New French Records on Ancestry

[Sue from Southend]

I've just been looking at the New Records on Ancestry and there's a huge amount of French archives gone on in the last couple of days (makes the LMA look paltry)

You need a Worldwide membership to access it and be able to read French but there must be stuff in there for people with Huguenot ancestors... It's just a case of finding it!

If I knew where my Huguenot ancestors came from it would help

[margaretmarch]

I've just been looking at the New Records on Ancestry and there's a huge amount of French archives gone on in the last couple of days (makes the LMA look paltry)

You need a Worldwide membership to access it and be able to read French but there must be stuff in there for people with Huguenot ancestors... It's just a case of finding it!

If I knew where my Huguenot ancestors came from it would help

Hi Sue,
Thanks for highlighting this - I have Huguenot ancestors but I know where they came from but it doesn't help much!
I have some disks form the Huguenot Society with BMD registers on them if I can help at all with any look ups. Mostly London churches.
Margaret

[Sue from Southend]

Thanks for the offer Margaret.

I have one disk from the Huguenot Society - it's CD Rom 7. I've found a few possibles but nothing conclusive.

My main lead is Susanna Gobert b abt 1737, d 1780 Spitalfields. She married an Irishman, James Dawes in Christchurch, Spitalfields in 1765. The problem is that the Gobert name can be transcribed several ways Goubert, Gobart etc and Susanna is fairly common....

My mother always insisted that another line from her tree was Huguenot too, the Piercy's - weavers from Spitalfields. Susanna's daughter married into this family but I've not found any other French link yet.

It's one of those lines that I look at occasionally and think "no I can't get my head round that" and move on,

[margaretmarch]

I'll have a look for Susanna for you.
My frustration is that I know the name of my 6xgreat grandfather's uncle (Rev Charles Edward de Coetlogon) on his maternal side which is French and have found tons about his family but so far have not found the woman who links me directly to this line grr!
Margaret

[Sue from Southend]

I'll have a look for Susanna for you.
My frustration is that I know the name of my 6xgreat grandfather's uncle (Rev Charles Edward de Coetlogon) on his maternal side which is French and have found tons about his family but so far have not found the woman who links me directly to this line grr!
Margaret

Now there's name to mistranscribe if ever I saw one!!!

Thanks Margaret

[Richard]

Hello Sue

I used to do a thread over at GR doing Huguenot look ups.

I've had a look today at the Gouberts/Gobert/Goubards in the records I have

The name first appears in the 1560's in the Anglican churches of West London, Westminster and theres a branch using Anglican churches in that area from then until early 1700's. They probably came over with the first wave of refugees at time of St Bartholomews Massacre, during Elizabeths reign.

However think they are in all probability a bit of 'red herring' for your branch. There's a second much larger lot of Goubard/Gouberts that by the looks of it came over with the main wave in the 1680's following the revocation of the Nantes Edit by Louis XIV and the dragoons. Looking at baptsism alone they first appear in the main Threadneedle street Church in 1685, and then also use some of the smaller chapels in and around Spitalfields in the early decades of the 1700's. The last baptism for them in the French chapels dates from 1738. They then begin using the Anglican chapels instead, their first baptism there, in East London, occuring five years later at St Dunstans Stepney, 1743 (which was a Susanna). There are one or two baptisms in Christchurch, Spitalfields and St Matthews Bethnal Green over the next 50 years, but by far the large bulk of their baptisms occur at St Leonards, Shoreditch, (in all 50 baptisms to them between 1750-1850 on the IGI). This suggests they lived in and around that church.

Looking at all the baptisms in both the French and Anglican churches on IGI, there are only two baptisms for a Susanna that could possibly be the one you are looking for:

SUSANNE GOUBARD -
Female Christening: 11 OCT 1730 Threadneedle Street French Huguenot, London, London, England

(From the original "Susanne Goubard daughter of Pierre Goubard and Susanne Wilbeau. Godfather. Jaques Wilbeau. Godmother.Esther Wilbeau. Born 25 Sept. Baptised 11 Oct 1730")

or

SUSANNA MARY GOUBARD
Female Christening: 06 FEB 1743 Saint Dunstan, Stepney, London, England


In addition I've checked through the registers of the Huguenot churches in East london manually from 1735-40 to make sure the IGI havn't missed her or its mistranscibed, and am satisfied there isn't a baptism for her there.

There is a Susanne Robert baptised feb 1737 at Threadneedle Street to Francois Robert and Mary Duval. I suppose it's possible the G has been mistaken for R when the society transcribed from the original registers...but seems a long shot.

How did you come about the date of circa 1737 for her birth? Is it reliable?

Regards

Richard

[Richard]

Actually looking at that Francois Robert and Mary Duvall had several other children baptised too. Do not think that can be a transcription error so does look more likely yours would be the 1730 or 1743 Susanne.

[Elizabeth Herts]

Richard or Margaret,

There is a possibility that OH's ancestor came from a Huguenot family.

Her name was Ann Caveler and she was born c. 1755 as she died in 1817 aged 61. If her family were involved in the silk industry it would make good sense. She married and lived in Hatfield Hertfordshire, but could well have been born in London.

Could someone please check for me - I expect the spelling of the surname varies.


Edit: One of the witnesses at the marriage was Henry Caveler. I don't know whether this is her father or brother or other!

[Richard]

Hi Elizabeth

I don't know whether this is generally known, but the IGI has transcribed all the Huguenot societies London church registers, (though I'm told the society was and remain very unhappy about the way they went about doing so!) That said it is useful because if she was baptised in one of the French churches in London it will come up there on search . If she does not come up on IGI she wont have a baptism in the London French churches.

I can still do a blanket search for the surname through the charity records etc, though if you'd like? (though off out today in 5 minutes, will look when I'm back) But again these are all London so if no baptism in London we might be hoping a bit!

Regards

Richard

[Sue from Southend]

Thanks for that Richard.

Those are the two baptisms that I found and I think I probably picked a date between the two until I found something more conclusive one way or the other

I've no other clues to go on to find out which Susanna she is and I really don't know where to go next with this (I've been stuck at this point for a couple of years now). I suppose it's possible that Pierre and Francis/ois are brothers and Susanna is a family name but I'm not sure how that helps either!

I don't suppose you noticed any Piercy's or corruption of that name in your trawl through the records, did you? My mother was adamant that they were Huguenot especially when there used to be a French tennis player named Mary Piercy! I'm not convinced myself, the story may just refer back to the Gobert/Goubard connection but they were all weavers....

Any way thanks again for looking


Edit: I've just had another look and since I last looked at Susanna in any depth I've found out more about her husband and have confirmed his birth as c1745 which makes me tend towards the 1743 birth for Susanna...