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British subjects

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Elizabeth

Elizabeth Report 19 Sep 2012 08:02

Thank you Jonesey, Reggie and Malcolm. Of course I presumed the navy because later he lived in Cremyll, beside the Tamar and in Plymouth, a very naval port! I don't know if I could find out if they lived in France and were always told a rumour about the wife being from a rich French family who disowned her when she married the Englishman. However the mother was born in Fowey, Cornwall. I must get a copy of the parish records and find out her surname which would answer all my questions. Thanks again.

Malcolm

Malcolm Report 18 Sep 2012 15:59

Reggie is right. Nantes is a navigable port and it's probable that the Royal Navy would have some presence there after Trafalgar (1805) and especially Waterloo (1815). Not only the Navy but commercial ships would be trading there by 1820. A British shipwright in the area would be desirable.

EDIT: Desirable in the carpentry sense...not necesaarily for reporduction, but you never know your luck!

Researching:
Robb, Purves, Rutherford, Bald - Scotland, Fife and Berwickshire.

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 18 Sep 2012 10:44

As the father was a shipwright, his employment could easily have taken him there..............

Jonesey

Jonesey Report 18 Sep 2012 10:38

As the children were born in France prior to civil registration beginning in Britain It is very unlikely that a British Register of such births would have ever been made.

As children of a British born father they would automatically be British subjects no matter where they were born.

As Nantes is about 50Km from the Atlantic coast it is probably unlikely that the father was connected to the navy but as the city is on the delta of the Loire River there would probably have been work opportunities for a shipwright to carry out his craft.

Researching:
Don't put off until tomorrow doing what you can do today. If you like doing it today you can do it again tomorrow. Be kind to your children for it is they who will decide which care home you end up in.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Report 18 Sep 2012 10:20

My husband's great grandmother was born in Quimper, France, in 1826, and her brothers John (1831) and Charles (1835) but registered as a British subjects. Their father was a shipwright and the family in the 1851 census was living in Plymouth, Devon, although he was born in Mevagissey, Cornwall in 1799 and her mother was born in Fowey, Cornwall, so not French citizens, unless the mother's family were French. How do I find out why the family were living in Quimper/Nantes, Brittany over the period 1826-1830? Is there a British register of these births? They were possibly stationed there with the Royal Navy, so is that an avenue to research?