Genealogical Oddities (LXIII): A London Family's Child Baptised in C19th Asturias, Spain

At Mieres on 18th Feb 1847 was baptised Diego Ricardo, born 27th January preceding, legitimate son of Don Diego Williams and Doña Carlota Dove, residents of Oñón. Paternal grandparents Don Gabriel Williams and Doña Isabel Richards, stated to be natives of Lambeth, like the infant's father: maternal grandparents Juan Dove and Carlota Martin, parishioners - like the mother - of St Bride's Church, London.

Everyone in this record was accorded the polite form of address, Don/Doña. Their names are given in Spanish; in English they would be, I believe, James Richard Williams, James Williams, Charlotte Dove, Gabriel Williams, Elizabeth Richards, John Dove and Charlotte Martin.

Familysearch shows what seems to be the marriage of this couple: on 10 May 1843 at St Andrew's, Holborn, James Richard Williams, then aged 25, married Charlotte Dove, also aged 25.

James' presence in Mieres probably had something to do with the Asturian Mining Company, established in 1844. I wonder if the younger James has descendants and if they are aware of his 'Spanish origin'?

SOURCE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Oviedo, Mieres-San Juan Bautista, Baptisms 1839-1851

Curiosidades Genealógicas (LXII) - Un soldado aragonés en Galicia en 1820

En la parroquia de Santa María de Betanzos el 6 de mayo de 1820 Rafael Ferruz, Sargento Graduado del Regimiento de Voluntarios de Aragón, hijo de Antonio y de su mujer Rafaela Badules, vecinos de Cariñena; casó con Andrea da Pena y Cortes, hija de Vicente y Juana, vecinos ésta.

Habiendo trabajado ya durante muchos años con registros sacramentales de Aragón (y de Galicia), el apellido Ferruz en el márgen enseguida me llamó la atención al estar pasando páginas de un libro de Betanzos; incluso antes de leerme el asiento, pensaba que el novio sería aragonés.

FUENTE: Parroquia de Santa María de Betanzos, Matrimonios 1782-1835, Arquivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela

Genealogical Oddities (LXI): Englishman John Berman's 1770 Málaga Marriage

At Málaga's church of San Juan on 20 August 1770, Juan Berman, native of the town of Castar or Castur 'in the Kingdom of England, having joined our Holy Mother Church', the son of Francisco Berman and María Berman, was married to María Ana de Arenas, daughter of Francisco de Arenas and Teresa García, natives of Málaga.

I assume the English family's original names would have been John Berman, Francis Berman and Mary _____ ; Castor near Peterborough seems one possible place of origin for them, though there may be others.

SOURCE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Málaga, parish of San Juan, Marriages 1769-1780 (Legajo 462), P. 35 v.

Curiosidades Genealógicas (LX): El paso por Aragón de una familia francesa que emigró a Argentina

Un Censo o Padrón del pueblo aragonés de Escatrón incluye a una familia francesa, con el dato curioso de que al parecer, siendo preguntado por el empadronador por el apellido materno, éste no entendió la pregunta y - por lo visto - ha dado los nombres completos de su madre y de su suegra.

En el citado hogar, aquel año 1857, encontramos a:

• D. Agustín Gorlier, Elisabet Perier · 34 · Sub-ingeniero de la Real Cª de Canalización del Ebro
• Dª Estrella Leroy, Cecilia Berton · 26
• Enrique Gorlier Leroy · 8
• Estrella Gorlier Leroy · 4

Una muy somera búsqueda en Familysearch revela que este Agustín Gorlier - cuyo nombre original era, me imagino, Augustin Gorlier, o incluso Henri Augustin Gorlier, según el documento que se consulte, emigró con su familia a Argentina. Estrella Gorlier Leroy, citada arriba, casó en 1876 en Río Cuarto (Córdoba) con Ignacio Caminal Comes; otro hijo de esta pareja, Carlos León Gorlier Leroy, nacido en París en 1855 y que por lo visto no acompañó a sus padres a Aragón, casó en el mismo Río Cuarto en 1882 con Carmen Slatter Lucero. En cuanto a Agustín, vivía aún en 1895 cuando aparece en el censo Argentino de ese año, trabajando como contador.

