Mait001 wrote:
I agree that "St. James' " or "St. James's" is a matter of debate. It
is considered better practice to omit the additional "s",

By whom?

although I would not agree that it is grammatically wrong to include
it.

Why do I say "better practice"? Because it is The Queen's English and
Her Majesty's Court is known as the "Court of St. James' " and not
the Court of "St. James's". For example, Ambassadors are appointed to
"the Court of St. James' ", not "the Court of St. James's" or even
"the Court of St. James".

The Queen doesn't agree with you. The Court Circulars refer to "the Court
of St James's". Example at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...883468,00.html

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

I agree that "St. James' " or "St. James's" is a matter of debate. It
is considered better practice to omit the additional "s",

By whom?

I always thought that they were to show posession and to show missing
letters in words.
Anyone who watched 'Grumpy Old Men' a few weeks ago will know that Barons
Court doesn't belong to a Baron, yet Earl's Court belongs to an Earl.
Does St James'/St James's/St James/St. James Park belong to St James?
--
To reply direct, remove NOSPAM and replace with railwaysonline
For Train Information, The Latest News & Best photos around check out the
Award Winning Railways
Online at http://www.railwaysonline.co.uk

Joe wrote:
I agree that "St. James' " or "St. James's" is a matter of debate.
It is considered better practice to omit the additional "s",

By whom?

I always thought that they were to show posession and to show missing
letters in words.
Anyone who watched 'Grumpy Old Men' a few weeks ago will know that
Barons Court doesn't belong to a Baron, yet Earl's Court belongs to
an Earl.

I missed that programme, but always wondered why the apostrophe was in one
but not the other. Why is Barons Court so named? (Oh, and just to confuse
matters, the name on the street signs nearby is "Baron's Court Road"!)

Does St James'/St James's/St James/St. James Park belong to
St James?

I think you'll find that St James's Park is named after St James's Palace,
which was built by Henry VIII on the site of the Hospital of St James.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

I missed that programme, but always wondered why the apostrophe was in one
but not the other. Why is Barons Court so named? (Oh, and just to
confuse
matters, the name on the street signs nearby is "Baron's Court Road"!)

Well ignoring whether or not it ought to have an apostrophe, I just had a
look around and it seems the suggestion was that it was an invented name for
something like a housing development. Similarly you get Kingsbury which is
an old name, say Saxon or something like that, and Queensbury which is from
modern times.

Anyone who watched 'Grumpy Old Men' a few weeks ago will know that Barons
Court doesn't belong to a Baron, yet Earl's Court belongs to an Earl.

I don't remember the resolution. I just remember Tony Hawks had written to
Ken Livingstone asking why one had the apostrophe and the other didn't and
being impressed that the reply he got was deliberately stuffed full of
misused apostrophes.