The Anne Roberts mystery and the French connectionMy great great grandmother was known as "Anne Roberts" when she married Henry Adams in Poplar London in abt Nov 1853. Henry's father, Jesse Adams had been in a Tile maker in Notting Hill, when Henry was born in 1834. see
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=857000.0The family appear on the 1871 census living in Islington St James, where she gives her name as "Anna" birthplace as "Burslem, Staffordshire"; and the 1881 census in Grove St. Islington, using the name "Emma" where she gives her birthplace as "
Manchester". I tend to think Manchester more likely. On the 1871 census her mother Mary is living with them, giving her birthplace as "
Preston" and age as 52. On the 1881 census, her sister Eliza is living with them and gives her birthplace as "
Manchester" and age as 38. Both entires match the childrens names (Adolphus b. 1856, Eugenie b 1865, Beatrice b 1868, Arthur b 1870, Alexander b 1872 and Ernest b 1876) and the father Henry's occupation "Employee of City Prison"/"prison warder". They are not in the 1861 census as I was told that Islington is missing from that particular year.
I think this is likely a photo of Anne Adams taken ca 1870 in London:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=856746.0It was in my grandmother's collection
When the family migrated to Australia on 7 Nov 1881 on the ship
Northampton, she gave her place of origin as Lyons [sic] France, under the name "Anna". The husband and children's names and ages all match,except for the oldest son (Henry) Adolphus Adams who imigrated by himself and married in Sydney in 1881. There was a first born William Joseph Walter Adams b 1854, Strand (not on the 1871 census - he appears on the Portsmouth, Hampshire census as a "Boy 1st Class" in the Royal Navy on the ship "Exellent", who immigrated to Sydney in 1879 and married in Sydney that year.
Anna's New South Wales death records are as follows:
ADAMS ANNA
12882/1900
father: JOHN
mother: MARY
reg: HURSTVILLE
There has always been a family story that Anne Roberts came from France and her family was in the pottery industry, and apparently Anne left for England after shouting out "Vive la roi!" during the 1848 revolutionary era in France and their family pottery shop got smashed up. but nobody knew anything further.
So, after I found the reference to Lyon in the immigration records, I began looking at the Rhône census records for surname "Robert" and found the following from the 1851 census:
Name:Marie Robert
Maiden Name: Helm
Gender:femme (Female)
Nationality:Anglaise
Marital Status:Femme mariée (Married (Female))
Age:36
Birth Date:abt 1815
Residence Date:1851
Street Address:Rue de Landine
Residence Place:Lyon, Lyon, Rhône, France
Occupation:Journalier (Day Laborer/Journeyman)
Relationship:
Épouse (Wife)
Jean Robert 45 (Head) - occupation: Journalier (Anglais)
Marie Robert 36 Épouse (Wife) (Anglaise)
Eliza Robert 17 (Anglaise)
Jean Robert 11 (Français)
Joseph Robert 3 (Français)
This would appear to be Anne/Anna's family still living there in 1851. I went through all the Robert's in Rhône on the census forms and this was the only one that was described as "Anglaise".
The only thing that was wrong was that the dates of birth didn't match the ones on the English census forms for Marie (Mary) and Eliza. Most French women appeared to use the name 'Elise' or 'Elisabeth' and "Eliza" was far less common, I found when looking through the records. So again, I thought this pointed to the correct family. However, Anne had already departed by this stage.
UK 1871 Census has Mary's date of birth as 1819; Lyon 1851 census has her date of birth as 1815
UK 1881 census has Eliza's date of birth as 1843; Lyon 1851 census has her date of birth as 1834
in the 1856 Rhône census I found the younger son again 5 years later:Name:Jean Joseph Robert
Gender:homme (Male)
Marital Status:Garçon
Age:8
Birth Date:abt 1848
Residence Date:1856
Residence Place:Oullins, Lyon, Rhône, France
Occupation:Fobricant de Porcelainier (Porcelain maker)
that was the clue to link the family back to the pottery industry.
So, with the maiden name "Helm" and the birthplace "Preston" I started looking and found the following:
Name
Mary Helm
Baptism Date 27 Mar 1814
Parish Ribchester, Lancashire, England (a village about 12 miles from Preston)
There are a also number of other Mary Helm' s born in the villages of Paidham and Garstang around the same time.
I found what I think may be Anne's baptism:
Agnes Robertson
Gender:Female
Birth Date:15 Jan 1835
Baptism Date:17 May 1835
Baptism Place:Mosley Street Removed From Cannon Street, Independent, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Father:John Robertson
Mother:Mary
Is this the correct Ann Roberts, given that I've found 'Agnes' used for 'Anne/Ann' elsewhere in my family tree in the 1830s?
The parents' (John & Mary's) marriage remain a mystery. Eliza's birth remains a mystery, I haven't pinned down Mary Helm's exact date of birth, as there are a number of hits around the same time near Preston for 'Mary Helm' and lastly John Roberts/Robertson (b according to the Lyon census abt 1806). I assume he was also born in Lancs. He may well also have grown up with a family in the pottery industry.
Any help appreciated!
