FRANCE: Gomm's from France

[AmyUK]

Can anyone please help me trace the migration of George Gomm who was born in Paris, France in about 1820, his eldest child was born in London in 1844 and he would have been married a few years before that in London.

I have searched the migration section on  the National Archives website but have had no luck.

If someone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

Amy

[jorose]

Who did he marry? You should be able to find his marriage on freebmd.rootsweb.com - there is one in 1842 in Shoreditch, a possibility?

Paris is difficult; partly because many records pre-1860 were destroyed in the fire of 1871 (about 30% of civil registrations have been recovered from copies housed in other areas or reconstituted from other sources), partly because it's such a large place.  It's like searching in London - only there's no IGI.  The LDS hold civil registrations/church records, including some forty-odd churches with records that cover around 1820 and reconstructed records from 20 Arrondissements (areas of Paris).

In addition often 'Paris' might mean 'a town/village NEAR Paris', and 'Paris' is just what they say since everyone knows where it is.  My family insisted one of my relatives was born at St-Gilles Croix-La-Vie, and only one family paper mentioned the fact that he was actually born at Givrand, a village nearby (with records held seperately).  Without that, I might never have found him (his immigration records only gave his last residence, which was quite far from his birthplace).

It's not completely hopeless, though.  The records you want may be at the PRO -
13. Aliens Act, 1836: Certificates of Aliens (HO 2), 1836-1852/
Aliens Act, 1836: Returns and Papers (HO 3), 1836-1869 records might hold him, if he came at around that time - I'm not sure how much info these records give, though.  They're unlikely to list names of family, possibly will list place of origin.

http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Gomme&submit=Valider&client=cdip
'Gomm' was most probably 'Gomme', if he was French.  Otherwise, he may have been the son of a British family born overseas for some reason, as the name _GOMM_ does appear in English records fairly far back.  Does he claim to be a British Subject in every census? (I can see he does in the 1881).  Does it ever say 'naturalized British Subject?', or just 'B S' every time?

[AmyUK]

Who did he marry? You should be able to find his marriage on freebmd.rootsweb.com - there is one in 1842 in Shoreditch, a possibility?

Paris is difficult; partly because many records pre-1860 were destroyed in the fire of 1871 (about 30% of civil registrations have been recovered from copies housed in other areas or reconstituted from other sources), partly because it's such a large place.  It's like searching in London - only there's no IGI.  The LDS hold civil registrations/church records, including some forty-odd churches with records that cover around 1820 and reconstructed records from 20 Arrondissements (areas of Paris).

In addition often 'Paris' might mean 'a town/village NEAR Paris', and 'Paris' is just what they say since everyone knows where it is.  My family insisted one of my relatives was born at St-Gilles Croix-La-Vie, and only one family paper mentioned the fact that he was actually born at Givrand, a village nearby (with records held seperately).  Without that, I might never have found him (his immigration records only gave his last residence, which was quite far from his birthplace).

It's not completely hopeless, though.  The records you want may be at the PRO -
13. Aliens Act, 1836: Certificates of Aliens (HO 2), 1836-1852/
Aliens Act, 1836: Returns and Papers (HO 3), 1836-1869 records might hold him, if he came at around that time - I'm not sure how much info these records give, though.  They're unlikely to list names of family, possibly will list place of origin.

http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Gomme&submit=Valider&client=cdip
'Gomm' was most probably 'Gomme', if he was French.  Otherwise, he may have been the son of a British family born overseas for some reason, as the name _GOMM_ does appear in English records fairly far back.  Does he claim to be a British Subject in every census? (I can see he does in the 1881).  Does it ever say 'naturalized British Subject?', or just 'B S' every time?

Thankyou for the reply,
He married a Lucy Hughes of Clerkenwell in 1842 in Shoreditch as we have the marriage certificate.

I think his family were British and he was just born in France, his oldest sister was born in London in 1810 and his other older sister was born in January 1820 in Surrey, England, George was born somewhere between September and December 1820.

The 1851 and 1861 census say he was born in Clerkenwell which is where his wife was born but it isn't until the 1871 and 1881 census that it says Paris, it only ever said B S and never "naturalized British Subject"

Would there be any passenger records for ships? Presumably if he was born in France they would have gone by boat with two children and came back by boat with 3.

Many thanks for the reply

Amy