*The post includes a post-mortem portrait, a precious memento mori, that sometimes Victorians used to commission to remember deceased loved ones.
Life story and research by Karen Heald, Maria’s descendant. We are grateful to Karen and her family for sharing these precious family resources for the project.
Maria Frederika Gauffier: from French aristocracy to the Workhouse in two generations?
A tale of illegitimacy, disinheritance and strong, proud women!
Maria Frederika GAUFFIER had lived in Reading since at least 1851, teaching languages. She died at 5 Bishop’s Terrace, Reading of ‘bronchitis 17 days’ and was buried in Reading Old Cemetery in a large flat-topped brick-lined grave (grave number: 4852, Div 44), bought by Dr Thomas Houghton Walker. The stone has the inscription:
‘In memory of Maria Frederika Gauffier who died 23rd January 1871 aged 76 years’.
A photograph was taken of her after death with what may be fleur-de-lis on her chest. Fleur-de-lis (stylized lily or iris) are particularly associated with French Royalty. A memento of death was quite common among the French at that time and a number of copies have survived.
Maria’s will dated 31 July 1869 left £70 to her godson Roger LAMING of Brighton or to his mother Georgiana LAMING if he did not reach the age of 21. The remainder of her estate went to Dr Thomas Houghton Walker of London St, Reading. Probate was granted on 24 February 1871 and confirms the estate was less than £450; £450 has the equivalent spending power of around £30,000 today.
Dr Thomas Houghton Walker was a General Practitioner born in Preston, Lancashire. In the 1871 Census, he was 41 years old and living at 15 London St, Reading with his wife, 2 daughters, and three servants. He died in Hove in 1896 leaving an estate of £3,263, equivalent to around a quarter of a million pounds today, and has a fine tomb in the churchyard of St Nicholas, Tolleshunt D’Arcy in Essex.
Roger LAMING was born in 1859 in Hampstead, London, the son of Richard and Georgiana (née Smith). He set sail for Natal on 30 July 1906 and no further records have been found for him. There is a little note that says ‘Georgiana Smith to Madame Gauffier 1841’; Georgiana would have been 13 and Maria 46 in 1841. Presumably, Maria met Georgiana when they were both living in London; perhaps Maria had been her teacher.
A letter dated 18 December 1918 from the Resident Superintendent of Reading Cemetery, Mr Alfred Gibbs confirms that Maria is the only person interred in her grave.
This gives the impression that Maria Frederika Gauffier had no family but this is not the case at all!
This is the documented history of Maria and her immediate descendants. All the documents along with additional photographs and information can be found on the Ancestry website.
1794
Maria Frederika GRULLMAN/GAUFFIER was born in Paris, Dept of the Seine in 1794 (according to the 1851 Census). There is no record of her birth or any marriage, so Grullman may be her maiden name or a married name. Parisian records are incomplete: central records were lost by fire during the French Revolution (1789-1799) and have been pieced together to some extent since from parish records.
1812
Maria’s first daughter Caroline Amelia Frederika GAUFFIER was born in Scotland (according to Census records) on 11 March 1812 (date from a note by her great granddaughter Louisa Caroline MILLS).
1818
Maria’s second daughter Hortense GAUFFIER was born in Landrecies, Nord, France (NE France near to Belgium) on 24 April 1818 according to her birth record. Her parents were listed as Sebastien Benjamin Gauffier and Marie Frederick Grullman.
1835
Caroline Amelia Frederika Gauffier married Francis Joseph CARD on 10 January 1835 at St Martin in the Fields, Westminster. This is the first record of the family in England. There is no record of FJ Card’s birth in England but a Joseph Francois Card was born on 26 Feb 1809 in Savoie, France to Pierre Francois Card and Maria Catherine Bernard, which may be him.
1837
Maria and Hortense arrive in London from Boulogne, France on 15 September 1837. The record says that Maria is a native of France with a French passport. She is a ‘Professor of Languages’ and had ‘left from London 6 weeks’.
1839
Maria and Hortense arrive in London from Boulogne, France on 5 November 1839. The record says that Maria is a native of France with a French passport. She is a ‘Lady’ and had ‘left 22 August’.
