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Does anyone know about French/Belgian (family) history?

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  • Does anyone know about French/Belgian (family) history?

    I have a relative whose place of birth is stated on census records from 1851as either France or Belgium (British Citizen). He was called John Adams (yeah, nice common name...), born in 1840, his father was William Adams / 1817 / Wednesbury Staffs and his stepmother was Edith Fisher / 1818 / Tipton. I know this was his stepmother and not mother (even though she is listed as his mother in the censuses) as I have found the marriage registration and there is also quite a gap between John and the rest of the children. I cannot find him in the 1941 census - presumably he was in France/Belgium or his birth date is slightly wrong.

    Anyway, my questions are:

    1) Does anyone know how records are held in France and Belgium - are they centralized like in the UK, or do you need to know a specific area?
    2) Historically, did anything major happen either commercially or politically at this time that would have caused him to be born abroad? This is a working class family, they wouldn't have been on holiday

    Grateful for any suggestions!

    Zoe

    Edit: William Adams was an iron shingler
    The John Adams born in 1928 in Paris is definitely not 'my' John Adams
    Last edited by zoejg; 16-10-08, 19:08.

  • #2
    You can't find him on the 1941 census because it wasn't taken!!!

    I presume you mean the 1841 census. Of course William may not have been an iron shingler (whatever that is) at the time of his son's birth. He may have been with an army (not necessarily a soldier).

    Adams is a common name, or I might suggest looking for the death of the first wife. It's possible she died in France/Belgium.

    I think British citizens could register births at the British embassy if born abroad - you'd need to look in the overseas section of bmds, which I think is available on payperview on findmypast.
    ~ with love from Little Nell~
    Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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    • #3
      I think your best bet might be the overseas BMD on findmypast too, Zoe.
      To find a birth in France you need to know where they were born and apply to the local Town Hall, as there is no centralised BMD index. I don't know how things work in Belgium though, but I'm sure somebody else will come along who does

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      • #4
        what if the births are before the 1800's? what do you do then?

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        • #5
          If they are before 1837, when England and Wales began civil registration, I guess it depends on what the customs/laws were in the country where the child was born.

          www.familysearch.org does have lots of continental baptisms, so worth looking there.

          Otherwise I guess you need to google to find out what system/s was/were in use at the time and place you are interested in.

          Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

          is a gateway site with links to hundreds of genealogy sites, and from the front page you can search by continent/country.
          ~ with love from Little Nell~
          Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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          • #6
            You could try this site for online Belgian records: Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium
            Click on "Internet" under the relevant province in the menu on the left.

            The site has both Dutch and Belgian records. The Belgian provinces are:
            West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders)
            Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders)
            Antwerpen (Antwerp)
            Vlaams Brabant (Flemish Brabant)
            Limburg B (Belgian Limburg - not to be confused with Limburg NL which is Dutch Limburg)
            Hainaut/Henegouwen
            Brabant Wallon/Waals Brabant (Walloon Brabant)
            Namur/Namen
            Liège/Luik
            Luxembourg Province
            There are also records for Brussel/Bruxelles (Brussels)

            There are more Belgium links in the Wiki: http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/index.php/Belgium
            And also France links: http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/index.php/France
            Last edited by Cloggie; 18-10-08, 10:14.
            Sarah

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            • #7
              Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, hopefully I'll be able to track him down!

              Zoe

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              • #8
                You also need to bear in mind that Belgium as a country didn't exist until 1830 ...

                This Wikipedia page explains it better than I can: History of Belgium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
                Caroline
                Caroline's Family History Pages
                Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

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                • #9
                  Some of the overseas registration indexes start earlier than 1837 - 1761 is the absolute earliest for some regimental indexes.

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                  • #10
                    Caroline - thanks for the history of Belgium info. From the link, it appears that Belgium defnitively became an independent state in 1839:

                    The Netherlands still fought on for 8 years, but in 1839 a treaty was signed between the two countries. Belgium thus became a sovereign, independent state, equipped with a very liberal constitution (constitutional monarchy), but with suffrage restricted to the haute-bourgeoisie and the clergy, all together less than 1% of the adult population, and fully French speaking in a country where French was not the majority language.

                    So that would probably explain both countries being stated as his place of birth on different censuses.

                    Zoe

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                    • #11
                      Update: I've searched the Overseas BMD and it has no John Adams born in France or Belgium around 1840. I have also looked at the Digital Resource Netherlands and Belgium link and couldn't find anything helpful there, either. I'm really disappointed... think I'm looking at a dead end.

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                      • #12
                        Having said that, I've just found something interesting on IGI - a marriage between Isabella Whittingham and William Adams on September 12th 1837 at the British Embassy Chapel, Paris. I wonder...

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