Spaniard in Holmfirth in 1860

[bykerlads]

Yes, dobfarm, that is my Hosetta.

[dobfarm]

Have you got her birth certificate, if not, I'd advise you obtain one,  it may help to find her mothers full name, then find her on censuses for an address and people in the households 1841c , 1851c, and 1861c. Then look around censuses for a male Spanish sounding surname near that address.

Though Rosetta a corruption of Hosetta (or visa versa) is not that uncommon as a English, Irish, Scottish or Romany name and bearing in mind a lot of the public were illiterate - Hosetta, Rosetta and Josetta would sound similar.

Gypsy's travelled Europe and could explain foreign DNA from further back in ancestry or time coming down paternal or maternal lines of parents, grandparents and Gt grandparents.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Arosetta.~%20%2Bbirth_place%3Aengland~%20%2Bbirth_year%3A1750-1771~
 

[bykerlads]

Thanks for this, dob.
Her birth and marriage certs both have blanks for father's name, as does the  baptism entry.
As you say, it will be a matter of trawling round the locality, looking for non-English names.

[daveyp]

Out of interest, someone has added the following to a family tree on Ancestry which seems to fit with Hosetta...

Eliza Wimpenny (daughter of James) married William Bottomley (son of William) on 22 March 1863.

1871 Census (Ancestry):
- Lizata Bottomley (aged 9) of Broad Lane, Upperthong

1881 Census (Ancestry):
- Osetta Bottomley (aged 17) cotton winder of Matlock, Upperthong

Hosetta had a younger sister named Hannah Maria, which strikes me as being an unusual (although not unique) name for the area.

Perhaps worth noting that travelling circuses weren't an unfamiliar site in the mid-1800s, even in the wilds of rural Yorkshire. They often arrived in time for the local annual Feast and could have included performers from Europe and beyond. A monkey or large ape was shot near Ramsden Rocks (the area is also known by locals as "Monkey Nick") to the southwest of Holmfirth in May 1852 and the assumption in the newspapers was that it had escaped from one of the circuses.

For example, the attractions at the 1860 Honley Feast included Pablo Fanque's Circus (as immortalised in John Lennon's "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kits" lyrics), Wild's Theatre, and the famous French tightrope walker Madame Saqui (who would have been in her mid-70s!).

[bykerlads]

Thanks for this, Davey.
Haven't got access to my FH info at the moment, as I am away. Will look at the dates of the fairs, circuses with ref Hosetta'a dob when I get back when I get back.
What strikes me is that it seems as if there might have been something of a sincere rather than fleeting relationship between Hosetta's mother and the spaniard, as she called her baby Josetta (pronounced Hosetta in Spanish) which means "Jose's little girl". The father must have told her to call the child J/Hosetta. Being illiterate and certainly having no Spanish, she would have used the spoken version of the name.
Will reply in detail in a few days.
Thanks again.

[daveyp]

Holmfirth Feast looks to have been celebrated around the 3rd week in May, so presumably too early to fit with Hosetta's birth. Honley Feast tended to be the largest local one, attracting large numbers of visitors from neighbouring townships, and that began on 23 September 1860.

As a side note, I found another article from 1860 which confirmed that Madame Saqui (often "Salvi" in newspaper articles) was touring with Pablo Fanque's Circus that year, so at least it confirms that Pablo's Circus had European performers. Unfortunately the Huddersfield Chronicle's coverage of the Honley Feast for that year doesn't go into much detail, except to say that Pablo's Circus performed on the 24th & 25th September.

I've had a quick look for "Spanish", "Spaniard" and "circus" in the Huddersfield Chronicle for 1860, but unfortunately nothing jumped out.

[bevo]

Pablo Fanque was apparently born William Darby, 30 March 1810 in Norwich, so not Spanish, but pretty interesting anyway...

[bykerlads]

Have now got back to my FH notes and can supply Hosetta Wimpenny's dob as 4.6.1861, bap. 7.11.1861.
Not sure how this would fit in with any passing fairs or "feasts" and accompanying Spaniards, in the Holme Valley?
Hosetta was usually listed as Bottomley, her mother's married name m.1863, in census docs, being absorbed into her step-father's large brood of children.
However, on her marriage cert she is Wimpenny with no named father.
Still seeking our Spaniard...

[CarolA3]

The local preacher might have been a 'fan' of the Old Testament prophet Hosea, and maybe her parents simply feminised the name after hearing it in sermons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Hosea

Carol