Where does my French ancestor come from?

[Strange Flowers]

Hi everyone
I'm  hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction.

After a long rest from family history, i'm starting to get back into it but i'm immediately at a brick wall! My Gt Gt Grandmother was born in France but i don't know where, which if i'm right, you need to know where your french ancestor was from before you can start researching.

All i know is she was my Gt Gt Grandmother called Caroline Faux and she married my Gt Gt Grandfather William Nye in 1872 in Durham. He was a sailor so i presume he met her while working away.
I don't have access to the census's online(haven't done family history for a while now but i'm getting back into it) but i have the 1881 census. Caroline is the head of the house with 3 children living in Durham and all it says for her place of birth is France.  She is 26 years old so that would make her birth year around 1855.
I have the 1881 census of William onboard a boat. 
When i did have access to the census's i remember i couldn't find the 1871 & 1891 census(i also had lots of help and they couldn't find it either). I do have the 1901 census but Caroline isn't on it because she died in 1900.

So my question is how do i find out where she came from before i can start doing the french research? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

strange flowers

[jorose]

(I got your PM, but I'll answer here).

You can look at where a surname is found in France at http://www.geopatronyme.com/ and get an idea for how common it is/where the family might come from.

The best place to start with Caroline, though, would be the marriage certificate. That should give you her father's name, her address when she married in 1872 (might help track her down in the 1871 census), and the names of the witnesses (may be relatives living in the area).

Note that the name "Faux" also appears in England, including in the Durham area, and there's a possibility she was born overseas but to British parents.

[Strange Flowers]

Thanks for replying.

On the marriage cert it says that her father was David Faux(an engine driver) and the address was 16 Lawrence Street West(this is the same address for William) - i don't have access to the census returns so am unable to look at the 1871 census.

You've got me thinking about the name Faux. I've just had a look at the 1881 census i got printed when i had access and at the side of France(place born), it says BS. Does this mean British Subject? If so, does it mean that although she was born in France, she was born to British parents? If this is the case, how do i go about finding her birth cert?

Sorry for all the questions.

[jorose]

BS = "British Subject", but for a woman at the time that meant either her father was British, or her husband was.
If she was born overseas to British parents she might appear on the consular birth indexes but not necessarily.

They might have given the same address as each other for marriage so they only had to call banns in one parish (otherwise you had to pay twice). They weren't necessarily living there very long.

Can we have the witness names as well?
And were they married in the parish church? (e.g. Church of England)

at 16 West Lawrence Street in 1871 (RG10/5009 76/87)
Grace H. S. Milne, 29, unmarried, schoolmistress/pianist, b. Scotland
She is probably Grace Henderson S. Milne who married in 1871 in Sunderland.


I'm not sure if this is related, but in 1881 in London there is an unmarried (best check this) Mary Ann Faux, 43, British Subject b. France, with two daughters:
Marion C (freebmd shows: Marion Cusworth Faux, b. 1865)

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home shows her as possibly b. in St. Omer as the daughter of Robert

Re: not being able to find them in 1891, did Caroline and William have more children between 1881 and Caroline's death in 1900?

[Strange Flowers]

The witnesses on the marriage cert are:

 John Nye - he was the brother of William Nye
Eliza Middleton - i don't know who this person is

Thanks for checking the 1871 census and it looks like you are right about them not living there very long.

That's interesting about the Mary Ann Faux you've found - i will have to investigate.

Heer are the children that Caroline had between 1881 and her death in 1900(as far as i know):

John Henry Nye 1881 Sunderland
Florence Nye 1885 Sunderland
Arthur James Nye 1887 South Shields
Albert Edward Nye 1892 South Shields

[jorose]

Hi, I checked the Consular birth and death indexes but didn't see any Fauxs (checked 1849-1865).
Another thought: did they marry in an Anglican church?
And do you know where William (and brother John) were in the 1871 census? You might be able to figure out where William might have met Caroline, if not in Durham.

[Strange Flowers]

Thanks so much for looking at the consular birth/death indexes, it really is appreciated.

On the marriage cert it says they were married in the Parish Church (what does this tell you?)

I'm afraid i've not been able to find William or his brother in the 1871 census(it's as though they've disappeared off the planet!). Maybe William was away over in France?

[jorose]

You would expect a Frenchwoman of the time to be Catholic; often when you have a 'mixed' marriage you see people marrying in the register office (neutral ground). A marriage in a Catholic church would be a big flag towards her being French as opposed to French-born-British. Another thing to check - did Caroline sign her name or give her mark?

Okay, a slightly off-beat possiblity:
    
in 1871, there is a David Foulkes living in Wales:
RG10/5739 folio 6 pages 7/8
( Llangystenyn, Caernarvornshire)
David Foulkes, 39, market garden b. Denbigh Llanchian,
Ursule A. F., wife, 34, b. France
Arthur D. D. son, 12, b. France (British Subject)
Adolfe A, son, 6, b. Italy (British Subject)
Elizabeth, dau, 3, b. France (British Subject)
Albert O, 2, b.  Llangystenyn
Alfred W, 1mo, b.  Llangystenyn

and not too far away at Llanbeblig near Caernarvon (which was an important port at the time) there is a Caroline Foulkes, 24, b. France British Subject, a servant (age is off but not impossibly far off and as it was her employer giving the info it might be faulty - or she might have lied and said she was older than she was to gain employment).

See:
http://gw4.geneanet.org/index.php3?b=pierfit&lang=en;p=david;n=foulkes (you will need a geneanet account)

Shows that David Foulkes was previously married to an Elizabeth Williams who (if you look at the entry for his marriage) died at Nonant in Calvados in 1857, and he then married Ursule. So Caroline could have been David and Elizabeth's daughter.

He seems to have been working for this company, which gives you the railway connection:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemins_de_Fer_de_l%27Ouest

From that link one of the sons went back to France as well.
I'll recheck the consular records for "Foulkes" later.

[Strange Flowers]

Thank you again for such an informative reply .

Caroline gave her mark and not sign her name on the marriage certificate(again, what does this tell you?).
From what you've explained, the evidence so far points to her being born in France, but to a British Father.

You may have stumbled on something with the name Faulkes!
I have my Gt Grandfather's birth certificate(born 1887) and it has Caroline(his mother) down as Caroline Nye formerly Foulkes!

There is a lot of info that you have given me that i need to digest.
It will be interesting to see if you can find a Caroline Faulkes in the Consular records, but if you can't, does it mean that we're 'barking up the wrong tree'?

Thanks soooo much again for your help, it really is appreciated.