasion.

She said: “Going through school, I was the only one. It suits me so much because it is unusual. I’ve always liked it, apart from, obviously, if I do anything wrong, there’s only one of me!

“It’s also quite good for me at work because patients remember who I am.”

Henley said that Marlow felt similar. “He loves his name,” she said. “We’re both quite big characters and we really do suit them.”