FUENTE: Archivo de la Diputación de Zaragoza, Censos Caja 1470, Escatrón, Página 3V

Genealogical Oddities (LIX): John Peters of Bristol in C19th La Coruña

On 16 July 1825 at La Coruña's parish of San Jorge took place the baptism of Juan Carlos Peters, born on the 3rd of that month, a son of Don Juan Peters native of Bristol in England, and Doña María Tellet (or Fellet) of London. The paternal grandparents were named as Juan and Juana Peters; maternal, José Tellet (or Fellet) and María Stillman.

I cannot find any reference to him in Galician records after this, so assume that John Charles Peters, if he grew to adulthood, did so at home, whether that was Bristol, London or somewhere else across the Bay of Biscay. The English forms of these names are fairly simple - John Peters, Joan or Jane Peters, and Mary Stillman, but I am still puzzled by what the priest intended when he wrote Tellet or Fellet.

SOURCE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela, parish of San Jorge (La Coruña), Baptisms 1823-1832, P. 129 verso.

Genealogical Oddities (LVIII): Thomas Fowler Did Not Expect The Spanish Inquisition

Who was Thomas Fowler, an English merchant active in Spain during the reign of King Carlos II? A 'Don Thomas Fauler', stated to be an Englishman residing in the city of Seville, granted a power of attorney in Madrid on 21 May 1680 before notary Felipe Antonio González de Montalvo (which instrument was witnessed by one Alejandro Tromorton, or Alexander Throgmorton). Fowler/Fauler was caught up in the Inquisition's prosecution of Antonio Lemos or Lemús, whose assets were confiscated as part of the Inquisition's prosecution of him. Our English friend owed Lemos 17,000 reales, which debt the Inquisition now wished to call in, sooner rather than later. Suddenly Fauler found himself not in the placid enjoyment of a debt to a Spanish merchant, but rather on the receiving end of legal actions from the Inquisition. How unexpected!

He may or may not have been the same man as a Thomas Fauler whose assets in the Canary Islands were confiscated in 1657, as part of Spanish reprisals against Oliver Cromwell for Commonwealth attacks on Spain. In any case, the Fauler of interest to is is indicated by the Inquisition proceedings to have been a resident of Antequera by 1683. Perhaps some record in the National Archives at Kew would reveal his origin? Is anyone across the Channel missing a Thomas from their extended Fowler family tree?

SOURCES: Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid: Inquisición,4680,9 · For the list of English merchants with assets confiscated in 1657, "Guerra Económica Y Comercio Europeo en España, 1624-1674. Las Grandes Represalias Y La Lucha Contra El Contrabando", Ángel Alloza Aparicio [In: Hispania, LXV/1, num. 219 (2005)]

Curiosidades Genealógicas (LVII): Matrimonios de Africanos en La Coruña, 1621

En el libro de bautizados que abarca 1607 a 1724 de Santa María de Oza (La Coruña) en el folio 43 hallamos el siguiente asiento: "Bauticé un hijo de Pedro de Austria africano Cristiano nuevo convertido que es entretenido y tiene plaça de su magestad en La Coruña y lo hubo de una moça que díjose que va a casar con ella que se llama Teresa Bartolomé [Tª Bme] gallega natural de Santa María de Loureda y lo bauticé a veinte y tres de febrero de mil y seiscientos y veinte y uno púsele nombre Pedro fueron padrinos Santiago Mínguez africano ansimesmo entretenido María de Nabarro biscayna mujer de Cristóbal de Austria africano.

Lope de Coiro, rector."

¿Qué harían estos africanos entretenidos en La Coruña? ¿Y con qué motivo se les conocía con el apellido de Austria?

FUENTE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela, Libro P009586.

Genealogical Oddities (LVI): A Swede in (17)70s Málaga

On the on the 26th of July 1779 at Málaga's parish of San Juan, Lorenzo Nicolás Wassberg, a native of Stockholm, legitimate son of "Don Nicolas Wassberg y Doña María Kansenstierna", married Doña Josefa Ferrari, native of Gibraltar, legitimate daughter of Don Francisco Ferrari and Doña Maria Facila. This entry was added to the marriage register in use three years later, for reasons not explained.

