Can anyone help me?
My 3xG Grandfather may be of French origins. His name was Joseph Lezart. He married Mary Abrahams in St James Church, Liverpool on 21 August 1865. He made his mark on the Marriage Certificate. I cannot verify that the name that the registrar wrote down on the certificate, is in fact the correct name.
The male witness at the wedding is the brother of the bride. The thinking is that the female witness may be somehow linked to Joseph. Her name as it appears on the certificate is Catherine/Catharine Tomkinson, I looked at lancashirebmd thinking that she may have come to this country sometime before Joseph and married here. I was hoping to find that her maiden name was Lezart.
There are no marriages for Tomkinson, only Tomlinson and the maiden names of the women concerned do not match Lezart. Joseph appears to have no relations in this country.
I have no idea when he came to England, but by the time that his daughter Josephine (my 2xG Grandmother) was born, he was recorded as deceased. There is no death in the name of Joseph Lezart in the GRO indexes. Therefore, the incident cannot be cross referenced.
I would like to ask how do I go about finding papers related to his becoming a British citizen? The problem lies for me, in the fact that he appears to have been illiterate and could not verify the spelling of his name. If records do exist, how would I know that they in fact relate to my ancestor?
I may be able to check his occupation, as there is a discrepancy on some certificates. He appears to be either a ship keeper or a shop keeper. As a shop keeper he must be in a trade directory. I am hoping that the Liverpool Records Office will have details.
Has anyone else experienced a problem such as this? Where there any steps that you took to resolve such difficulties? Please help, as I would be very grateful for some help.
Thank you
troymantis