William FRENCH

[cledry]

I have a William FRENCH (my 7X great grandfather) buried at St. Hilary on 19 Jun 1777 aged 84. His wife was Mary, I suspect she is the one buried 25 Jan 1765 at St. Hilary.

This couple baptised the following at St. Hilary
Mary - 18 Oct 1731 (my 6x great grandmother) she later married John VINCENT at St. Hilary on 23 Apr 1752
William - 05 Nov 1736
Jane - 01 Nov 1739

My concerns are there seems to be a large gap between the children which implies perhaps a few births that were not baptised, perhaps infant deaths.

However in nearby Ludgvan there is a couple. William FRENCH and Mary BLIGHT being married 31 DEC 1720. Interestingly this William FRENCH was baptised at Ludgvan on 22 OCT 1693 to another William FRENCH. This 1693 baptism is spot on for my William FRENCH buried at St. Hilary!

Now the William FRENCH and Mary in Ludgvan had the following baptised at Ludgvan. Only William is mentioned not Mary but I am certain there was only one William FRENCH in the parish with his two brothers.
Elizabeth - 3 Dec 1721
Christian - 15 SEP 1723
Catherine - 4 Sep 1726
Mary - 16 Nov 1729
Jane - 15 Nov 1730

The following burials are listed at Ludgvan.
Catherine dau of William - 2 Dec 1724
Catherine dau of William - 20 Jun 1730
Catherine dau of William - 27 Aug 1731
Mary dau of William - 3 Sep 1731
William son of William - 09 Mar 1738

All the names and dates tie into the William FRENCH and Mary BLIGHT of Ludgvan being the same William FRENCH and Mary who moved to St. Hilary at some point in 1731.

Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any other additions to the info which I have listed and is gathered from the OPC site.

[Cornish Terrier]

I think that is a fair reading of the information. A quick scan of French baptisms indicates it was not until around the 1680s that the name began to appear 'west of the hayle'.

There are a number of ways you can use the OPC site other than just locating BDMs. e.g. a check of the Protestation Returns of 1641 can enable you to see if any members of a particular family were in a Parish at the time. Likewise the 1662/4 Hearth Tax can be used the same way.

But another thing you can do is, for example in this case, pick a time period and list all the baptisms for a certain Parish. With a name like French I think there are only about 1080 entries in the entire baptisms database. (not allowing for any variations that might be encountered) That means it is a relatively easy name to work with.
With so few in total you can look over a longer time-period than you might with other names. The OPC only allows for maximum 1000 entries for one search so drop off a few years at the later end of the scale so that you restrict your search from (e.g.) 1550 to 1850 which covers from the first entry in 1582 right up to 1850 exactly!

Then just scan through each page of results looking for the appearance of the name for a region of interest. Maybe the Parishes from about Truro down to Lands End would be of most use to you I think.

That will give you a pretty good idea of where they were congregated at any time over that 250 years and make it a little easier to work out the probability of connections. Do that in conjunction with the BDMs and it should be interesting I reckon.

CT

[cledry]

My other query is the burials of three Catherines but only one Catherine baptised.

I suspect the one who was buried in 1724 is actually Christian baptised 1723.
I also assume the one who was buried in 1730 is the one baptised 1726.
So this leaves the one buried 1731. I am surmising that this must be a twin of Jane, where else could she fit? If so why wasn't she baptised with Jane in 1730?

[cledry]

Just noticed this OPC entry which tied the Ludgvan couple to the St. Hilary couple nicely!

Day Month 09-Mar
Year 1738
Parish Circuit Or Chapel Ludgvan
Forename William
Surname FRENCH
Age
Residence St. Hilary
Notes Son of Wm. French

[cledry]

William FRENCH was the sone of William FRENCH and Katherine SCADDAN so I am now thinking the Catherine buried in 1730 or the one buried in 1731 could be Katherine SCADDEN baptised 11 Mar 1662. Only the first Catherine entry says daughter of William.