Germany: Forret/ Foret family from Germany

[aylene]

I am researching the Forret Family. My husband's great great grandmother was called Elizabeth Magreth (Margaret) Forret. We believe that she came from Naunstadt in Hessen, Prussia. She lived with her cousin Daniel who is listed in several Sugarbaker lists and in the archives of the German Lutheran Church. He was married to Catharina Ochrig and later to Eleonore Hafner.
Elizabeth Forret married Michael Auer in 1855 in St Mary's Whitechapel. Her father was listed as Jacob Forret. I believe that Elizabeth and Margaret came to England separately.
Does anybody have any success in searching in this area?
I am hoping to go to the local LDS centre but have not been very succesful in making an appointment (no answer!)
I found a Jacob Fores and an Anna Maria Foret from the same family on the LDS site in Naunstadt and am hoping to check this further.
Any more information or suggestions on how to research this family would be wonderful.
Thanks
Aylene

[JustinL]

Hello Aylene,

My Hardess ancestors came to Whitechapel from north Hessen in the mid-18th century. My 5 x ggf was also a sugar baker; many of his children and grandchildren were baptised in the German Lutheran Church in Allie Street.

What makes you think that the Forret family came from Naunstadt?

Have you found any of the people you mentioned in any censuses?

Very few German parish records have been microfilmed by the LDS, so I would not be too hopeful. You will generally have to contact the relevannt church archive in Germany (as I have just done for my Hardess family) to further your research.

The name Forret does not strike me as very Germany. Could they have been Hugenot refugees from a much earlier period?

Justin

[aylene]

Thanks for the info. Please let me know if you have any luck! We have several documents that state that the family come from Naunstadt.
They were a family of musicians who also worked as lodging house keepers, sugar bakers and labourers. As far as we know Peter, Carl, Daniel and Charlotte were all born in Naunstadt, as was Elizabeth Forret who is of particular interest to me.
I agree about the name and think they were probably originally from France or Belgium. They all married within the German community and attended the Lutheran Church so I think they had been German for a few generations, maybe moving first to Germany and then to London. I found on the LDS site a Johann Jacob Forret in Naunstadt (spelled as Fores but the same family is also spelled as Foret in other documents). Elizabeth gave her father's name as Jacob but called her son John.  The dates also correspond. I live in Italy so it is hard for me to access the LDS church (they don't answer their phone been trying for 3 months!) so I still haven't had a chance to go into this in any depth.
Thanks again and I will post any information I manage to find.
Aylene

[JustinL]

Hello Aylene,

If you are lucky enough to live somewhere as beautiful as Italy then you don't deserve any help! Only kidding, I'm just green with envy. With or without Berlusconi - I love Italy.

Well, I imagine you your sources are pretty accurate. I've not had a chance to check the IGI (i.e. LDS), but was the Forret entry submitted by a  member or transcribed from parish records?

I shall try and find the right church archive for you. They should at least be able to confirm the veracity of the IGI info.

Ciao,

Justin

[aylene]

I think it was a transcription, I have ordered the record but am finding it hard to understand them when I do actually see them!
Aylene