French family

I have been doing some research on my maternal French line (French as in surname not nationality). Also I have acquired some photos from cousins of my mother.

Henry French, my great, great grandfather, was born in Preston on the 3 Aug 1872 and I always thought he was an only child. His parents were Michael French and Margaret Moylan, both born somewhere in Ireland in about 1847/1848. They married on 5 Dec 1869 at St Wahlburgs RC Church in Preston, before this date I am struggling to find either of them, so maybe they only came across to England between 1861 and their marriage in 1869. So think I need to leave that line alone for the time being.

Anyway back to Henry and him being an only child. When I was looking at the updates on Lancs BMD the other day I thought I would run the surname French and mothers maiden name Moylan through the database again between 1869 and 1889. Amazingly I found another boy born in 1871 called William (good sign both Michael and Margaret's fathers were called William). He wasn't on the 1871 census with them but he could have been born after census night so I searched Ancestry to see if I could find the quarter this William French was born in. I found it and it was in the Sep quarter. So before I ordered the certificate I thought I would try and find out what happened to William as there is no sign of him on the 1881 census and with only being 10 years old you would have expected him still to be at home with his parents, as his brother Henry was.

Searching Lancs BMD again I found a death of a William French in 1871 aged 0, checking Ancestry again I find this William French died in the Sep quarter. So I sent off for both certificates.

The death certificate has now arrived and although no mention of mothers surname it does have the child dying at the address the family were living at on the 1871 census and when their son Henry was born in 1872. Fathers occupation is exactly as stated on Henry's birth certificate the year after. Margaret French registers the death although she hasn't stated what relation she is the deceased I do believe I have found the sibling of my great, great grandfather.

He unfortunately was only 3 weeks old when he died, so the birth certificate I am awaiting is more than likely the correct one. Cause of death was Diarrhoea 5 days, poor little mite.

Anyway on a lighter note here are my French pictures


This is Margaret Mary French's wedding in 1920 to George Seed.

There are a few people on the picture I don't know but the man to the left of the groom is my great, great grandfather Henry French. Margaret is his eldest daughter.








This is the marriage of Henry French, my grandmothers brother.

The two bridesmaids are, on the left, Winnifred French (my grandmother) and, on the right, her sister Bessie French




This is the wedding of Annie French and Robert Rooney in 1920. To the right of the bride is her brother Billy French.