re: 'vefu' and 'vefue'...clive is correct that these are old spelling of 'veuf' and 'veuve'--i found some old (17th century) French texts in which the words were used and one translates "La vefue sainte" as "the saintly widow.' 'Feu' (in addition to meaning fire) means as an adjective 'the late' or 'deceased', so it would read 'Antoine LE CONTE, widower' and 'Francoise DE LA RUE, widow of the late Louys THEUELIN. so Francoise was Louys widow, not his daughter. vefu(e) may be related to the verb 'vivre', to live, though currently the past participle for vivre is vécu. i found 'feu' as 'late' in a paperback Larousse dictionary i paid 95 cents for in the mid 1970s. finding vefu/e was a less than five minute web search on Yahoo using only those words as key words. the web is a wonderful tool and i would recommend that searching it be any genealogist's first step when encountering unfamiliar terms, localities, etc. a researcher on any subject today can answer in a matter of minutes (or sometimes seconds) questions which in times past would have required waiting till a library was open driving there, searching among its materials, and perhaps finding that the local branch did not have any sources addressing the issue (my branch sure wouldn't have 17th century french texts). now you can find obscure records on other continents at any time of the day or night with a few keystrokes, and your searches can lead you serendipitously to things you weren't even looking for. the other night a web search i did trying to help someone on another list found me a GIF of the original land patent documents from the 1830s for two of my ancestors who were early settlers in michigan! the web truly is the 'information superhighway' and not using is like trying to get around the physical world without using the wheel...you're going to walk a lot of needless miles and get some nasty blisters. the only blisters you get if you are a confirmed web searcher are on your fingers from typing and using your mouse :). -- "Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number-- Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you-- Ye are many -- they are few." ~Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Call to Freedom ---------- >From: "Clive Bates" <Clive.Bates@btinternet.com> >To: HUGUENOTS-WALLOONS-EUROPE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [HWE] Translating records >Date: Sun, Oct 29, 2000, 2:30 PM > > 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 > >