John Rowland wrote:
wrote:
Colum Mylod wrote:
On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:45:45 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

wrote:
Grays [sic] Inn Road??

Yes.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19961078_en_1.htm
He kind of owns the thing, I think, so if he says there's no
apostrophe, he's right.

Not quite sure what the foregoing means.

But, since Gray's (from Gray's Inn, which name originates from Sir
Reginald de Grey, Chief Justice of Chester, Constable and Sheriff of
Nottingham, who died in 1308) is a possessive noun, there can be no
doubt that an apostrophe is necessary, whether or not the illiterate
buffoons creating secondary legislation include it or not.

So why isn't an 'e' in Gray also necessary? Your adherance to the theory
that we must stick to names with 13th century meaning seems very selective.
Road names change with time, otherwise half the streets in London would
still be called Queens Road or New Street.

Not at all: the spelling of someone's name (or other nouns, such as the
colour "gray" to "grey") may change, as may place or street names, but
the basic rules of grammar, i.e. an apostrophe to indicate a possessive
noun, do not.

Marc.