1841 Census (6 June 1841)
- Maria and Hortense are living together at 110 Great Portland St, Marylebone, both teaching languages.
- Caroline is living with her husband Francis Joseph Card (a Jeweller) and 3 children at Greek St, Soho.
1843
Hortense Gauffier was christened on 12 Aug 1843 at All Souls, Marylebone. She was 25 years old and living at 25 York St, Marylebone. Her parents are named as Benjamin and Maria Frederica Gauffier. Under profession, it says ‘father deceased’. There is no evidence that Benjamin came to England or that he was also Caroline’s father, other than her surname Gauffier.
1851 Census (30 March 1851)
- Maria is living at 28 London St, Reading, teaching languages.
- Hortense is living at 4 Barrowhill Place, Marylebone, employed as a governess.
- Hortense’s future ‘husband’ John CHAPMAN is living with his wife Ann and their daughters Eleanor and Mary at 25 Edward St, Marylebone. He is a doctor (General Practitioner), they have two visitors: a surgeon’s assistant and a governess, and three servants (coachman, cook, housemaid).
- Caroline is now a widow living with six children at 9 Little Compton St, Soho and working as a dressmaker (no children working). There seems to be no record of FJ Card’s death but two of their daughters died in July 1849 (one of TB, one of whooping cough) and another in 1851 (of measles and scarlet fever) so his death may have been due to a contagious illness rife in London at this time, or perhaps he died in France.
1861 Census (7 April 1861)
- Maria is living at 5 Grenville Terrace, Queens Rd, Reading, teaching languages.
- Hortense has taken the surname Chapman and is living as the wife of John Chapman at a private house in Hampton, Middlesex. Her ‘husband’ is a surgeon, the dwelling next door is a soldier’s barracks (so he is possibly an army surgeon) and they have an 11-month-old daughter called Frederika Maria Chapman, born in Chelsea. They have one servant, listed as a nurse.
- John Chapman’s wife Ann is living with their daughters Eleanor and Mary at 3 Western Park Rd, Paddington, and has two servants (cook and housemaid).
- Caroline is a widow living with five children at 3 Golden Balls Court, Little Compton St, Soho with no occupation (three of her children are now working).
1871 Census (2 April 1871)
- No record of Maria, she had died 23 January 1871.
- Hortense is living with her ‘husband’ and daughter in Osborn Rd, Portsea, Portsmouth. Her husband is a surgeon, no longer practising.
- John Chapman’s wife Ann is living with their daughter Mary at 4 Durham St, Paddington, and has two servants (cook and housemaid), living on private means.
- Caroline is a widow living with two of her daughters at 28 Bedfordbury, St Martin in the Fields, all three working as dressmakers; another two of her daughters are living at 36 London St, St Pancras working as dressmakers.
1875: Caroline Amelia Frederika Gauffier/Card’s death
Caroline Amelia Frederika Card died on 11 April 1875 aged 63 at 28 Bedfordbury, Soho from ‘bronchitis 12 months dropsy’. She was buried at St Marylebone Cemetery, now known as East Finchley Cemetery, on 18 April 1875 in an unconsecrated public grave i.e. a pauper’s grave.
1875: Other events
- Frederika Maria Chapman was baptised on 10 March 1875 (aged 14) at St George’s, later Christ Church, Esher.
- Caroline’s daughter Rose Octavia Card married Joshua Foulcer on 17 May 1875 at St Jude, Bethnal Green.
- Caroline’s daughter Hortense Josephine Card married Samuel Kennedy on 23 May 1875 at Old Church, St Pancras.
It looks as though Caroline’s death precipitated the marriages of her two youngest surviving daughters. These daughters are Caroline’s only children with known descendants still living.
1881 Census (3 April 1881)
- Hortense aged 60 has changed her surname back to Gauffier and is living at 26 Adam Street East, Marylebone working as a Governess.
- Her ‘husband’ John Chapman is living at 221 Camden Road, St Pancras as a lodger, listed as a surgeon.
