The Anne Roberts mystery and the French connection
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)
Could you please give the details of all in the household for that 1856 entry.
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Who was Alexander Robert, the godfather to Adolphus
Could you please give the details of all in the household for that 1856 entry.
It's strange, as the census entry gives a long list of children, all unrelated with different surnames. No other members of the Robert family appear as living in the suburb of Oullins, Lyon that year. Perhaps they were all in a children's home or else the French had a different way of gathering census data that year. The children range from ages 5-19 and all have different occupations, with a majority being between the ages of 7 and 9. I can't seem to find the rest of the Robert family in Lyon for 1856. Maybe they had to put him in a children's home?
Who was Alexander Robert, the godfather to Adolphus
Where did you find this reference, Rosie? I am not aware of it
There is also another reference which I found in the Lyon census in 1836, which may be Anne and her parents:
Name: Marie Robert (mother)
Gender: femme (Female)
Marital Status: Femme mariée (Married (Female))
Age: 20
Birth Date: abt 1816
Residence Date: 1836
Street Address: Rue de Marbresa
Residence Place: Lyon, Lyon, Rhône, France
Jn Louis Robert 32 (occupation: 'Guimpier' - 'Tireur d'or fabricant le fil d'or utilise ensuite par le Fileur d'or') ~ birth year 1804
Marie Robert 20 (Fe) ~ birth year 1816
Anne Robert 2 ~ birth year 1834
It does not give a place of birth for Anne however.
The only death in Lyon for a "Jean Robert" between 1851 & 1861 was on 18 Sep 1861 ( I assume this was afte the English census was taken?) and although the age is more or less correct, the relatives do not seem to be correct. This would perhaps point to the fact he died elsewhere in France or maybe in England? We know that in 1861 Mary is in London, working as a nurse and living as a widow, thanks to Rosie's discovery.
Name: Jean Pierre Robert
Gender: homme (Male)
Death Age: 56
Record Type: Décès (Death)
Birth Date: abt 1805
Death Date: 18 sept. 1861 (18 Sep 1861)
Death Place: Vénissieux, Rhône, France
Father: Jean Baptiste Robert
Mother: Marie Servos
Spouse: Marie Bourgey
There is also an entry in the England, Alien Arrivals, 1810-1811, 1826-1869 section of ancestry:Name: Anne Roberts
Port of Arrival: Brighton, England
Arrival Date: 26 Sep 1839
Port of Departure: Dieppe, France
Ship: Belfast
Country of Origin/Native of: France
However I doubt it's her as she would have been about 5 years old at the time and she is not recorded as arriving with another "Roberts", she appears to be arriving with a Madame Guieriole, both of them listed as being from Paris. There are also so many other people with the surname Roberts listed, without a first name recorded, who arrived either from Dieppe or Calais around this time, up until Anne married in London in 1853. It's hard to know if this is her, however I doubt it. She is the only "Anne Roberts" that comes up arriving from France 1843 +/- 10 years