Sunday 7 August 2011

Guernsey

Also combining a holiday break and genealogy.
We were in St.Peters Port Guernsey.
We wanted to find out more about the Lefevre seal .
We found a Lefevre street

And wanted to look for that seal and also discover more about Emily Hannah Priaulx.

But the archives were closed.



In the English Vlieland family the seal is kept and treasured for it was thought to be the crest of Jerome Nicholas Vlieland .

But the Dutch center for heraldry found out is was the crest of the Lefevre family of Guernsey.
So how did this seal ended up in the Vlieland family who could it belong to?
Well the connection with the Lefebures as the original name of the Lefevres is from Elisabeth Lefebures.
She had a will dated 1824 and proved 1827.
She married on 8 December 1808 at St Alphage Church Greenwich when she was 48 years old with John Samworth of Greenwich Kent.
She is described as late Elizabeth Lefebure widow
This John Samworth had a son by his first wife born in 1790.
This son had a daughter Frances Elizabeth Samworth in 1825 and she married Jerome Nicholas Vlieland the younger or the vicar as we say.
The seal must have past down the family to her and with the passage of time through the Vlieland family.
So that was the story of the seal .
Another connection with Guernsey is Emily Hannah Priaulx ,the wife of William Heath Vlieland.
She is the daughter Henry Priaulx and Amelia Hide
We received from the Priaulx library the marriage certificate of Henry and Amelia.

So still there is lot to look for .
Reason enough to go back to Guernsey some day for some time as we really enjoyed it there.

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