FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH The French Connection Volume One by Patrick Delaforce FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH: The French Connection by Patrick Delaforce This is a book designed and produced to interest and encourage readers to delve back into the centuries in search of their ancestry. Interest in Family History research has grown considerably and is now widespread. A hundred regional Family History Societies cover the U.K. with a total membership of over 50,000 families. Another hundred societies are to be found in America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, with over 1,000,000 families as members. The romantic story of the Delaforces over the last five hundred years has been carefully researched. Step by step the reader is shown how the research was accomplished using dozens of different sources. Genealogy is the construction of a family tree, but Family History research puts flesh on the bare bones. Delaforces were diplomats and fishmongers, Kingsʼ men and silk weavers, Secret Agents and wine shippers, French Huguenots and pawnbrokers. A very detailed chapter lists 500 cross-indexed Sources in the U.K. for the reader and would-be Family Historian. Other chapters bring to life the discovery of American, Australian and Canadian families with appropriate local sources of family history research for readers interested in locating possible relatives in those countries. Twelve pages of old prints, certificates, wills and photographs illustrate the by-gone centuries. The book jacket cover depicts the dramatic landing of the French Huguenot refugees on the English beaches in 1685. FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH The French Connection FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH The French Connection by Patrick Delaforce Copyright © Patrick Delaforce 2000 The author asserts his moral rights under the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 First published by the Regency Press (London & New York) Ltd This edition published by Art & Science Ltd 2000 Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 - Genealogical Sources in the UK 3 Chapter 2 - The Port Wine Shippers 29 Chapter 3 - The Fishmongers of London - the Delforce family 33 Chapter 4 - 19th & 20th Century Families 36 Chapter 5 - 18th Century English Families 42 Chapter 6 - A short history of Pawn Broking 47 Chapter 7 - "Le beau Chevalier, the Card and the Philanthropist" 50 Chapter 8 - The Delaforces in 17th Century London 54 Chapter 9 - The Money Men and the London Guilds and Trades 58 Chapter 10 - The Silkweavers of London 62 Chapter 11 - The 16th century Huguenot families in London - first arrivals 72 Chapter 12 - The London Churches and the Threadneedle Street Capers 77 Chapter 13 - The Guisne' Delaforces 81 Chapter 14 - The Secret Agents 84 Chapter 15 - James and the Queens of Scotland & England 88 Chapter 16 - King Henry VIII's troubleshooter - John 92 Chapter 17 - Sir Anthony de La Force and Perkin Warbeck, the Pretender 96 Chapter 18 - Sir Bernard - Ambassador for Four English Kings 99 Chapter 19 - The Gascon Lord and the Battle of Barnett 108 Chapter 20 - The Delaforces and Delforces in Australia 110 Chapter 21 - The American Families 119 Chapter 22 - The Canadian Family 125 Chapter 23 - Last Wills & Testaments 128 Appendix - The 17th, 18th Century Silkweavers of London 129 Introduction Wordsworth 1770-1850 "And they are gone, ages long ago For old unhappy far-off things and battles long ago" This is a true story of Kings and Convicts, Princes and Pawnbrokers, Barons and Silkweavers, Prelates and Tailors, Admirals and Lombardsmen, Goldsmiths and... Spies. It concerns a family called Delaforce. Their earliest ancestors - three generations of them - were hung by Charlemagne after the two battles of Roncesvalles in the 8th century. They were directly related to the old Kings of Navarre in the 9th and 10th centuries. They were Princes of Verdun and Savennes (near modern Montauban) in the 10th and 11th centuries. Later on they fought at Hastings, married into the Conqueror's family, appeared in the Domesday Book, were personal friends of Richard Coeur de Lion, King John and other Monarchs. One signed for the Barons at Runnymede, others served personally Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and Richard III. Another sailed in the Mayflower as a member of the crew! Now in the twentieth century they are scattered to the four winds. A few are to be found in London. Others in Portugal, America, Australia and Canada. And the author lives in France not far away from the feudal princes' stamping ground of a thousand years ago. This book is more than just a history of a small unusual Anglo-French family. It is also a serious work on genealogy and the fascinating art of family history research. It is possible for most families to trace their ancestry back several centuries. it requires