Hi,
Ancestry has never been a reliable source of information, unless it's based on actual records and let me guess those family trees aren't linked to a single French record, are they ?
Back to the UK, what does his marriage record say ?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZGDD-TD6Z
Does his burial record mention his age ?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CFX3-MP6Z
According to his family name, he is more likely to have come from the Western part of France.
Someone mentions Brittany as a possible place of origin
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/K8P8-5YP
"Place of birth may possibly be Nantes, Brittany, France. According to papers belonging to the family of Doctor Thomas Hodgkin who was a pupil of Peter Vincent Cassanet, Peter was originally from Brittany before coming to London at the time of the French Revolution."
The deep roots are probably in Aquitaine.
Do you have DNA matches in France ?
Hi David,
In response to the various questions:
His marriage certificate says he married Ann Dean in St Peters Church Shoreditch on 19th August 1799 by Joseph Rose the curator and in the presence of George Lemming/s and Jeremiah Smith.
His death certificate says he died on 17 June 1848 in Upper Clacton aged 88 and describes him as being of independent means. The cause of death was certified as Bronchitis for a few days. the death was reported by his daughter Emma Martin who was present at his death. The death was registered on 22 June 1848. He is buried in Abney Park Cemetery near Stole Newington and the grave is numbered 003319.
The above information comes from records available on Ancestry, either directly from their own records or certificates posted by other family historians.
My DNA composition shows 100% Northern European. This is broken down into 49% British and Irish, 38.6% French and German (but highlights Brittany) and 4.1% Scandinavian. The remaining 8.3% is broadly north western Europe.
Daisy1942