le Vesconte

[jcs]

I am tracing Philip John Le Vesconte in St helier Jersey and have come across a block with the 1851 census.  in the census Philip is living with his grandmother Elizabeth le Vesconte at 17 Beresford Street, St Helier.  HO 107/2527  443   2.  He and his sisters are living at 44 Havre de pas in the 1861 census, again his grandmother is at the same address.  By the 1871 census his mother Mary Le Vesconte born in England has made an appearance but Philip can not be found in either Jersey or English 1871 census docs.  By 1881 the whole family are living in Manchester and I have them recorded after that.  My problem is in sending for a birth certificate to find his father as there are about four Philip Le Vesconte born around 1850.  (On later documents he states his name as Philip John Le vesconte.)    Can any one help?  Who is Elizabeth and what was the name of her husband(the grandmother born inSt John around 1781).  Who was Philip's father? Any help in sorting out this block would be much appreciated as a trip to jersey is not possible at the moment.

[Valda]

Might this be Philip's mother on an earlier census?

1851 HO107 2527 folio 139
41 Hill Street St Helier  Jersey   
Mary L Vincente? 32 England Head  Married Seaman's wife
Mary E Vincente? 5 weeks  St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands Daughter 

if it is, it gives you an almost exact date for the birth of one of Philip's sisters. Did Philip marry in 1875 as Philip John? His marriage certificate would give his father's name and occupation.

Regards

Valda

[jcs]

Many thanks Valda, that seems  to be her.  I just found Philip's marriage to Sarah Jane Stevens this evening, so will send for that certificate - although no member of my family.  This Philip seemed to be quite a lad, married to one woman and having children with two others at the same time!!! It has been hard to trace him and I have still not found him in the 1871 census.
Janet

[Valda]

I did see on the 1881 census the woman who was living with him - not his wife, was described by the enumerator as ' a paramour'!

Regards

Valda

[jcs]

Yes - that would be our great great grandmother!!!!!  I think we must be the only family to have that stated in the 1881 census!!!   They had three children together and never married.  They named Philip John Le Vesconte as father on the birth certificates however  He was also having an affair with a woman 20 years younger  than himself with whom he had seven children!  He had no children with his wife and when she died  in 1893 he married the younger woman.  By that time Elizabeth had given up hope and married someone else!  Well they say every family has some kind of skeleton and this one has been fascinating to trace.  I am now trying to find out the Le Vesconte roots.  I emailed a named family contact but for some reason they did not reply!!!!!

[Valda]

Have you tried to contact any of the descendants of his second wife? Anyone found in a Lancashire directory with the surname stands a good chance of being a descendant of Philip's.

Regards

Valda

[jcs]

Hi Valda

No I haven't followed up many links upwards toward the present day.  There were actually two Philip Le Vesconte's one in Manchester and one in Liverpool, both born around 1850 in Jersey, so it has taken me a while and a few useless certificates to find out which was the correct one.  The fact that he put his middle name on one of our three birth certificates finally pinpointed him as I had been following up the other Philip, who turned out to be a shipwright, son of Philip who was a shoemaker.  Ours was a hairdresser/barber and so far I have not got his father, hopefully this will come from his sisters birth certificate as you suggest.  Do you know how you apply for birth certificates in Jersey?  I have looked on various websites but the only one giving information was dated 2001 so I am not sure if the information or rates have changed since then.  It stated that you should apply to: R.J. Kerley, The Superintendent Registrar, 10 Royal Square, St. Helier, Jersey JE2 4WA. and send a cheque for £10+ 50p postage made out to  "Treasurer of States".  Do you have any idea if this is still correct or where I can find out?  Best wishes, janet

[Valda]

http://user.itl.net/~glen/CIResearch.html#faq4

Jersey :
R.J. Kerley, The Superintendent Registrar, 10 Royal Square, St. Helier, Jersey JE2 4WA.
Telephone (01534) 502335. Office Hours 9.30 a.m.to 12.30 p.m.

If you know the Date/Name/Parish of the event he will charge £ 10 per certificate. If searching is required, a further charge of £ 7 is levied for a five year search for a birth or death and £ 14 for a five year search for a marriage. Add a postal handling charge of £1.00 for overseas and 50 pence for British Isles. Please make cheques payable to "Treasurer of States".

If you are not sure it might be worth phoning.
If it is going to be this costly there maybe other ways of finding the information out.

http://www.jersey.com/content_page.asp?id=561&lan=

Regards

Valda

[jcs]

many thanks Valda for the info, yes it is a bit pricey!  I have sent for the marriage certificate so I will see what that brings up first.

regards, Janet