This entry amused me because as anyone who spent time on the Costa del Sol in the 1970s or early '80s will know, the groom was perhaps the earliest forerunner of a huge wave of Scandinavians who would settle there two centuries later. The priest who married him had probably never seen a Swedish name before. The groom's name at home was likely Lars Niklas Wassberg, or perhaps Lars Niklas Wessberg. His mother's surname could have been Lansenstierna, Glansenstierna, Kyulenstierna, Insenstierna, von Krusenstierna...? Perhaps a descendant of this match will emerge through Google to claim his or her Spanish connection! My thanks to Martin Sunnqvist for enlightening me as to the correct Swedish spelling of these names and possibilities.

SOURCE: Málaga Diocesan Archive, Records of Málaga city's parish of San Juan, Box 462, Marriages 1780-1785, P. 58

A C17th Crypto-Jewish Marriage in the Family of Isaac Orobio de Castro

On 11th November 1648 at the parish of San Lorenzo in the city of Jaén, a blessing (velación) was administered upon the marriage of Antonio de Castro, a merchant, the widowed husband of Leonor Enríquez, and his new wife Doña Ana de Orobio, a native of Madrid, the daughter of Manuel Álvarez Orobio and Doña Mencía Núñez, then residents of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The priest who recorded the entry specified that Antonio and Ana had been married at Sanlúcar before travelling to Jaén, and that he had seen a notarised copy of their marriage record from that town's church. 

From the names of the parents of the bride it is evident that she was a sister of the physician, philosopher and writer Isaac Orobio de Castro, later persecuted by the Inquisition and eventually exiled in Amsterdam.

SOURCE: Diocesan Archive of Jaén, Parish of San Lorenzo (city of Jaén), Marriages 1632-1676, P. 35.

Irish in Spain (XI): A C18th Husband & Wife between Málaga, Cádiz and Cuba

Daniel O'Driscoll, a native of Ireland stated to habitually reside in Cádiz, married Ana Michaela Murfy at the 'Sagrario' of the Cathedral of the city of Málaga on 23 October 1797. He was the son of 'Don Juan O'Driscoll' and 'Doña Leonor Macarthy', the bride being the daughter of 'Don Miguel Murfy' and 'Doña María Porro'. The wedding was conducted through a Power of Attorney granted by the groom to his father-in-law on 11 October 1797 before Cádiz notary Félix Araujo.

Though I've seen many Irish families in the sacramental registers of Spanish cities, what made this find particularly interesting was the death record of the groom - the above entry was taken not directly from the relevant marriage register, but from a transcript in the paperwork presented by the bride when she sought to remarry years later. It included another record stating that Daniel O'Driscoll, native of Ireland, in this case a son of 'Jeremías' O'Driscoll and María 'Macarte' had been admitted to the Hospital of San Felipe and San Juan, in care of the Hospitaller Order of St John, in Havana, where he died on 31st January 1803, aged 29. Fourteen years later his widow, who then resided in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) filed paperwork to marry a Dr. Nicolás Meca. 

SOURCE: Archivo General del Arzobispado, Expedientes Matrimoniales Ordinarios, Legajo 1142.

Genealogical Oddities (LV): Hampshire Gent in C18th Malaga Spain

Ceiling of Málaga Cathedral. Photo by Matthew Hovious

In 1776, "Don Guillermo Ybuelin" of "Southampton in the county of Hampshire, England" son of Don "Mateo Ybuelin" and Doña "Ysabel Sivers" married, at the Sagrario chapel of Málaga city cathedral, Josefa Mandly, a native of Málaga, daughter of Don Mathias Mandly and Doña Isabel Rosa de Rueda. The witness was one Guillermo Lovejoy.

I wonder if someone familiar with Hampshire genealogies may be able to connect this man with his English family. He seems to have been the progenitor of the large Huelin family existing still today in Málaga and elsewhere, and as long ago as 1968 I find a Spanish researcher referring to him as William Welling, but have no way of knowing if this is actually the correct English form of his name.

SOURCE: Archive of the Cathedral of Málaga, Cathedral (Sagrario) Marriages 1776-1792, P. 9

Curiosidades Genealógicas (LIV): Rama Espúrea de Tronco Condal

Muchas veces en los archivos, algo interesante e inesperado surge cuando estás buscando, entre miles de renglones escritos, otra cosa. Así fue con esta pequeña curiosidad que encontré entre los registros sacramentales de Antequera (Málaga) y que comparto aquí por si pudiera ser de utilidad a algún investigador que al intentar reconstruir su descendencia se topara con la falta de este eslabón.

