McGovern, France 1824 poss 27th regiment of foot

[marie]

Hello all,

I have been puzzling this one out for a few years now and would like some help to progress this if possible.

I have an ancestor - William McGovern, who was born in France around 1824, where his father - either Thomas or Patrick McGovern was a soldier. William may also have had a sister Mary - also born France around 1816.

I have not managed to find any reference to births or baptisms for either of these two on various army chaplain records.

I have had some research undertaken at Kew, and have also ordered some documents from the National Archives.
I have found some references to McGovern in the 27th regiment of foot and also in the 24th and 82nd - but none of these mentions service in France!
Thomas or Patrick was Irish, married to Elizabeth Dolan and returned to Ireland after he left the service.
His son was married in County Monaghan in 1843.

Any ideas where I can go from here?

Thanks,

Marie

[Currie]

Hello Marie,

When I read your post the first thought that entered my mind was “What’s a British regiment doing in France 9 years after Waterloo when the big threat, Napoleon, had died in 1821?

After a bit of a google the scenario seems to be that the Treaty of Paris, 1815, provided for an occupation force of not more than 150,000 allied soldiers in the frontier provinces of France for a period from 3 to a maximum of 5 years.

From what I can gather all British forces left France in 1818. I doubt that any would have hung around unless it was in a private capacity. The French don’t strike me as the sort of people who would allow foreign soldiers, especially English, to outstay the terms of a treaty.

http://www.napoleon-series.org/research ... aris2.html

Is there any particular reason why you think that when William McGovern was born in France around 1824 his father was in the military? If he was living in France as a civilian, and the child was baptised there, there would have been no military involvement. How flexible is the 1824 birth date?

Alan

[SarahND]

Hello Marie,

I assume that when Ancestry translates his birthplace in 1861 as "Bsv, France" it just means something like British Subject, rather than a place in France? Beau-something-ville?

Do you know who the sister Mary married? Searching in the censuses for Marys born in France around 1816, most of them say "British Subject" but some do give a place in France.

Regards,
Sarah

[marie]

Alan/Sarah,

Thanks for getting back on this one.

William's birth in France is consistent in all census records in Scotland. In addition, he had a son - Edward - in 1855, where he stated that his birthplace was France (town not known), where his father was a soldier.

The birthdate is also pretty consistent in all records in Scotland.

Mary married a William Cairney or Kairney - but this may also have taken place in Ireland - she is listed in 1881 census as being born in France. Haven't found her yet in any previous census in Scotland. Tried to look at Ancestry records, but it was playing up tonight!

Mary died in 1882, in Shotts (Calderhead) Lanarkshire and William died there also in 1883.
There is a potential 3rd sibling - Elizabeth - who married John McAvoy, in 1859 and also lived in Shotts.

The French connection has always intrigued me - I have a notebook from around the 1860s where William's son-in-law - a miner -recorded lots of French writing exercises - of the type about the baker having the bread etc!

On some of the McGovern records from the National Archives (yes, I did get a few!) there are references to service in the Isles of France - Mauritius - but I have mainly discounted them.

William's mother was Elizabeth Dolan - also born Ireland - died in Shotts in 1875.

The links with France have persisted through the generations - William's descendants - my father(his gr-grandson) , me, my children all have close links with France and the French language -so I would love to find out more!

Thanks,

Marie