Peter Paul Louis Venn, born 1832 in Drury Lane, London

[lizdb]

lizdb - have a look at the other thread to avoid spending time on duplication 

Thanks avm - I should know by now!!!

So, having read it, we have the following choices:
1) This is the same chap as the Peter Paul Louis Venn from later censuses, but the householder got his pob wrong . In which case where is he on 1841/51?
2) This is the same chap as the PPLV from later censuses, but he decided to give London as a pob in later censuses, either because he didnt want to admit to being born in Italy for whatever reason, or because he genuinely thought that was the case, but later found out he was actually born in London.  Again - where is he on earlier censuses?
3) They are two different Peter Venns. I would say this is highly unlikely, inview of the fact they have the same occupation and that only one has been found on later censuses, and as we have noted, none on previous ones!

[avm228]

Yes, that’s about the sum of it

[eaasland]

Hi there,

Thank you, that's great. Yes, there is the Peter Venn from Italy in the 1861 census. However, there are differences. The 1861 Peter Venn is born in 1824 in Italy, while the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 Peter Paul Louis Venn is born in 1832 and consistently indicates 1832 as his year of birth and London (including Drury Lane) as his place of birth. It seems to me that four records stating 1832 and London versus one that states 1824 and Italy would be more trustworthy. However, I am not saying that the 1824 Peter Venn is not the 1832 Peter Paul Louis Venn. My question would be why would he alter his age and place of birth as there does not seem to be any reason for it.

The main reason for my post is to find out if someone knows of which records could be useful to look at for a person born in Drury Lane, such as parish records as my thinking is that there might be a baptism record. I was also thinking because there might be a directory of sorts that lists people living in the street. Perhaps there are even other types of records that might exist (even if they have not been digitised) that would be worth looking at.

Since Drury Lane seems to be a place that is perhaps a little more known than other London streets (although I am assuming here) I thought that there might be someone with a few suggestions as to where to look.

Thanks so much for your time. 

[eaasland]

Yes, thank you Liz, that's sums it up nicely.

[lizdb]

I think the point has already been made that he may not have altered his age and place of birth, but rather the householder just made an erroneous guess at both when he gave the info on his numerous lodgers in 1861.

Or, as I suggested, he found out that he was actually born London, whereas he had always thought he was born Italy!

Drury Lane is in the heart of theatreland. IF, (and it would be wrong to assume) but if he was a child of an itinerant actress or similar, then maybe his past will be hard to unravel.

Also, as has been suggested, if he was of continental origin, there is a high chance his family may have been Catholic and not had a C of E christening at all.

[eaasland]

Thank you Liz, much appreciated. I'll focus more of my attention on Drury Lane to see what's been published on it, particularly in the early 1800s, to get more of a flavour for what was going on at that time. Maybe it was the Muffin Man!

[avm228]

This is rather superficial, but a start:

http://www.coventgardenmemories.org.uk/page_id__118.aspx

[eaasland]

Thank you, sad to hear about the Tudor buildings being torn down, but c'est la vie I suppose.