En la Colegiata de Santa Mayor de Antequera, el 10 de mayo de 1770, fueron bautizados los gemelos Francisco de Paula José María de los Dolores y José Francisco de Paula María de la Soledad, inscritos como hijos de padres no conocidos, siendo sus padrinos Don José Luís Sánchez y Doña María Caballero y Serbantes.

Pues bien, según reza nota marginal al lado de las partidas, éstas fueron enmendadas el 9 de diciembre de 1791 por virtud de mandamiento del Provisor y Vicario General del Obispado de Málaga, reflejándose que los padres fueron el Sr. D. Lope José de Cárdenas y Vargas, Conde de Valdehermoso de Cárdenas, y "cierta mujer soltera".

FUENTE: Archivo Municipal de Antequera, Colegiata de Santa María Bautizados 1765-1777

Genealogical Oddities (LIII): A Somerset Family in early C19th Spain

The church of San Jorge, La Coruña

[photo: Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA]

On 13 May 1812 at La Coruña's parish of San Jorge, a boy named Juan Francisco Pedro Regalado Tark was baptised. His parents were named as Jorge Pedro Tark and Isabel Hovié, both natives of the parish of St Mary Magdalene in the English city of Taunton. His paternal grandparents were stated to be Roberto Tark and María Ilman; the maternal grandparents, Guillermo Hovié and Francisca Whitelock.

This couple had at least one more child, baptised at the same church on 18 Nov 1813: Antonio Román Tark, in whose record all the particulars given are essentially the same except that his mother and father are described as natives of 'a suburb of London', and the priest has had some difficulty with the maternal grandmother's name, which he renders as 'Huithiloefi'.

I assume the English names of the adults mentioned above would be: Robert Tark, Mary Ilman, and Frances Whitelock, but I cannot hazard a guess as to what surname was intended by 'Hovié', unless perhaps it was actually a French or Huguenot surname.

SOURCE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela, Baptisms 1806-1813 of the parish of San Jorge in the city of La Coruña, p. 268 verso; and Baptisms 1813-1818, P. 52.

Curiosidades Genealógicas (LII): De Tal Palo...o no.

En La Coruña el 24 de octubre de 1629, se bautizó en su parroquia de Santiago a Benito, hijo legítimo del Licenciado Francisco Bz. (Benítez? Vazquez?) Cortegada, Relator de la Real Audiencia de Galicia, y de Dª María de Tabares. Los padrinos fueron el Licenciado Bañales, abogado de la Real Audiencia, y Dª Catalina Bañales, mujer del Licenciado Moscoso, abogado de la Real Audiencia.
 

Tuy

Sin embargo, poco parece haberle beneficiado al crío este entorno de leguleyos, pues según reza la nota al márgen "Murió penitenciario de Tuy".

FUENTE: Archivo Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela, Parroquia de Santiago (La Coruña), Bautizados 1601-1636, Fº 131 verso.

Genealogical Oddities (LI): An English Gentleman in C17th Galicia

At La Coruña's parish of Santiago on 10 April 1613, Manuel, son of "Guillermo Salder", described as an English gentleman, and his wife "Doña _na" was baptised. The godparents' surnames were abbreviated as "Spta", and they were stated to be Manuel de "Spta", Veedor y Contador de la presente de guerra, and his sister Doña Francisca de "Spta". The witnesses were Captain Mesa, Captain Sigler and Ensign Hidalgo.

Not much to go on in terms of establishing the identity of this caballero inglés. Though his surname is written as Salder, one wonders if he may have been named William Sadler?

SOURCE: Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela, Baptisms 1601-1636 of the parish of Santiago in the city of La Coruña, p. 44 verso.

Genealogical Oddities (L): Denbighshire Pritchard in C19th Spain

On 15 January 1809, Joseph Pritchard, son of Robert Pritchard native of 'Bicksan' in Denbighshire & his wife Anna Robinson, native of 'Lincon' in Lincolnshire, and said to be a parishioner of its parish of St Sebastian, was baptised at La Coruña's parish of San Nicolás. The record notes that the father was in Spain as a soldier helping defend the country during the Peninsular War. ("El padre era soldado que vino al auxilio de España".)

