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Who was Guilame Lafayette and why can I only find him in the 1851 census?

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  • Who was Guilame Lafayette and why can I only find him in the 1851 census?

    Hi

    I have been researching a different branch of my tree lately and have been looking around the various siblings as they are often named as witnesses at each other's marriages, etc. My direct relation is Virginia Betsey Bessell (b. 1822, Finsbury, London). Her life has been easy to trace on ancestry, she married Edward Henry Root in 1846 at St Pancras and by 1851 had crossed the river to Southwark where her husband had a eel pie shop.

    So, I looked at her sister Edwenia Hance Bessell who married Robert Sargeant in 1840 at Holborn. He became a school master (earlier listed as a watchmaker?) and moved to Otford Kent. So, I have found them in the 1851 census and they have a 7 year old nephew "Guilame Lafayette" with them. Apparently he was born in Southwark. This is written, not ditto'd in.

    BUT I cannot find any Guiliame Lafayette born in the UK, let alone Southwark (or variations in spelling).

    Does anyone fancy a search? What am I doing wrong?

    Thank you for any help you can give! I have to say, I have not found any French connections in either side so far....
    :D Charney Jo

  • #2
    Have you tried looking for the name William, as Guilliam is the Latin name for William.

    Janet
    Last edited by Janet; 23-01-16, 20:39.

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    • #3
      Guillaume is the French version not the Latin - Latin is Guiliemus.

      OC

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      • #4
        Ah well I have found Guilliam in Irish RC records, but I am not sure if I have spelt this correctly, however with a name like Lafayette it may well be French.

        Janet

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        • #5
          Thanks. Yes, I have checked for potential nephews on both sides who were called William (not sure why when he ventured out to Kent he'd become more French) but am coming up short
          :D Charney Jo

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          • #6
            A long shot I know...but.... there is a Margaret Lafayette born 1825 in Ireland on the 1851 census. She's in Lancs. Image says she's married and the "head" but no idea where hubby is. She'd be the right age to be your fellow's mum.

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            • #7
              Margaret O'Donnell married John Lafayette in Liverpool in 1851 (Feb). Maybe little boy is an O'Donnell.

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              • #8
                Hmmm.. Thanks Harry's mum. It's just odd that almost all of the rest of the family have been easy to trace and yet Guilliame...

                It did occur to me that it could be a "joke" name. But why do that (and was there consequences for supplying wrong information, does anyone know?)
                :D Charney Jo

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                • #9
                  The only Lafayettes I can find are your little fellow and Margaret in 1851 and then John Lafayette's marriage to Marg ODonnell in early 1851. FreeBMD has the marriage as well, but not another birth death or marriage with that surname through to 1900. I wouldn't have thought it was that uncommon. But John is missing in 1851, although just married and none of them died married or reproduced. Maybe they all went to Ireland.

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                  • #10
                    There was a penalty for not giving information at all, but none as far as I know for giving deliberately false information - who would know and why would they care? It was a head-counting operation and names of individuals did not really matter. In this country you could and still can call yourself whatever you want as long as it is not with criminal intent.

                    Having said all that, I think the name is genuine. Remember also that "nephew" didn't mean quite what it means now and the relationship could have been very distant or even none at all.

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      There is a marriage bond for a Robert Lafayette the right age (b 1845). He marries in Dublin, but it's a London and Surrey marriage bond. I don't know enough about them to comment further.

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                      • #12
                        Interesting that it's a Robert Lafayette who marries in 1866 and your fellow is with a Robert Sargeant??

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                        • #13
                          Scrap that one........when I looked at the image, he's Robert Lafayette Swan Esq.

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                          • #14
                            Harry's mum. Thanks for that. Odd the marriage bond (what is that?) is for Southwark as that is where 'my' Guiliame is from!

                            Old Crone - I think you may be right. He may not have been blood nephew, just a more distant relation.

                            Thanks for your help
                            :D Charney Jo

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                            • #15
                              It is odd Charney Jo. The year of birth is about right. The Robert is interesting. I've traced him forward and there are two trees on Ancestry that look like they are correct.

                              He married Emily Kendall Teed (widow of Judge Teed). She was about 8 years older than him. They look like they marry in both Dublin and London and he is a quite well known doctor. He died in 1916.

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                              • #16
                                That is interesting. Although if he was a doctor I doubt he was a close relative. Both families were poor as far as I can see! Not sure how anyone from that background would become a dr. Maybe he was someone else's nephew ��

                                Thanks so much for looking
                                :D Charney Jo

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                                • #17
                                  I notice that, in the image, the name is "Guiliame Lafaytte". I wonder if that's a misunderstanding/mishearing of "LAFITTE"? That could open up some other avenues... or, even, LAFFERTY.
                                  Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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                                  • #18
                                    There are A LOT more of those Christine! (Slowly working my way through them!).

                                    The "Guiliame" name confuses me though...
                                    :D Charney Jo

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                                    • #19
                                      I'm still trying to find what happened to Marg in Toxteth Park.......lol

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                                      • #20
                                        Sorry! :o
                                        :D Charney Jo

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