- Their daughter Frederika Chapman is living at 109 Cromwell Road, Kensington, working as a Governess for the 7th Earl of Dunmore and his family (wife and four daughters aged 3-13).
- Presumably a rift has occurred between Hortense and John Chapman, they have returned to London to live separately, and Hortense and her daughter Frederika are having to earn their own living.
1888: John Chapman’s death
John Chapman died aged 76 on 26 Nov 1888 at Fitzroy House, Fitzrovia and was buried in Camden.
His will dated 8 June 1887 leaves £10,000 free of legacy duty to Frederica Maria Gauffier of 26 Adam St, Manchester Square (now Robert Adam St, Marylebone) with the residue to be divided between the Royal Hospital for Incurables, West Hill, Putney, the Orphan Working School, Maitland Park, Haverstock Hill, and the British Medical Benevolent Fund.
Probate was granted on 28 December 1888 to Frederica Maria Gauffier who had been nominated by the Orphan Working School. He left £3,200, worth the equivalent of over quarter of a million pounds now. However, this was nowhere near the £10,000 he had stated in his will so presumably the residual legatees got nothing. It seems odd that he should so overestimate his wealth given that his will was made only a year before his death. It may be that he passed some of his money to his first family before he died because in the 1891 Census, both his families appear to have moved to a better address.
1891 Census (5 April 1891)
- Hortense and her daughter Frederika are living together at 16 Balcombe St, Marylebone East. They have both taken the surname Gauffier and are single, living on their own means.
- Ann Chapman is a widow living at 23 de Vere Gardens, Kensington with her daughter Mary and two servants (cook and housemaid), living on private means.
1899: Hortense Gauffier’s death
Hortense Gauffier died on 16 June 1899 at Buddleford, Teignmouth, Devon as Hortense Chapman aged 80, ‘widow of John Chapman MD’. She died of ‘chronic bronchitis and emphysyma acute bronchitis 9 days asphyxia’. She was buried in Teignmouth Old Cemetery.
1901 Census (31 March 1901)
- Frederika Maria Chapman is living at Buddleford Cottage, Bishops Teignton, Devon as Maria Chapman. She is single and living on her own means. She has two visitors and a domestic servant. There is another household at the same address.
1911 Census (2 April 2011)
- Frederika Maria Chapman is living at Buddleford, Teignmouth, Devon. She is single and living on private means. She is head and owner of a 12-room household with ten people present on the night of the census. She has three servants and six visitors, all women. Of the six visitors, two are professionally trained nurses and the others are living on private means. Of the four living on private means, two are in their 70s, one in her 60s and one in her 50s. Frederika is 51. It looks as though she is running a private retirement/nursing home for women.
- Buddleford House, Higher Exeter Road, Teignmouth is a very nice house. I think this must be the house called Buddleford Cottage and Buddleford in older records.
1921 Census (19 June 1921)
- Frederika Maria Chapman, aged 61 and 1 month, is living at Buddleford, Teignmouth, Devon. She is single with no profession and was born in London. She is head of a household which includes two female servants (cook/housekeeper and general domestic) and seven visitors: two men (Lieutenant Colonel, aged 63; Clerk in Holy Orders, out of work, aged 61) and five women of no profession (aged 69, 61, 63, 77, 68).
1939: Frederika Maria Chapman’s death
Frederika Maria Chapman died on 21 July 1939 at The Nook, Teignmouth Road, Torquay, Devon (a nursing home at that time). She was 79, a Spinster of independent means, the daughter of John Chapman, Surgeon (deceased). She died of cerebral thrombosis and senility and was buried in the same grave as her mother in Teignmouth Old Cemetery. No will has been found.
Illegitimacy, Disinheritance, and The Workhouse
Both of Maria Frederika Gauffier’s daughters survived her and had children of their own. However, they received nothing in her will. It is possible that this is because both daughters had an illegitimate child and she disapproved.
