Finding French relatives

[auntievi]

Hello, i have a relative who was born in Portbail, France in 1884. His father was English but i know nothing of his birth place or spouse? The fathers name was Willaim Hobbs. His son was Peter Hobbs, or maybe Pierre Hobbs. does anyone know how i could acquire his birth certificate or information of his birth. Peter later moved to Jersey where he set up home, but i have little information on his family before 1884? any help as to how to get his birth details or anyone with knowledge of the Hobbs family would be much appreciated. thanks vicky

[jorose]

http://recherche.archives.manche.fr/?id=recherche_etat_civil
 - here are indexes here but I can't see any Hobbs in Portbail in the 1880s.

It's possible he wasn't born there but somewhere else nearby, or that he's simply not in the French records.

Do you know when he would have moved (or returned, if his father was from there) to Jersey?

There are here:
http://www.guernsey-society.org.uk/donkipedia/index.php5?title=St_Helier_baptisms_1842-1909_Hine_to_Holmes
some records for a Peter John Elie Hobbs who was married to Emily Bisson.

He seems in censuses to be b. 1870 and his father is Peter (on 1881 census with the family as "Haps" b. aged 36 Portbail and again as "Haps" aged 26 in 1871 b. Normandy).

This man, I think, appears in the Portbail records as Pierre Augustus Hobbs, 27 December 1843, son of William Hobbs, 26, English, and Lucie LeBlond, French, daughter of Pierre LeBlond and Marie Hocquet.

They had other children:
Marie Augustine Lucie, b. 28 July 1846, d. 13 Nov 1847
Guillaume Baslee, 27 August 1848 d. 15 Nov 1852.

This is the only Hobbs/Portbail connection I can see.

[auntievi]

you found him! well done! i meant his birth date was about 1844 so you worked it out with the wrong date supllied. thank you so much i can now fill in a lost part of my heritage. there was only one relative who could have helped my but she is in her 80's and is abit vague. well done sherlock and thanks again 

[auntievi]

i dont suppose you know when william hobbs and lucie le blond married and if you can get this information could you find out the names of his parents as there are a lot of wiiliam hobbs born around 1818. any help would be appreciated, if you cannot do it perhaps you would be kind enough to point me in the right direction? many thaks vicky

[jorose]

These might help with the French records:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/rg/guide/WLFrench.asp
http://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/2009/09/the-modern-etatscivils.html

The main problem is that they aren't indexed across the whole of the country or even across the whole of Manche. I can't see the marriage in Portbail so if they did marry in France it could have been anywhere nearby.

Luckily, Pierre's birth (unusually) lists Lucie's parents. familysearch.org shows a marriage for a brother of Lucie, Pierre François Leblond, in Saint-Lô-d'Ourville in 1837, but no marriage there either.

Looking at Pierre's birth again, I think it says William has been resident in Portbail ("cette commune" = this commune) for several months ("plusieurs mois").

For Marie it says he is 29, English, resident several years, and that Lucie is 32.
For Guillaume, that he is 31, English, resident several years, and that Lucie is 34.

There is also a death, 19 Jan 1836, for Simeon Auguste Bien-aime Leblond, aged 16, son of Pierre LeBlond and Marie Hocquet, and the death of Pierre Leblond, 30 June 1847, aged 71, born Portbail, son of Pierre LeBlond and Marie Bertram, married to Marie Hocquet.

Many of the Leblond records including Pierre's death mention Gouey, a place that was amalgamated with Portbail in 1818.

[jorose]

In addition, I think this might be Lucie in the 1841 census of Jersey:  "F" =  b. 'foreign parts'.
http://members.shaw.ca/jerseymaid/trinity.html

And William: E = b. England
http://members.shaw.ca/jerseymaid/saviour.html

Marie Hocquet, died 16 Feb 1860, aged 84, born Portbail (Gouey), 16 October 1775, daughter of the late Julian Hocquet and his wife Francoise Ferdant, widow of Pierre LeBlond.

I think Lucie might have come (back) to Jersey as well - there is a widowed Lucie Le Blond, 49, in the 1871 census there.  (In French records women keep their maiden names - e.g. Marie's death is indexed under 'Hocquet' not 'LeBlond', so this is not unusual).

I suggest you look to Jersey records for the marriage between 1841 and 1843 and William's death, perhaps sometime between 1861 and 1871.

[auntievi]

you are a star. thank you so much, i will have a look tomorrow

[gyvyti]

Hi, I wonder if I could ask whether you are willing to share any information you have regarding Peter Haps / Hobbs. I am also looking for a Peter Haps (DOB 1845 Port Bail, Normandy), who perhaps initially worked as a Journalier (day worker), before marrying Carteret Pinel (DOB 1845 St John), then as a packer/laborer. The name Haps was anglicised to Hobbs, as I believe many were at this time. Some of the information in the higher thread mentions there children Peter John Elie, Arthur, Clara, Marie and Augustine. Their son Arthur Esnouf Hobbs (DOB 1874 St John, Jersey), is my family line. I am not clear how to search the French records and note you likely have information that could greatly help me. I have Peter Haps/Hobbs DOB (1845) from multiple documents, there is a good chance you hold information on my family line as well.
Best Regards Andrew 

[Oakheart]

Hello ,

I don't know if you are still looking for them, but I found the birth records for the Hobbs children in Portbail, at least I found three of them :

Pierre Auguste, Marie Augustine Lucie and Guillaume Basyle.

I can shortly write some of the info :

In Pierre Auguste's birth record, here is what is said :

Record written 27th of December 1843 ( but born th day before, like for all the children, born 1 day before the record ).

William Hobbs, of English origin, living in the town for several months, has shown us a child born of his wife, Lucie Leblond, French, and gave him the names of Pierre Auguste. Lucie is the daughter of Pierre Leblong and Marie Hocquet.

William is a laborer ( maybe a poor translation of the " manouvrier " word. He does manual work and his by day of work ). They live at the house of the Leblond spouses ( so it should at Pierre and Marie's house )

The witnesses are Louis-Nicolas Renou ( I think it is the name ), a 61 years old farmer and François-Thomas-Elie Lemonnier ( mail deliverer ). They all knew how to make a signature.

Marie Augustine Lucie : record written on the 28th July 1846 ( born the day before ).
Same information, same job. They know lived at the hamlet of Des Hayes ( part of Portbail ). Now William is said to live here since several years.

Guillaume ( William ) Basyle : record written on the 27th August 1848, same information.

In 1848, William is 31 years old and Lucie 34 years old.

If you want, you can contact me via private message for a more detailed translation if you want.

I hope this helps.