RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: luckydog on Sunday 25 January 09 11:56 GMT (UK)
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I have an ancestor named Francis Alwyn Reimis Hooper ( the Reimis is as it appears on a death cert .) . He named his son Francis Alwyn Rhemis Hooper . Family legend has it that Francis senior was taken prisoner during WW1 and initially held at Rheims . He was a freemason as was one of his captors and in recognition of the help given to him as a prisoner he took on the name Rhemis which I think is an old spelling of Rheims . The family story I think is a bit doubtful , I can find no record of Francis as a POW . Anybody got any ideas about the name . There is no record of the name elsewhere in the family .
Mike
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Hi Mike
Have you asked on the Armed Forces board?
You'd need to provide info on which unit Francis was with.
Some dates etc might be helpful too - have you got documents relating to Francis senior - at what point does the name appear, or was it just the death cert?
Kind regards, Arranroots ;)
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Have you checked birth and marriage records?
Who did he marry and when?
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He was born 4th June 1894 in the High Calton , Edinburgh and christened Francis Alwin Reimmes Bain or Bell , illigitimate . His mother was Margaret Bain and his father was Francis Hooper as Margarets husband Thomas Bell had to long before to be the father . Both Francis Hooper snr and Thomas Bell had been soldiers posted to the Queens Barracks Perth and Fort George , Ardesier , Inverness . They almost certainly new each other . Francis jnr married Margaret Lindsay on the 7th Feb 1912 in Edinburgh . His name on the wedding certificate is given as Francis Hooper . He died on the 15th August 1956 in Edinburgh and his name on the death cert. is given as Francis Alwyn Reimmes Hooper . On both the birth and death certs. the Reimmes is not 100% clear .
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New thread here (in case anything helps)
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,356223.0.html
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Hi Mike
I'm getting a little muddled here. Please tell me if i've got this right.
Francis Hooper (Snr) was in the Army, once stationed at Perth and Fort George.
He fathered a son by Margaret Bain in Edinburgh, June 1894.
This son was named Francis Alwin Reimmes Bain but later in life was known as Francis Hooper* (Francis Jr)
Francis Jr married in 1912 and died in 1856.
Which one is supposed to have been a POW?
Did Francis Snr also have these middle names and if so where are they recorded?
*This may have been due to Francis Hooper Snr marrying Margaret Bain in 1888 - there is a submitted entry on the IGI, and an index search of SP confirms the existence of a marriage of 2 people with those names. You'd have to check the cert. to be sure of course.
Kirsty
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kirsty , Francis Hooper senior had no middle names that I know of . Because he was not married to Margaret Bain at the time of Francis jnrs birth Francis jnr was christened Francis Alwyn Reimmis Bain , it's recorded on the birth certificate with that spelling . I assume that after Francis snr married Margaret Bain Francis jnr assumed or was given the surname Hooper .It's given that way on his death certificate . Francis jnr ( who was the POW ) also named his son Francis Alwyn Rhemis Hooper ( the spelling is as it is on his birth certificate ) . Francis jnr jnr died at Dunkirk in 1940 and his name on War Graves site is as spelt above . I know Rhemis is an old name for Rheims .
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The IGI has one record of the surname Rhemis, listing the father of a stillborn child as James Rhemis in 1834 Dundee.
Is there any chance that a branch of this family could be related? A grandmothers maiden name maybe or something that would not be immediately obvious?
Kirsty
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If he was born in 1894 and given the name Reimmes it would suggest the it has nothing to do with his father being a pow
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Yes , I discovered on checking the records that he was given the name at birth . I also think the name has been wrongly spelt by the various recorders and should be Rhemis which is almost certainly an old name for Rheims . Still don't know why he was given the name . There is a suggestion from another post that Rhemis is a surname that has been found in Dundee . So will now be investigating that .
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Spelling of names is down to the minister at the time and the OPR's can show the same familiy with different spelling of surname
In your case the name could even be Remis
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/remis-family-history-uk.ashx
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I see from SP that Francis jnr's son was born in 1913
1913 HOOPER FRANCIS ALWIN R Male at NEWINGTON EDINBURGH/MIDLOTHIAN
Was francis snr's father born in England?
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There are so many Francis Hoopers here I am losing track of my own family . The most senior Francis Hooper ( no middle names ) was born in Halifax in 1844 . His grandson , born in 1913 , was killed at Dunkirk and the War Graves Commission have his name as Francis Alwyn Rhemis Hooper and I think that is as accurate as it gets , so I think the spelling for his father is the same . I have googled Rhemis and variations and it is an old name for Rheims and also has some connection with a New Testament bible used by Catholics . I am curious to know how it became a family name . The most senior Francis Hooper was also a soldier but I don't think he was in France mid to late 19th Century .
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I think this is ancestry we share - my Great Grandfather and Great Uncle Frank snr and Alwyn jnr. Interested to hear if your own research found out more about the POW/mason links. My Nana (Daisy, Margaret Paterson Lindsay Hooper) was the sister of Francis Alwyn Rhemis Hooper jnr (Alwyn). I was also very interested to see that you'd established Margaret Bain /widow Bell's husband and Frank had been in the Cameron Highlanders/79th Highlanders.