time, patience, some luck, a little money, but it most certainly can be done. The author had time, patience, a lot of luck, a little money, and, venturing into the unknown, came up with over a thousand years of well documented family history. Some of the highlights of the history and most of the sources from 1500 are shown in this book. The author discovered new (but old) families of relations in England. Australia, USA and Canada as a direct result of his research. The many sources of data, references and historical facts spanning a thousand years or more are spelt out in detail. In chapter 1 for the UK, and in chapters 21 for the USA, 20 for Australia and 22 for Canada. Many of Britain's population derived from the Normans of the 11th century and Huguenots of the 16th and 17th centuries. Many British have emigrated to the USA, Canada and Australia. It is felt that genealogical sources for those countries will be of interest. Most families have a legend lurking in the background perhaps true, perhaps a fantasy! Some of the Delaforces believed that they descended from the illustrious Dukes De La Force who were marshalls and pairs (peers) in France from the moment when King Henri IV (Paris was worth a Mass) ennobled the Caummont family in 1607. They were Huguenots, so were the Delaforces. However it is clear that the Caumont la Forces were not blood relations to the Delaforces, a very old French family deriving from Navarre, Gascony and the Gironde, with the original names of Fources, Forces, Forca etc. The Caumonts acquired the town and chateau of La Force near Bergerac when in 1554 Philippe de Beaupoil de la Force of Perigord, daughter of Francois de Beaupoil, Seigneur de la Force married Francois de Caummont. Neither the Beaupoils nor the Caumonts were related to the Delaforces who at that time were either in England, Paris or on their way north to Guisne near Calais. (This town is now known as Guines and I make no apology for the multiple spellings in this book, which usually reflect the spelling Family History Research - Volume One ʻThe French Connectionʼ by Patrick Delaforce © Patrick Delaforce 2000 Page 1 at the time discussed). The author's family has been, and members still are, Port Wine shippers in Oporto, in northern Portugal. For many generations it was a privately owned firm which meant that records were kept and a family tree preserved as far back as 1781. It could be said that a head start of two centuries is a great advantage to a family historian. True - but this family tree concerned an English family living and working mainly in Portugal for that two hundred year period. There was little knowledge available of other Delaforce families living elsewhere. In a sense this has been written as an adventure story. Always round the next corner was a new hero - or a villain - sometimes simultaneously. Family History Research - Volume One ʻThe French Connectionʼ by Patrick Delaforce © Patrick Delaforce 2000 Page 2 Family History Research - Volume One ʻThe French Connectionʼ by Patrick Delaforce © Patrick Delaforce 2000 Page 3 Chapter 1 Edmund Burke I 1729 - 1797. "People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors" Genealogical Sources in the UK This chapter concerns sources available for Family Historians and Genealogists in the UK. Sources for USA, Canada and Australia are shown in the respective chapters dealing with the Delaforce family in that country. This chapter also briefly covers some sources in New Zealand. South Africa, Eire and other countries. Because these data were assembled many years ago, some of this information will inevitably be out-of-date. Any prices quoted below will be themselves of quaint historical interest. Certain major sources have been covered in more detail and are shown in the following order: 1 Parish Registers. 2 Public Record Offices. 3 Census Data and Records. 4 Wills and Testaments. 5 CFI/IGI - Mormon Church. 6 Aliens and Immigrants. 7 Guilds and Livery Companies. 8 The Society of Genealogists. 9 The British (Museum) Library. 10 The Guildhall Library. 11 The Huguenot Society. Other sources are then shown in alphabetical order. Part I Parish Registers Registers of births/baptisms, marriages and deaths are of course the single most valuable source for family history and genealogy. A lot of excellent books have been published on the sources pre 1837. These should be consulted before research is undertaken to reduce the amount of time that may be wasted. From 1837 the Civil registrations of births and marriages are to he found at the General Register Office at St.Catherine's House. Kingsway, London WC2 and the Death Registers across the road at Alexandra House. Kingsway, London WC2. The indexes are arranged alphabetically by surname in quarterly volumes. Put another way, to examine all the records to piece together an unknown family 1740 volumes need to be consulted! Consulting the indexes is free: Certificates can be purchased.