Just a few of the pitfalls of researching ancestry in St Kitts

As fascinating as it is to research old records from St Kitts, one encounters all kinds of pitfalls that can thoroughly confuse us and send us down the wrong path. I was recently fortunate to get a look at some of the old parish records from the Catholic Immaculate Conception Co-Cathedral in Basseterre. Most of the ledger books are in fairly good shape, but there are some crumbling pages that call out for digitization.

The records I was able to see went back to the early 1860s. Many of the families represented were from Madeira, like my husband’s Cabral ancestors, or people of French descent from St Barts, such as the LaPlace family. One surname I was on the lookout for was Cannonier, as they were reported to be Catholic from their decades on the island of Montserrat. I found one marriage record from 1882 that contained that name. The text was written in Latin, with handwriting that was a bit hard to read in spots, but I got basic details that rang some bells for me.

The marriage took place on November 28, 1882. The exact date is important because there is also a corresponding baptism record dated November 24 of the same year. Trying to translate from Latin names to Anglicized versions later used, the marriage was between Alistair Ledé and Louisa Henrietta Cannonier. Ledé was from St Barts. Louisa Henrietta’s parents’ names appear to be Molis Cannonier and Henrietta Samson. Molis appears to be an attempt at a Latinized version of “Miles”. In the baptism record of 4 days before, Louisa Henrietta was baptised as a Catholic (perhaps so she could marry in the Catholic church), with parents with the same names, who were listed as deceased.

Combining St Kitts civil records and oral history from a descendant of Miles Cannonier, I thought I might have confirmation of a Cannonier married couple I was aware of from previous research, but not everything lined up with civil records I’ve seen for the people involved. This is where some of the pitfalls appear. In civil birth records for St Kitts in the 1880s and 1890s, there are several appearances of a married couple with many variations on their names, that I believe must be Louisa and Anistair. Taken on their own, each individual instance might not point to this couple, but looking at the collection as a whole, they seem to hang together:

1. 1883 a son born to Anastar Liddie (baker) and wife Alberta (formerly Cannonier)
2. 1885, a son born to Anistar Liddie (baker), and wife Alberta (formerly Cannonier)
3. 1887, son born to Annistar Liddy (baker) and Maria Louisa (formerly Cannonier)
4. 1888, son born to Annaster Liddie (baker) and Alberta (formerly Cannonier)
5. 1898, daughter born to Anestair Liddy (baker) and Alberta (formerly Cannonier)

Louisa Henrietta seems to have replaced the names Louisa and Henrietta with Maria and Alberta, for some reason. While we can assume the surname Ledé is a French one from St Barts, the Immaculate Conception records list it sometimes as Leday or Ledais.

Miles Cannonier, who was a carpenter, died in 1864 in Dieppe Bay, with an estimated birth year of 1824. His wife Harriet died in 1879, also in Dieppe Bay, with a birth year about 1830. The person who reported her death was listed as “Albertha Cannonier, daughter”. Harriet’s name was given in that record as Henrietta Somersall, to further confuse matters. After the death of Miles in 1864, did she marry a Somersall? There are two birth records for Dieppe Bay that document sons of a Harriet Somersall (seamstress), from the years 1863 and 1865. Those open up even more questions.

The list of pitfalls goes on and on, but this particular example points to confusion due to anglicizing surnames, the use of combinations of first and middle names that change over time, and possibly multiple married names for women.

Sources

1. Historic St Kitts, Co-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 2018. Many many thanks to the lovely and very helpful members of church staff!