False Gustave Anjou Claims Regarding Alexander Shapleigh

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Shapleigh

This freespace page debunks the various false claims that Gustave Anjou made regarding Alexander Shapleigh.

Contents 1 Parentage; Date and Place of Birth 2 First Marriage and Children 3 Second Marriage and Children 4 Sources

Parentage; Date and Place of Birth

Anjou claimed that Alexander Shapleigh was the son of Robert Shapleigh of Dartmouth/Totnes and Marie Blabon and was baptized in St. Omer, France on 17 March 1561.^[1] These claims are believed to be false because:

• No subsequent genealogist has been able to find any record of that baptism. There are no parish records in St. Omer before 1629.^[2]
• The "Duke of Buckingham's Survey of Mariners and Ships in South Devon, 1619" contains an entry for Alexander Shaply of Kingswear that lists his age as 44,^[3][4] which means that Alexander was probably born about 1575, not 1561. A birth in 1575 is much more consistent with the known facts of Alexander's life than a birth in 1561 - e.g., birth of eldest son Alexander Jr. about 1601 (which, if Alexander Sr was born in 1561, would mean he was about 40 when his first child was born), traveling to New England in the 1640s (which, if Alexender Sr was born in 1561, would mean that he was in his 80s when he decided to come to New England).
• In his 1590 will, Robert Shapleigh of Dartmouth/Totnes made bequests to the four children of his son-in-law Thomas Plomleigh, the three children of his son John Shapleigh, the four children of his son Richard Shapleigh, his daughter Elizabeth Plomleigh, Johane the wife of his son Richard Shapleigh, William Hollacom, son John Shapleigh, and son Richard Shapleigh.^[5] If Alexander had been Robert son, he would no doubt have also received a bequest in Robert's will or have at least have been mentioned in it.

First Marriage and Children

Anjou claimed that Alexander married, first, a woman named Marguerite Bloedel and had by her children Catherine and Alexander baptized in Lille, France on 2 April 1599 and 2 May 1605.^[6] These claims are believed to be false because:

• Neither the baptism of Catherine or Alexander have been found in the Lille church registers.^[2]
• Anjou's earlier history of the Bloedel family makes no reference to any Chappelle/Shapleigh marriage to a Bloedel.^[2]
• The "Duke of Buckingham's Survey of Mariners and Ships in South Devon, 1619" contains an entry for Alexander Shaply Jr of Kingswear that lists his age as 17,^[3][4] which means that Alexander Jr was born about 1601-2, not in 1605. In addition, since Alexander Jr was married in 1622,^[7] it would be highly improbable for him to have been born in 1605.

Second Marriage and Children

Anjou claimed that, after Marguerite Bloedel died, Alexander moved from France to Barnstaple, Devon, where, under the name Alexandre Chaple, he married Johan Ellet on 26 January 1608/9 and had children named Judith, Margaret, Grace and George baptized in 1610-1617.^[8] There was indeed an Alexander Chaple who married a woman named Johan Ellet on 26 January 1608/9 and had children named Judith, Margaret, Grace and George baptized in 1610-1617. However, Alexander Chaple of Barnstaple was not the same person as Alexander Shapleigh of Kingswear, based on the following facts:

• Records show that Chappell was an alternative spelling of the surname of Alexander Chaple of Barnstaple,^[9] indicating that the surname of Alexander Chaple of Barnstaple was pronounced entirely differently from the surname Shapleigh and that Chaple was not just an alternative spelling of Shapleigh.
• Records show that Alexander Shapleigh had a children baptized at Kingswear in 1612^[10] and thus could not have been living in Barnstaple in 1609-1617.
• Records show that Alexander Chaple of Barnstaple continued to live in Barnstaple and had children baptized there in 1620 and 1621,^[9] after even Anjou admitted that Alexander Shapleigh was in Kingswear by 1617, when son Nicholas was baptized there.^[8]
• There is no evidence that Alexander Shapleigh had children named Judith, Margaret, Grace or George.
• Records suggest that Alexander Chaple of Barnstaple probably died in 1621 or 1623,^[9] while Alexander Shapleigh was still alive in the 1640s.^[10]

^{[4] [10] [3] [7] [8] [2] [6] [1] [9] [5]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Berry, Brian J.L. The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families. A Comprehensive Geneology. 1635-1993. 1993. p. 36. Link to page at archive.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Berry, Brian J.L. The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families. A Comprehensive Geneology. 1635-1993. 1993. p. 38. Link to page at archive.org.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Gray, Todd, ed. Early-Stuart Mariners and Shipping: The Maritime Surveys of Devon and Cornwall, 1619-35. Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1990. p. 28.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Berry, Brian J.L. The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families. A Comprehensive Geneology. 1635-1993. 1993. p. 28. Link to page at archive.org.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 for Roberti Shapleigh, PROB 11: Will Registers 1567-1598, Piece 78: Sainberbe, Quire Numbers 56-94 (1591). The will is available for viewing on ancestry.com.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Berry, Brian J.L. The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families. A Comprehensive Geneology. 1635-1993. 1993. pp. 36-37. Link to page at archive.org.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} See the profile for Alexander Shapleigh Jr.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Berry, Brian J.L. The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families. A Comprehensive Geneology. 1635-1993. 1993. p. 37. Link to page at archive.org.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} See the profile for Alexander Chaple/Chappell.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} See the profile for Alexander Shapleigh.