GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives

Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1996-12 > 0851160803


From: Yoshiko & Laurent OHIER <>
Subject: Re: SURNAMES in My Data/Ancestry
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 10:33:23 +0100


Spencer Hines wrote:
>--
>
> Christian,
>
> Would you care to share with us the surnames in your French tree?
>
>Merry Christmas, Spence Hines
>
>D. Spencer Hines-----Exitus acta probat----President George Washington
>(1732-1799)

To all,

I list here the surnames in my french (breton) tree. Maybe some
people among you with breton (and maybe normand) ancestry already
met one of these names. If so, please contact me.

ADMIRAND ALLORY BERNIER
BERREST BESLAY BESNARD
BESRECHET BOURDET BOURGNEUF
BOURSEUL BOUTON BRIAND
BRIARD CARTERON CHASTEL
CHEHU CHENU CHEVALIER
COLLET COURTOIS DELAMOTTE
DELANOE DIVEN DUCLOS
=46ELICITE FOUCAULT FOUYER
=46RAN=C7OIS GAUTIER GAUVAIN
GILBERT GOURDEHOU GUERLAVAIS
GUGUEN HAMON HESRY
HUBERT HUBY JAN
JOSSELIN JUHEL LABBE
LA CHOUE LANSQUET LEBIGOT
LE BOURGEOIS LE COINTE LE CONTE
LE DAGUENEL LEFEUVRE LEMAITRE
LEMOINE LE PREVOT LE SAICHERRE
LE TONTURIER LOQUEN LUCAS
MACE MAITRALLIN MARGELY
MENARD MERDRIGNAC MOREL
MORIN NICOLAS OHIER
OLLIVIER OUANSON PELTAIS
POIDEVIN POUPON RAUX
RENAULT RIGAULT ROBERT
RUAULT SALMON SAUTIER
TAHIER THOREUX TOUZE
TRANCHEVENT TROUILLON VINCENT

All these surnames belongs to people who lived in the north side of
Brittany in an area around Saint-Malo from 16th century. Only one of
them is from noble origin (but very small one): the LA CHOUE family,
with the title of ECUYER. If somebody knows more about this family,
any information will be welcome.
Only one of them is not breton: the OUANSON family. In the catholic
registers, I could read : Cunis OUANSON, born in Ireland (ca 1650).
He got married in Brittany with a french girl. I wonder if somebody
has ever met the surname OUANSON. I also wonder what is the origin
of the first name Cunis, I've never heard of it anywhere...
Does anybody have some notions of old french and is able to tell
me what is the meaning of some of these surnames:
LE TONTURIER, LE SAICHERRE seems to mean an old profession.
T(H)OREUX couldn't it be Norman, coming from the scandinavian god THOR ?
I've heard of a noble family in Normandy called RUAULT ?

A lot of these surnames are so "desperatly" common in France,
and since my ancestors lived about 50 kms from the Mont-Saint-Michel,
I guess a lot of them could have come from Normandy in the middle-age.
But I also know that at the time when surnames began to be be fixed
(12th-13th century), the breton language already disappeared in Saint Malo
and the french took its place.

About OHIER surname, a family "legend" tells that it comes from Ireland
when an irish catholic family escape because of british persecutions.
They sailed away to 2 french harbours: Saint Malo and Boulogne. This is
the reason why nowadays the OHIER surname in France (very rare) exists
mostly around Saint Malo and Boulogne. If this story is true, I wonder
when this event could happen. The OHIER of Brittany have been settled
in Saint Malo since at least the beginning of the 16th century, according
to the great number of people who had this surname in the beginning of the
17th century (much more than now !! It used to be a large family). Moreover,
there is some OHIER more or less noble in the Boulogne area in the 15th cent=
ury.
Thus, if an OHIER family escaped from Ireland, this happened before the
15th century. Does someone know if there was already persecution toward Iris=
h
people at that time, if there was an event that could have make people escap=
e
from their motherland ?
I also met an OHIER family in Saint Malo in the 17th and 18th century whos=
e
members had high level in the society. One of these members is mentionned
in the "Dictionnaire des Biographies Fran=E7aises" like this:
GRANDPRE (Louis Marie Joseph O'HIER, comte de). The spelling of his name is
written with the Irish way (and I don't see why because I've never met this
spelling nowhere but in this dictionnaire and also on my father's Army ID wh=
en
he did his military service !!! Moreover, I couldn't find how this OHIER got
his noble title of Comte de Grandpr=E9. I know his ancestors were "Sieur de
Grandpr=E9" (they were Lawyers, in the 17th and 18th century). I've read
somewhere (and I don't remember where...) That Louis XVIII gave him this
Noble title to thank him for what he did during the revolution period
(he was a sailor, capitaine, and he emigrated in Great Britain when the Fren=
ch
Revolution happend.)
Thus I have several questions:

What is the origin of OHIER surnames ? Could it be Irish before the 14th
century ?
Could it be French ? When did Louis Marie Joseph OHIER receive his noble
title of Comte de Grandpr=E9 and who gave him ? (By the way, I don't know wh=
ere
is the location of Grandpr=E9).

Any information are welcome.
Thank you for having taken a bit of your time to read this.
Merry Christmas and Happy new year
Joyeux No=EBl =E0 tous et Bonne ann=E9e.
Nedeleg laouenn ha Bloavez mat !!

Laurent OHIER

Brittany

This thread: