Has anyone had success in contacting the Jamaica Archives, King & Manchester Streets, in Spanish Town?. (Not the Registrars Dept in Twickenham Park). We have sent numerous emails to jarchives@jard.gov.jm without success. Does anyone know the name/email of a human employed there?Their website has been "Under construction" for yonks! Alternatively can anyone help with this query we sent to them re " missing persons"? (None of these baptisms can be found in LDS films) Does anyone do lookups in Jamaica? We seek the baptism records of the supposed children of George Ffrench and his wife, Eliza Minot,married in Portland on January 4,1849 -- George Ffrench was the Clerk of the Vestry for the parish of Portland & a Tax Collector -- we found the baptism record of their first child, Robert Burke Ffrench in Port Antonio on October 31, 1849. Robert died six months later and was buried in Port Antonio on May 4, 1850. But other sources, particularly the Gleaner, show they had at least four other children, possibly 5: 1) Ann M who was a signatory along with her mother Eliza Ffrench and sister Emily Letitia Ffrench in the thankyou letter to Governor Eyre, January 1, 1866 from the ladies of Port Antonio & Manchioneal-- per Google Books. 2) Emily Letitia or Letitia Emily According to a Gleaner excerpt of her death from typhoid in 1869 she was the second daughter of George Ffrench, aged 16 years, which would mean she must have been born in 1853.We found her burial record in Portland but have not been able to find a baptismal record for her. Her burial record says she was 13 implying a birth year of 1856 3)Edward Shafto Ffrench, he is described in a series of articles in the Gleaner in 1897 concerning a court case, as the son of George Ffrench. He was a tax collector per the Blue Books; supposedly born about 1855 -but no baptism record 4)Alfred Ernest Ffrench, supposedly born about 1861, who is described in the Who's Who of 1916 as a son of George and Eliza Ffrench.He was a JP,MP and received the MBE award in WW1-- the Who's Who described Alfred as a"staunch Roman Catholic".So he's a VIP ! But has no baptism record 5)Arthur George Ffrench, who fathered my grandfather, Ernest Ffrench in 1876 , by one Jane Victoria Smith, baptised in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. They were not married and in fact Arthur married a Frances Glave not long after and settled in Manchester. Arthur was employed as a clerk in St. Catherine, and appears, from what records we've found, to have been born about 1851 -- again not found. He got into some kind of trouble in his position and left Jamaica precipitously and settled in London, England, where he died in 1905. He appears in the 1891 English census where his birthplace is given as Jamaica, West Indies. We guess he may be the son of George Ffrench, though it's quite possible he might have been the son of George's brother, Edward Ffrench, It seems strange that the baptism records of quite a prominent family should be missing. Does anyone have any ideas what we can do if the Archives dont respond? Thanks Nancy ffrench
Hi Nancy....... I am a lurker on here now but about 10 years ago, I was researching the Ffrench surname for a friend in Australia. He would then pass the info on to a friend of his wife.......she was the Ffrench descendant. My last name also starts with an "F", so it was no problem to look for them in the LDS films. Dorothy Kew would be able to help you..........and as it is 1 am here in Canada, I hope I make sense with the following. If you are looking for a "staunch catholic" in the mid 1850's, you won't find him in the LDS records. They are 95% Church of England. And the period from 1870 to 1800 (Law 6) is missing a lot of records........and those that were not C of E, but perhaps Baptist or Methodist at that time........well, there is no LDS copy of those *dissenter records*. I know the above because my husband's grandfather was born around 1876 to 1877, but no sign of him or his sister.......the other children were born after 1880 and Civil Registration was now the order of the day. I have been intending to get back to the LDS (hit brick walls and gave up about 5 years ago), but now that they have catalogued the churches in Spain, may have a look for my surname in the 1700's. Best of luck.........Heather Figueroa "NancyFfrench" <kandn.atkinson@gmail.com> wrote in message news:5ec855cb-a7cf-45ea-8d81-d71b3e36e9dc@j4g2000yqh.googlegroups.com... > Has anyone had success in contacting the Jamaica Archives, King & > Manchester Streets, in Spanish Town?. (Not the Registrars Dept in > Twickenham Park). We have sent numerous emails to > jarchives@jard.gov.jm without success. Does anyone know the name/email > of a human employed there?Their website has been "Under construction" > for yonks! > > Alternatively can anyone help with this query we sent to them re " > missing persons"? (None of these baptisms can be found in LDS films) > Does anyone do lookups in Jamaica? > > We seek the baptism records of the supposed children of George Ffrench > and his wife, Eliza Minot,married in Portland on January 4,1849 -- > George Ffrench was the Clerk of the Vestry for the parish of Portland > & a Tax Collector -- we found the baptism record of their first child, > Robert Burke Ffrench in Port Antonio on October 31, 1849. Robert died > six months later and was buried in Port Antonio on May 4, 1850. But > other sources, particularly the Gleaner, show they had at least four > other children, possibly 5: > > 1) Ann M who was a signatory along with her mother Eliza Ffrench and > sister Emily Letitia Ffrench in the thankyou letter to Governor Eyre, > January 1, 1866 from the ladies of Port Antonio & Manchioneal-- per > Google Books. > > 2) Emily Letitia or Letitia Emily According to a Gleaner excerpt of > her death from typhoid in 1869 she was the second daughter of George > Ffrench, aged 16 years, which would mean she must have been born in > 1853.We found her burial record in Portland but have not been able to > find a baptismal record for her. Her burial record says she was 13 > implying a birth year of 1856 > > 3)Edward Shafto Ffrench, he is described in a series of articles in > the Gleaner in 1897 concerning a court case, as the son of George > Ffrench. He was a tax collector per the Blue Books; supposedly born > about 1855 -but no baptism record > > 4)Alfred Ernest Ffrench, supposedly born about 1861, who is described > in the Who's Who of 1916 as a son of George and Eliza Ffrench.He was a > JP,MP and received the MBE award in WW1-- the Who's Who described > Alfred as a"staunch Roman Catholic".So he's a VIP ! But has no baptism > record > > 5)Arthur George Ffrench, who fathered my grandfather, Ernest Ffrench > in 1876 , by one Jane Victoria Smith, baptised in Spanish Town, St. > Catherine. They were not married and in fact Arthur married a Frances > Glave not long after and settled in Manchester. Arthur was employed as > a clerk in St. Catherine, and appears, from what records we've found, > to have been born about 1851 -- again not found. He got into some kind > of trouble in his position and left Jamaica precipitously and settled > in London, England, where he died in 1905. He appears in the 1891 > English census where his birthplace is given as Jamaica, West Indies. > We guess he may be the son of George Ffrench, though it's quite > possible he might have been the son of George's brother, Edward > Ffrench, > > It seems strange that the baptism records of quite a prominent family > should be missing. > > Does anyone have any ideas what we can do if the Archives dont > respond? Thanks Nancy ffrench > >