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Archiver > GEN-FR > 1997-09 > 0874150105


From: Xenia <>
Subject: Re: Irish names that have been "Francophoned"?
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 05:28:25 -0600 (MDT)


Marte could be Martha and Mariare could be Mary Anne as the second r
could be a misreading or misspelling of the n. Perhaps it is the same
person as your Annie Mary who was written as Meriane. It is really hard to
decipher the census takers' writing and spelling was not considered as
significant as it is today.

As for the entry in the column April 1 (1871 the year of the census) was the
date and Moise Kigle could have been the person giving the information on
behalf of the family. In some census records the name of the person giving the
information is listed or even signed (usually at the end of the entry). In
others it is only identified if the person giving the census taker the
information was other than the head of the household.

Check at the beginning of the census and see if April 1 was during the
census period and that may help verify the above theory. On the
otherhand, it could be the date of some event such as birth or death that
occurred during the census taking and so was written in the last column but I
think this is less likely.

I have found the French census takers and priests often (especially if
the subjects themselves were illiterate and/or because spelling was not
as standardized or significant as it is today) wrote the names as they
heard them - i.e. spelled according to their own language. Thus I found
my Morris Shea as Maurice almost always in Quebec records and
occassionally as Maurice Chea. I recently helped others with the 1818
Quebec City census and found such names John Neilson written as Jean
Neilson. At least you found all the names listed. You didn't indicate if
they were Protestant though in 1871 everyone was included. On some earlier
(pre-Confederation) census records in Quebec the only Protestants listed by
name were heads of household even if it was not a "nominal" census - i.e.
every Catholic family members' names and age were given.

Hope this helps.

a bientot,

Xenia ()

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On 1 Sep 1997, Sheeeeesh wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I located the names of my ancestors in an 1871 St. Jean, Quebec census
> yesterday and their names were entered by a French Canadian clerk who it
> appears has "Francophoned" them.
>
> Apologies if that word is incorrect or derogatory but I'm ignorant of what
> to call
> it !!
>
> For example a daughter who we know to be Annie Mary was written as "Meriane"
> Any ideas as to what the Irish names could be for: "Mariare" and "Marte" ???
>
> Also, in the last column appeared the words (as near as I can discern) "1
> Avril Moise Kigle." This would be: April 1st....??????
>
> Many thanks !!
> Catherine Harper
>
>

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