Genealogy Chat

I discovered some time ago that my great grandmother was french. Unfortunately I have no detail of where or what region in France which makes the task doubly hard. I have searched the ancestry site and others but cannot find anything that helps. Can anyone suggest any other site? She came to live in Ireland as a child, then married in 1883 and went on to have 10 children, one of which was my grandmother. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks, Mandy

hello Mandy - can you give us some details - we may be able to find something for you

Ann X

I was interested by this question, as I have been given to believe that my grandfather fathered a daughter in France while serving in WW1. Not having a name ( I don't imagine she would have been given his surname anyway). I have no way of searching any records, but I had wondered if there any forums like this one, in France, where perhaps someone descended from her might also be trying to find her parentage. Might help Mandy too.

Hello Mandy
In your situation of not knowing the town or region, this may not be the best place to start, but....

I find Geneanet an excellent website for French research,
www.geneanet.org
It has an English language option, and an extensive database of online trees. The search engine is brilliant if you subscribe (as I do), but I recall that when I initially had just a free membership then the search capability was limited.

The parish registers of most French departments are freely available online, and they contain much more detailed information than the English or Scottish registers that I have seen. Each department has its own separate archives, and it helps to understand a bit of French to navigate through these websites.

BUT you really need to know where to start looking, it is a large country. If you can pinpoint the location in France, and link to the correct family, then researching French ancestry is very rewarding. A huge amount of information available.

Anne in NZ

Hi Ann (NZ) - thanks I will have a look at this site. best wishes, Mandy

message from Mandy


My great grandmother was Lucy (Lucie) Delamere (Delmar) born around 1862. I have come across these two variations in the surname. I know that she left France at the age of 7 and that she married in 1883 in Ireland. She married Martin Duggan, who was a Policeman. The Irish census for 1901 and 1911 just states that she was born in France. Her parents I believe to be Loise Bernot and Joseph Delmar.

??????????????

Name: Martin Duggan
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: Jul - Sep 1883
Event Place: Ballina, Ireland
Registration District: Ballina
Volume Number: 4
Page Number: 3
GS Film number: 101254 , Digital Folder Number: 004179387 , Image Number: 00383

connection?

Name: Marie Delamarre
Event Type: Burial
Event Place: Amblainville, Oise, Picardie, France
Cemetery: Cimetière d'Amblainville
Birth Date: 1872
Death Date: 1937
Affiliate Image Identifier: 2918204
Latitude: 49.204655
Longitude: 2.124564
Affiliate Create Date: 2013-01-15 14:40:40

????????????

Name: Narcisse Delamarre
Event Type: Burial
Event Place: Laboissiere-en-Thelle, , Picardie, France
Cemetery: Cimetière de Laboissiere-en-Thelle
Death Date: 26 Jun 1893
Affiliate Image Identifier: 3004661
Latitude: 49.2892
Longitude: 2.16064
Affiliate Create Date: 2013-01-31 17:16:13

???????????

Name: Alfred Delamarre
Event Type: Other
Event Date: 26 Jan 1859
Event Place: France
Digital Folder Number: 004470642 , Image Number: 00302

Name: Jean Jacques François Delamare
Event Type: Burial
Event Date: 07 Jun 1857
Event Place: Cherbourg (Notre-Dame du Roule), Cherbourg, Manche, France
GS Film Number: 1301411 , Digital Folder Number: 004206097 , Image Number: 01752

???????????

Name: Jeanne Françoise Delamare
Event Type: Burial
Event Date: 02 Dec 1856
Event Place: Cherbourg (Saint-Clément), Cherbourg, Manche, France
GS Film Number: 1301413 , Digital Folder Number: 004206099 , Image Number: 00903

???????????

Name: Lucy Duggan
Event Type: Death
Event Date: Jul - Sep 1935
Event Place: Waterford, Ireland
Registration Quarter and Year: Jul - Sep 1935
Registration District: Waterford
Age: 73
Birth Year (Estimated): 1862
Volume Number: 4
Page Number: 297
GS Film number: 101740 , Digital Folder Number: 004202047 , Image Number: 00095

when I put "Delamere" in the search I keep getting "Lemiere"

Hi Ann
Many thanks for all this but it is difficult to know if any of them are connected to my great grandmother. I do have their marriage certificate and her death certificate and it was her estate papers that stated that she left France at the age of 7. As she was still a child I assume she travelled with one or other parent but have not come up trumps with any passenger list unfortunately as I had hoped that it would give the name of other siblings and where they travelled from. The only other information I have is that her father Joseph was already deceased whe she married in 1883 and that he was a farmer., which I suppose could indicate that they lived in rural France. But of course this could also have been once they had moved to Ireland!! Thanks, Mandy

Hi Mandy
I have looked for your Joseph Delmar and Louise Bernot, but cannot see this couple. There are many Delamere / Delamaere / Delmaire / Delemarre / Delmar families in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. And Bernot could be Benoit ? which is much more common. But sorry no luck.
Anne (NZ)

An alternative spelling for the mothers name and her name


Ireland, Select Catholic Marriage Registers, 1775-1912



Name:Lucy Delmer

Marriage Date:13 Aug 1883

Marriage Place:Kilmoremoy, Mayo, Ireland

Other Parish Name:Ballina

Father:
Joseph Delmer

Mother:
Loise Bernet

Spouse:
Martin W Duggan

Spouse Father:
Timotheas Duggan

Spouse Mother:
Maria Kelly

Edit: On the same page as the above marriage, there is a marriage for Daniel Duggan to Elizabeth Delmer

They have the same parents so it looks like her sister (?) married a Duggan on the same day

How odd, when looking at the image I can see Elizabeth and Daniel but no Lucy and Martin!

Thanks everyone for your replies - I am quite amazed at the response. That's very interesting about Elizabeth Delmer marrying a Daniel Duggan recorded on the same page as Lucy and Martin. I'll certainly have a look into this. Many thanks, Mandy.

There's something strange about that marriage found by Gins, the image appears to have been altered at a later date - names changed in blue pen and the marriage date inserted in the same pen. Also the date says 13th - a modern version of the date, whereas all the other dates say xx die.

Witnesses were Joannes J Boyden and Maria Shelly, and her parents lived in France.

When I went back to look at the entry that Gins mentioned I then noticed as you say that the entry had been edited which is very strange. The original names on the entry have the same surname for both as well - how odd!! Can anyone read the place where Martin's parents reside? Looks something like Dunoy?? Lucy's parents just have what looks like 2 @ France above their names. Does this just mean both living in France? Lucy left France when she was 7 so I had assumed that she travelled with parents and ended up living in Ireland. I know according to the marriage certificate (1883) that Lucy's father, Joseph was already deceased.