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Butcher in Newton Abbot called French !!

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  • Butcher in Newton Abbot called French !!

    Can anyone point me in the right direction.

    I have a great grandfather called William French from Devon who was a butcher. The family had butchers shop(s) for years. He was born 1854 and came to London before 1881 to practise his trade. There is strong documentational evidence that he was a butcher in Newton Abbot but he throws a stone into the stew in 1891 when he says he is a butcher from Torquay.

    My mother remembers seeing in Devon the name french above a butchers shop after 1930 but doesn't remember exactly where.

    Now William French is such a common name in Devon I have little chance there but is there somewhere butchers might be listed? I've tried lots of sites and Google but no success. If you have any thoughts I'd receive with thanks .

  • #2
    If you're looking at the 19th century then try old trade directories - there is a site Historical Directories which has lots, also there are some on ancestry now.

    For the 20th century as well as trade directories, there are old phone books on ancestry so try those too.
    KiteRunner

    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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    • #3
      Kiterunner once again you are a star. The directories led me to some butchers called French. No obvious link to William but the village of Kingskerswell was the centre. Finally 3 candidates.

      But my great grandad had left a clue better than any birth/marriage/death cert. In London he named his four children after his four brothers and sisters he had left behind in Devon including 'James Howe'. (hardly a common name).

      Family legend has it that after he ran to London to find his futune the family went as far as laying black crepe on his chair at meal times. The bitterness because he wouldn't marry their chosen one. I guess his children reminded him of what was now out of reach.

      "Now't as queer as folk"
      Last edited by nigele2; 20-03-09, 15:07.

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