The unidentified family photo shown above dates from the 1850s and seems likely to be of Hortense. There is no evidence that Hortense Gauffier married John Chapman although she took his name at different points in her life. He had a wife still living, who did not call herself a widow until the 1891 Census following John Chapman’s death in 1888. Hortense was an educated woman who supported herself by teaching languages when she needed to. Her daughter with John Chapman, Frederika Maria CHAPMAN, was also educated and worked as a Governess prior to inheriting her father’s money in 1888 at the age of 28. In the 1890s, she and her mother moved to a large house in Teignmouth, Devon, where her mother died in 1899 and which Frederika ran as a retirement/nursing home. Frederika did not marry or have children and it is not known to whom she left her money when she died in 1939. There is no evidence that she was in touch with her much poorer cousins, her aunt Caroline Card’s family.
Caroline Amelia Frederika GAUFFIER/Card’s final child Rose Octavia CARD was born on 27 December 1852. Francis Joseph Card was named as her father on her birth certificate and when she married in 1875. However, in the March 1851 census, her mother Caroline is not living with Francis and says she is a widow. If this is true, then Rose must have been illegitimate. Caroline was an educated woman who could sign her own name at marriage. However, her jeweller husband was dead by the time she was 38, and she subsequently earned her living as a dressmaker. She had ten children (William, Frances, Alice Maria, and Annie died in early childhood, Felix Adolphus died in early adulthood, Louisa is unaccounted for, and Jessie, Caroline Amelia, Hortense Josephine, and Rose Octavia lived to a good age), None of her children seem to have been significantly educated; at marriage, neither Hortense Josephine nor Rose Octavia could sign their names. Caroline’s unmarried daughters earned their living by dressmaking (apart from Jessie who was a brushmaker), and her son Felix was a publican.
Caroline was buried in a pauper’s grave and of her four surviving children, two ended their days in the Workhouse/Poorhouse. Caroline Amelia Card died in the Ladywell Institution, Lewisham in 1922 aged 82 and Hortense Josephine Card/Kennedy died at St Peter’s Home (Little Sisters of the Poor), Lambeth in 1927 aged 79.
In a letter dated 14 September 1970, Maria’s Great Granddaughter Hortense Josephine Kennedy (1886-1980) wrote: ‘It is a shame that Grandmother (Caroline Amelia Frederika Gauffier/Card) did not make it up with her mother (Maria Frederika Gauffier) as we have had to suffer. My poor mother (Hortense Josephine Card/Kennedy, 1847-1927) and Louie (Louisa Caroline Kennedy/Mills, 1877-1964) felt it very much when she was unable to do for herself. She was a pretty woman, I mean Grandmother but a very selfish woman indeed. Great Grandmother wanted to bring up the children and then we would have got the money.’
So while Hortense Gauffier/Chapman and her daughter were well off and did not suffer financially as the result of being disinherited, Caroline Amelia Frederika Gauffier/Card and her family were extremely poor. This situation persisted through the next two generations of the family who descended from her daughter Hortense Josephine Card/Kennedy until the mid 20th Century when free education enabled her great grandchildren to join the educated middle classes.
The Family Legend
Louisa Caroline Kennedy/Mills’ son Edward Francis Mills (Ted) passed down a version of the story of Maria Frederika Gauffier and her children. Research has shown that the story has the basis in truth but had been garbled, with names and individuals confused. In some cases, there are objects which remain in the family which support the story. However, many details of the story remain unconfirmed and research is ongoing.
The major part of the story which remains unverified is that Maria Frederika Gauffier was French aristocracy and that her husband was guillotined during the French Revolution. She had some connection to Charles X of France (who reigned 1824-30) and when she came to England, she lived in royal grace and favour accommodation.
It is possible that Maria was a Bourbon (the French Royal family) but the connection is likely to be illegitimate since she does not seem to appear in records. She certainly has a Bourbon nose and her movements in the period after the French Revolution mirror those of the Bourbons who escaped. She was in Scotland in 1812 (when Charles X and other Bourbons were exiled in Scotland and England), back in France by 1818 (the Bourbon Restoration was 1814) and in England after 1830 (when the last Bourbon King, Charles X and his son were forced to abdicate and fled to England/Scotland).
If anyone has any further information relating to this story or can help with the research into the French aristocracy/royalty connection, please contact me via readingoldcemetery1843@gmail.com
Karen Heald
Division 44, Row M, Plot 1