Gaudwin ok? (born France c1715; marrried Virginia 1742)

Question

Everything I can find on her shows her name as Gaudwin, but with "born in France", that just seems off. I have two orphaned duplicates ready to merge, but which way? I protected them both to allow for discussion.

best-looking online source i found was on [frontierfolk.net] which included the entry:

From the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana . . .
· Faure – Foree – Gaudwin Record, Virginia, Ash Tree Echo, Vol. 10, Issue 4, October 1975.

That reference is available through LDS Family History Centers but not online that I could find (see [this FamilySearch page]).

Although it feels off to me to have that "w" in her name if she was born in France, it seems that is the preferred spelling for records of her (while searching for info about Marie m Pierre Faure/Fore in 1742, the closest match with the "Gaudin" spelling was a Marie Gaudin born in 1657 in Canada).

Since I got involved in the Faures because of a help request to clean up a profile & have no connection or knowledge of them other than what I've acquired over the last few days, I wanted to do a G2G shoutout before merging [Gaudin-191] into Gaudwin-2.

What say y'all?

Comments

Links to more sources:

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/25508820 and  https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE934135

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Thanks Kathy! That second one answers some questions I had about info received privately :D

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Your welcome.

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Has anybody tried to find her birth record? Nantes church books are online starting from the late 16th century at http://archives.loire-atlantique.fr/jcms/chercher/archives-numerisees-fr-c_5562

I don't have access from work but shouldn't we try to establish her LNAB from a birth record? Especially given the rare occurrence of the letter w in French. There may have been some Breton influence still for names, though, although one should think not very much anymore in the 18th century..

 

Answer 1

I agree with you Liz. The sources I find for a Marie Gaudin shows a much earlier birth year and a different spouse. I think the correct last name in this instance is Gaudwin.

Answer 2

Thank you, Liz for undertaking this research.  I believe that the family name, in France, was GANDOVIN as that was apparently a known Nantes Huguenot surname in France before 1789.  As that name was unpronounceable for English-speakers, it was quickly "translated" into Godvin, Godwin, or Gaudwin.  Unfortunately, the online parish registers for the Loire-atlantique departement, do NOT include the commune of Nantes, so Helmut's research suggestion cannot be accessed online. 

Here is one on-line 2ndy source that mentions Gandovin / Godwin connection to Manakintown, Virginia: https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/14852713

A family genealogy that associates Marie Gaudwin with this family (perhaps wrongly - sources are missing) is:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=casbeerjones2015&id=P5494

This author suggests the name came from "Loire, Rhone-Alps" but that is a completely-different region of France and most-likely a confusion of 2 widely-separated French departements: Loire vs. Loire atlantique (Nantes).  I can find NO "Gaudwin" in French but Godvin and even Godwin do exist. 

Here is a geni.com profile that says "Marie Faure" was Isaac Gandovin's daughter (no proof but suggestive): 

https://www.geni.com/people/Isaac-Godwin/6000000026313579771

There is a WikiTree profile for Isaac Gandovin =   Gandovin-4.  He definitely was born in Virginia ca. 1671.  Whether or not Marie was his daughter is plausible but not proven.  I do NOT believe she was born in France ca. 1715 to 1725 but more-likely came from Huguenot parents already either in Virginia before her birth or in England.  It became increasingly difficult to leave France after 1700, if a Huguenot.   

Personally, I would choose either Godvin, Godwin or Gandovin as her LNAB and add the alternatives as Other names.  Gaudwin just did not exist as far as I can find. It certainly is not French.   

Finally, there IS also a WT profile for Isaac Godwin = Godwin-555 - with no information on it. 

Best,

Chet