SOURCE:  Baptisms 1806-1813, Parish of San Nicolás (La Coruña), P. 126 verso, Diocesan Archive of Santiago de Compostela

Genealogical Oddities (XLIX): C19th Anglo-German Military Musician in Galicia

On 5 June 1806 at Ferrol's parish of San Julián, the chaplain of the Navarra Regiment of Volunteers christened a child Felipe Marcelino, the son of Don Maximilian Chase, musician of said regiment, and Doña Martina Pien. The child's paternal grandparents were stated as José Chase, native of Germany, and Ana María Ulbrich, from Corcubión in Galicia; the maternal grandparents, Pedro Pien and Paula Fernández - she possibly a native of Ferrol, though at this point the entry is unclear. This record was the subject of a delayed entry into the register on 19 September 1825, presumably at the behest of the father; or, perhaps, Felipe had followed in his father's footsteps and was then serving in the same regiment? The entry raises some interesting questions, not least of which is, how an Ulbrich family came to be in the Galician town of Corcubión, and also - assuming the entry is not in error, and that it genuinely was Maximilian and not Ana who was born in Germany - what Maximilian's origin was, given that to the best of my knowledge Chase is not a surname native to Germany.

SOURCE: Military Parish of San Francisco, Ferrol, Baptisms 1815-1835, Page 247 verso; Navy Museum Archive, Madrid

Irish in Spain (VII): An O'Reilly-Dymock Family in C18th Málaga

On 18th November 1725 at Málaga's church of San Juan Bautista, Gabriel O'Reilly married Elizabeth Dymock. He was born at Troyes (France), the son of Michael O'Reilly and Mary Tallon; she was from "Dunan" (Doonan?), Ireland, the daughter of Francis Dymock and Catherine Quigly.

This couple had at least one child; a boy, Miguel Máximo, was baptised to them at Málaga's cathedral on 30th May 1728. That record simply describes their origin as 'of the Irish nation'; it states that they resided in Málaga's Espartería street and that the infant's godparent was Friar Prosper Colan, an Augustine monk. Names in these records are given in Spanish and surname spelling is inconsistent, so O'Reyli, O'Reylly, Dymoke; Miguel, María, Isabel, Francisco, Catalina.

SOURCES: Marriages 1722-1733, Church of San Juan Bautista, P. 93 verso; Baptisms 1720-1729, Cathedral (Sagrario), P. 257 verso. Both churches in Málaga, records now at the Málaga Diocesan Archive.

Genealogical Oddities (XLVIII): A Scots-Irish Physician In C19th Caracas

An entry in the baptism register for the Cathedral of Caracas (Venezuela) refers to the baptism in December of 1823 of Juan Jesús María, born on 30th May of that year, son of Dr Juan Geagan and Felipa Outlaw.

No particulars of Dr Geagan's origin are given in the baptism entry, but he must be the same J.F. Geagan, Doctor of Medicine, mentioned warmly in the Gaceta de Caracas newspaper on 13th December 1821 as having been a benefactor to Venezuelan exiles on the island of Trinidad, whom he treated there for free after the Battle of Golfo Triste against forces supporting Spanish control of Venezuela. In that article, he is stated to have been a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and welcomed to the newly-independent country as a friend.

SOURCES: Baptisms 1790-1862, Cathedral of Caracas, P. 118, Image online at www.familysearch.org; Gaceta de Caracas, 13 December 1821, Online at http://saber.ucab.edu.ve/bitstream/handle/123456789/29237/GC_18211213.pdf

Curiosidades Genealógicas (XLVII): Un parroquiano de Albalate del Arzobispo casa en Calanda

Quienes hemos investigado alguna vez la genealogía de alguna familia asentada en este pueblo turolense sabemos de sobra la triste situación de su patrimonio documental, habiendo sido destruido en los años 30 tanto su archivo parroquial como su registro civil. Por eso, comparto aqui este matrimonio celebrado en la parroquia de Calanda pero que acaso aporte algún dato útil para algún investigador con raíces en Albalate.

El 11 de junio de 1725, Don Gaudioso Muniesa, natural y parroquiano de Albalate del Arzobispo, hijo de Don Juan Gerónimo Muniesa y de Doña Isabel Las Marias, naturales y parroquianos de Albalate, casó con Doña Violante Navarro, viuda del difunto Don Miguel Villanueva q murió y esta enterrado en Calanda.

FUENTE: Archivo Parroquial de Calanda, Matrimonios 1716-1733, P. 21