Roman Catholic records London

[LizzieW]

I'm sure this info must be somewhere on Roots, but I can't find it.

Can anyone tell me where I would find RC parish records for London.  I'm still trying to find out about my g.grandfather's background and if, as I've been told since a young child, his mother was Spanish and called Da Costa, the chances are she was a Roman Catholic. 

As g.grandfather's name was George William Wright, I don't know if this means Da Costa was his mother's maiden name, or whether she wasn't married.  I can't get any more info from my elderly aunt (why ever didn't I ask my dad more questions whilst he was still alive  ).  I do know my gran (George Wright's daughter) had a photo of this Spanish lady on her mantlepiece, which might infer that even if George Wright was illegitimate, he wasn't adopted and knew who his mother was.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a marriage between George Wright and my g.gran so no way of finding out who his father was.  I know all about g.gran, she was married previously so it has been very easy to trace her family, especially as my dad used to talk about her sisters, his g.aunts.

Lizzie

[Maryam]

Hi Lizzie

George's birth cert?  Marriage cert?  (Sorry, didn't read your post properly  ).  What parent details do they give?  When/where was he born?  Does he show up in censuses?  Siblings' names?

KR
Maryam

[LizzieW]

Maryam

No info on him really.  First time he shows up is on my gran's birth certificate in 1884.  Then he is on 1891, 1901 and 1911 census with his "wife" and children, plus occasionally stepchildren.  He died in 1935 at the same address as he lived from at least 1901 census.

So no birth cert, because having already bought about 6 "wrong" ones (that is ones that don't have a mother with a maiden name of da Costa, or any variation on it), I'm not inclined to get any more.  He was apparently born about 1857 in Bethnal Green - that place only appearing on the 1911 census.  Before that it was just London or Middlesex.  His date of birth is only guessed from census and his death cert, but of course, his son who registered his death would only know the age he was told his father was.  If he was born in 1857, g.gran would have been 14 years older than him, so I'm inclined to think he may even have been younger than he implied so as to make the difference in age seem less.  I know g.gran put an age younger than she was on census, but I have her birth certificate, her first marriage cert and her death cert, so I know how old she really was - as obviously did g.grandad as he registered her death and put her real age on it. .

So, basically, I'm looking for a needle in a haystack.  From the 1891 census and gran's birth certificate he was a fisherman before giving it up sometime before the 1901 census.

I'm clutching at straws now, thinking was he RC, or as his children and some of his grandchildren look Jewish, was he Jewish?

Lizzie

[LizzieW]

Little Nell

Thanks for moving to London/Middlesex board - I didn't think of posting on here as I was really asking a question about RC records.

Lizzie

[Plummiegirl]

My understanding would be that RC records will be held within the church where any baptism, marriage or funeral service may have taken place.

Another thing to consider is the many angliscised versions of the name

I have   COSTER, COSTAR, COSTA, Da COSTA and a few others I cannot remember of the top of my head, amongst mine.   

Coster in the main will be an English surname taken from the job descripton Costermonger.  (Seller of Apples and/or a stallholder)

[LizzieW]

Thanks Plummie.  Not very easy to search RC records then if it means a trip to every possible church.

I have found a marriage (not RC) of a Peter Coster to a Lilian Wright, but that's the wrong way round and in any case the marriage was 1852 so any thought I had that Lilian may have had my g.grandfather before marrying Mr.Coster went out of the window.  I know ages on census are a bit dodgy, but with g.gran being born in 1843, I can't think George, who seems to have been born around 1857, would have made himself younger than he was when getting together with an older woman.

Back to banging my head against a brick wall I think.

Lizzie

[MarieC]

Hi Lizzie,

I agree, having RC ancestors in London is incredibly difficult and frustrating - been there, done that!

Just two crumbs which may or may not help you.  I was amazingly lucky in that I emailed several RC churches about mine (yes, they all still have their records) and the one that answered was the church they attended!  St James Spanish Place.  They were incredibly kind and helpful to me - whether they took pity because I was in Oz, I don't know.  But they looked up their records and found mine for me. 

It may be in the wrong part of London for your man, but might be worth getting in touch with them just to check.

Also, do you know about parishregister.com?  A great little mob who are are putting online the baptism registers of all East London parishes, plus a lot of watermen and lightermen stuff, plus other things.  They have made CDs of various Roman Catholic registers of parishes in London, which are available for purchase.  Have a look at their website, see what you think!  If you like, you can arrange to get their monthly e-newsletter.

Hope some of that helps.

MarieC

[LizzieW]

Hi Marie

I did know of parishregister.com but I'd forgotten about it.  I'll have another look to see if I can see anything.

Thank you for the idea of e-mailing RC churches, I'll google to find the most appropriate ones around the Bethnal Green area.  The problem really is not knowing whether his name was Da Costa (or variants) and he changed it to Wright, or whether his parents were married and he was baptised as a Wright.  Or even if any of his names are his original ones.

Lizzie

[MarieC]

Yes - that surname confusion is just what you don't need when you are looking for RC ancestors!

Good luck!

MarieC