Walloon Church at Canterbury. The following extract is from a record from the Walloon Church at Canterbury. I asked a friend what is the meaning of 'feu', 'vfeu' and 'vefue' in : "Pg. 457) 1602 Sep 2 -- Mariage: Anthoine LE CONTE, vefu, natif de Tournay; et Francoise DE LA RUE, ve(fue) de feu Louys THEUELIN, natifue d'Armentieres" and I had this reply: " 'Feu' generally means fire, but can also mean 'hearth' or 'homestead', so could be translated in this instance as Francoise DE LA RUE, native of Armentieres, from the family (literally the home/hearth) of Louis Theuelin. It could also mean 'the late Louis Theuelin', but it won't be that if he was still alive at the time of the marriage! (I don't think it could mean widow of the late Louis Theuelin, as their surnames don't match.) I've been racking my brains and I think that Vefu (masc) and Vefue (fem) are the old spellings of Veuf and Veuve, which mean widower and widow respectively. It looks as if this may have been a second marriage for both of them, especially as her name isn't the family name. If she was widowed, and this was a remarriage, it would explain the lack of a maiden name in the entry. I'm not really up on 'Mediaeval' French, but I hope this helps or at least makes sense! " Would any lister care to comment on the phrase "de feu Louys THEUELIN" Was this a shot-gun marriage, is Louis défunt or was this his daughter's second marriage.? Does anyone know a website which explains the rudiments of translating early French words found in genealogical records such as these. Clive

Hi Clive and List, I have been working with the Canterbury Strangers Church registers for some time in pursuit of my DENOCOUR ancestors. The word "feu" definitely means "late" and Vfeu / Vefue are widower and widow respectively according my French dictionary. It seems that widows still used their maiden names after marriage at this time. There are baptisms which give both parents' surnames. Hope this helps PG Martin Bexley Kent ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clive Bates" <Clive.Bates@btinternet.com> To: <HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: 29 October 2000 22:30 Subject: [HWE] Translating records > Walloon Church at Canterbury. > > The following extract is from a record from the Walloon Church at > Canterbury. > > I asked a friend what is the meaning of 'feu', 'vfeu' and 'vefue' in : > > "Pg. 457) 1602 Sep 2 -- Mariage: Anthoine LE CONTE, vefu, natif de > Tournay; et Francoise DE LA RUE, ve(fue) de feu Louys THEUELIN, natifue > d'Armentieres" > > and I had this reply: > > " 'Feu' generally means fire, but can also mean 'hearth' or 'homestead', so > could be translated in this instance as Francoise DE LA RUE, native of > Armentieres, from the family (literally the home/hearth) of Louis Theuelin. > It could also mean 'the late Louis Theuelin', but it won't be that if he was > still alive at the time of the marriage! (I don't think it could mean widow > of the late Louis Theuelin, as their surnames don't match.) > > I've been racking my brains and I think that Vefu (masc) and Vefue (fem) are > the old spellings of Veuf and Veuve, which mean widower and widow > respectively. It looks as if this may have been a second marriage for both > of them, especially as her name isn't the family name. If she was widowed, > and this was a remarriage, it would explain the lack of a maiden name in the > entry. > > I'm not really up on 'Mediaeval' French, but I hope this helps or at least > makes sense! " > > > Would any lister care to comment on the phrase "de feu Louys THEUELIN" > Was this a shot-gun marriage, is Louis défunt or was this his daughter's > second marriage.? > > Does anyone know a website which explains the rudiments of translating early > French words found in genealogical records such as these. > > Clive > > > > > > > > ==== HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE Mailing List ==== > To access list archives: go to URL's below for 1)threaded or 2)keyword > 1) http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/huguenots-walloons-europe > 2) http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB >