Jenny The name Napoleon really is not that unusual in England in the 19thC, there are hundreds of children named thus (nearly a thousand recorded between 1837 and 1915) and nearly all to people with otherwise very English sounding surnames (I was particularly drawn to one named William Virgil Shakspeare Napoleon Boys born in Portsmouth in 1863). I really think that the jump from naming a son Napoleon to the father being French or being even a supporter of Napoleon is a bridge too far. Napoleon is not rally even a French name. Remember that Napoleon Bonaparte himself was Corsican, and the name is usually considered to be of Italian origin (though some consider it of German origin). Also why would George Frederick have waited until his 6th child was born before he made any reference to French or Republican leanings. The previous children were Charlotte, George Frederick, Rosina, Mary Miranda and Olivia. Hermesfred was his 7th child, and she seems to have kept that name through to her death. No idea where that comes from, but sounds more Germanic/Nordic than French. Like you I cannot locate George Frederick or Charlotte senior in the 1851 census, though Napoleon appears as a pauper in Fulham. I assume you are aware that George Frederick senior was sued and committed to the court for relief of insolvent debtors in 1842, and also that his death was due to habitual intoxication. Maybe he had had one (or several) too many on the days his 6th and 7th children were named :-) Regards Jon Baker -----Original Message----- All of the baptism entries for the Michshel children that I have found to date show their father as a modeller in Plaster or as a Plasterer. George's death certificate shows him to have been a plasterer. To have named his son Napoleon must surely point to George Frederick being a supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte during the revolution in France. Whether of not he was a soldier in the French army during the Napoleonic wars, he must have been a supporter. Hermesfred, or Hemasfred, either spelling of the name is how the name is spelt for this girl in the baptism register, censuses and on her marriage entry in the register, she signed her name herself and did not make her mark in the marriage register, though her signature is not very clear it does look like Hermesfred/Hermasfred, there is definitely a small letter "f" in the middle of the name, it is the Es/As part that is never clear in the written name. Once married she is shown in the 1891 census by the initial H F, perhaps the enumerator could only read these two letters of the name or the filler in of the schedule couldn't spell her full name, the rest of the family are shown by their full names.

HMmmm! Maybe George Fred. was not French after all. The family have always thought that someone in the family was French. But perhaps they thought that because of the name Napoleon being in the family. It doesn't take much for a family story to get mis-construed into something completely different from the original story. George Frederick senior, was born Foreign according to the 1841 census, with the letter F in the last column on the right of the page. Not having found him in the 1851 census is not helpful, I might have found out where he had come from if I could find him there. I have a copy of his death certificate and, as you say, it does give the cause of death as being due to intoxication. Do you have an interest in this man and his family, you must have seen a copy of the death certificate to know this fact. I know he was sued for debt, I have the extract from a newspaper stating that he was summoned to appear in court on a given date. I have never seen any report of the trial or any sentence that was passed on him. I don't know where to find such information about debtors. George's wife Charlotte is in Fulham workhouse with her surname mis spelt as Meshell as is the surname in Napoleon's entry, his first name looks like it is spelt Napolian. I have found a couple of the daughters of this family working as servants in 1851 so not in the workhouse with their mother and siblings. I think that in the 1851 at Fulham workhouse Hermasfred is down as Elizabeth Meshel aged 8. Perhaps the head of the workhouse thought her proper name too outlandish and called her Elizabeth instead. This girl has to be Hermasfred as I have never found an Elizabeth Michshel birth about 1842, but then neither have I found the birth on FreeBMD of Hermasfred. Maybe she was never registered, I can't even find an entry of birth for a "Female" Michshel/l about 1842 give or take 2 years or more on either side and being imaginative and using wild cards for the spelling of the surname. I have only got her baptism in early 1842 giving her birth date as Nov. 1841. You made me laugh when you said perhaps he had one over the eight when naming a couple of his children, you could be right. ;-)))))) I might have to give George Frederick Michshel up as a bad job and move onto other things. Thankyou for making me think again about George. He really is a case for wanting to go back in time and speak to him. Regards Jenny DeAngelis <<The name Napoleon really is not that unusual in England in the 19thC, there are hundreds of children named thus (nearly a thousand recorded between 1837 and 1915) and nearly all to people with otherwise very English sounding surnames (I was particularly drawn to one named William Virgil Shakspeare Napoleon Boys born in Portsmouth in 1863). I really think that the jump from naming a son Napoleon to the father being French or being even a supporter of Napoleon is a bridge too far. Napoleon is not rally even a French name. Remember that Napoleon Bonaparte himself was Corsican, and the name is usually considered to be of Italian origin (though some consider it of German origin). Also why would George Frederick have waited until his 6th child was born before he made any reference to French or Republican leanings. The previous children were Charlotte, George Frederick, Rosina, Mary Miranda and Olivia. Hermesfred was his 7th child, and she seems to have kept that name through to her death. No idea where that comes from, but sounds more Germanic/Nordic than French. Like you I cannot locate George Frederick or Charlotte senior in the 1851 census, though Napoleon appears as a pauper in Fulham. I assume you are aware that George Frederick senior was sued and committed to the court for relief of insolvent debtors in 1842, and also that his death was due to habitual intoxication. Maybe he had had one (or several) too many on the days his 6th and 7th children were named :-)>>