Children born in Rouen, France - 1840s

[Bulleon]

Hi guys,

I have a family where the mother and father John and Catherine Neal were both born in 1817 in Leicester and Northamptonshire respectively. They married in 1837 and had Josiah Neal (b. about 1837), Elizabeth (b.1840) and John (b. 1841) all in Leicester. They then had two children Thomas (b. 1843) and Job (b. about 1846) both in Rouen, France. The next child William was born about 1848 in Digswell, Hertfordshire.

Is there any way I can find out exactly where the children in France were born, are there records relating to this? And is there any obvious reason why the family (father being a brickmaker) might have been over there at that time?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide,

Stacey.

[Jan1954]

You may find this guide to researching your family history in France useful.

[Raphael]

Check out the reference that Jan1954 gave, and additionally check the site link as follows.
as you say he may have just worked there.

https://genealogy.about.com/gi/dynami...Findex-en.html
Like it has been said they seemed to have moved about quite a lot.
I am interested because my ancestral Family on my Mothers side came from Rouen 1 year before the French Revolution and settled in Blackley Manchester where I was born and formed The Turkey Red Dye Works. Further information we have does not relate directly to you as we have not got a french/english surname to go on. Textiles and Dyeing etc were two of the dominant business's and many more Silversmiths , Lacemaking etc;
Our Webmistress my cousin on
https://chimleys.tribalpages.com/
who is a very competent researcher and may have some links as to how records which members of our family obtained from Paris Archives re Rouen.
But we must have a clear name,and date and the actual district etc, as there is much heresay in the period before, and many years after the Revolution

Kind regards
Raphael
UK & Germany.
Alias Louis Victor, (my Grandmother (born in England) Louisa Victoria Delaunay)

[Bulleon]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the fantastic responses, especially all the information from Raphael. My grandad's been in hospital for the last couple of weeks and has only just come out so I haven't been able to dig into it as yet but am looking forward to doing some research asap with everything you've provided, I'm really grateful for all your help and I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks again!

Stacey.

[Snooze]

Hi Stacey

My story is so similar to yours! I have a George Hawkins on my tree, a brick maker, who had two children in France, Elizabeth in 1844 & Susannah born about 1846. Elizabeth's baptism is recorded in the Non Conformist Register for England & Wales on 2 May 1844 at ROUEN. Her birth is shown in census as France, on one census the town is shown but sadly is unreadable - looks like Manbury? The next sibling was born in Hampshire in 1848 but christened in 1849 at East Barnet in HERTFORDSHIRE!!! The family then moved to Peckham in Surrey & ended up in Lewisham, Kent, both towns now part of London. George appears to have moved about a good deal for work presumably - to areas where there was a lot of building going on.

I too would love to learn why my relative was working in Rouen. Please, did you ever learn more about your family in Rouen?

Best Regards

Snooze

[Peter Goodey]

Elizabeth's baptism is recorded in the Non Conformist Register for England & Wales on 2 May 1844 at ROUEN. Her birth is shown in census as France, on one census the town is shown but sadly is unreadable

I don't know what you're looking at but I can see her recorded in RG33 (Foreign Registers and Returns) - born 3 Sep 1843, bap 2 May 1844. I don't see any indication of non-conformism - in fact the entry is signed by the Bishop which doesn't sound very non-conformist !!

The place of birth is shown as Le Houlme (just north of Rouen)

A lot of Brits took advantage of a period of peace to seek employment opportunities in France. Mostly they returned when the 1848 revolution started.

[Sue Mackay]

If you Google Rouen brickmaking 1840s the first hit will be this thread! But thereafter there are links to several PDF files concerning the building of the Paris-Rouen railway by William McKenzie and several mentions of a contract for a brick making machine. Presumably bricks were needed for bridges and tunnels and to line cuttings.

[Peter Goodey]

Have a look at the town web site of Le Houlme

https://le-houlme76.fr/index.htm

There are some interesting old photographs including the railway viaduct (completed 1846) which must have needed quite a few bricks!

[Peter Goodey]

By the way, the RG33 entry is signed by M H Luscombe, bishop.

This would be Matthew Henry Thornhill Luscombe, a bishop of the Episcopal Church of Scotland and chaplain to the British Embassy in Paris. A man of impeccable Anglican credentials!

It crosses my mind that the nameless questioner may have misread non-parochial as non-conformist.

[Snooze]

If you Google Rouen brickmaking 1840s the first hit will be this thread! But thereafter there are links to several PDF files concerning the building of the Paris-Rouen railway by William McKenzie and several mentions of a contract for a brick making machine. Presumably bricks were needed for bridges and tunnels and to line cuttings.

Very many thanks for drawing my attention to this most interesting article - I believe you are correct that bricks were required for railway expansion in the area.