Help needed finding a needle in a haystack.

[Annie65115]

I think we have it

I've found a Rootsweb page with mention of Charles divorcing his wife (Mary Short) for her affair with "a minor member of Royalty". Apparently this made the front page of the London Times.

Mary seems to have had an interesting life, if half of the story so far is to be believed!

Modified to add: The "minor member" being the Duke of St Albans (who he?!)

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0awz/

[Braindead]

Well thanks!!!

 

Tati, I think you've got the births of the two sisters and the marriage of the parents too. I guess I'll be emptying the coffers to get the certificates, but I definitely think they're the right ones. Thanks SO MUCH!!!

Tati, I have been in touch with the Frenchman who posted about the car, and yes, he is a real fan of Redmond!! He owns a telescope that Redmond had built in the 1930s and has been able to fill me in on Redmond's life in France (he spent much of his later years there, and died and is buried there).

Annie65115. That is REALLY intriguing about Chas Hamilton Broadwood, certainly merits further investigation. I wonder if Mary Louisa Broadwood eventually became Mrs Bartholomei?

Now I need to get all of this straight in my head! Thanks again, It really is amazing how you've helped in just a couple of hours!

[junev]

Hi,

1863 Divorce
Broadwood Chas Hamilton b Broadwood Mary B Duke of St. Albans

Junev

amend - should have been  ....Hamilton v Broadwood of course!

[Annie65115]

Here's the relevant Duke:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beauclerk,_10th_Duke_of_St_Albans

[Tati]

Do you have Hélène Marguerite's actual marriage cert, Braindead? It's online here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ax0/
(hope the link works - click on 'visualiser' and scroll to page 12)

It confirms her birth details:
Marylebone, 24 Sep 1874
father Michel Bartholomei (deceased), mother Mary Broadwood Hamilton (deceased)

[Annie65115]

I've got a feeling that Mary Short, Mary Louisa Broadwood, Mary Broadwood Hamilton, Marie Broadwood Tormaly Hamilton and Frances Mary Broadwood may well all have been the same person; a mistress of self-reinvention, I suspect.

A copy of the marriage cert for Mary Short and Charles Broadwood is online, if you search in Ancestry.

[Braindead]

The question now presenting itself to me is was Mary Broadwood / Mary Short / Louisa Beresford, divorced by Charles Hamilton Broadwood, the same person as the Frances Mary Broadwood that Michel Bartholomei married in 1879?

Charles Hamilton Broadwood's wife Mary would have been about 43 in 1879, and Michel Bartholomei would have been about 42, so the ages fit.

How can I prove / disprove the theory that they were one and the same person?

Thanks again, for all the help you've given me, it's made my day OOPS!!! Better not say that on Xmas Day!

N.B. This was written whilst you were posting Tati & Annie65115!

Do you have Hélène Marguerite's actual marriage cert, Braindead? It's online here:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ax0/
(hope the link works - click on 'visualiser' and scroll to page 12)

It confirms her birth details:
Marylebone, 24 Sep 1874
father Michel Bartholomei (deceased), mother Mary Broadwood Hamilton (deceased)

I can't get the link to work unfortunately & am not having any luck when I put the search details in - what did you enter?

[Tati]

I reckon you need the 1879 marriage cert - it will tell you Frances Mary's marital status and father's name.

Does this link to Paris archives work?
http://canadp-archivesenligne.paris.fr/archives_etat_civil/index.php
> select 'accéder aux registres d'actes', then:
Type d'acte: acte de mariage
Arrondissement: 16e
Date de l'acte: 26/02/1896
then hit 'rechercher'

[Annie65115]

My gut feeling is that this is all the same person. The webpage to which I alluded earlier suggested that Mary Short/Broadwood left England some time after the divorce scandal,and may have died in Paris (this was someone's tree and it didn't state the source of this info.

I agree that it would be a good idea to get the marraige cert though of course if it is the same person, she may have bent the truth a little now and again!

Have you been able to access the certificate for Charles B's marraige to Mary Short? At that time (1854) she gave her name as Mary (no middle name), full age, a spinster, father's name Charles, profession "esq"(!) --- Just for comparison with the marraige cert to the Count!