Women at the Boulogne camp, 1803-1809: findings from the civil registries FOR the communes of Montreuil-sur-Mer, Étaples, Saint-Josse, Camiers, Dannes and Widehem
Prévot, Chantal
Women at the Boulogne camp, 1803-1809: findings from the civil registries FOR the communes of Montreuil-sur-Mer, Étaples, Saint-Josse, Camiers, Dannes and Widehem - 2023.
30
The systematic consultation of the local records of marriages and births in six communes linked to the Boulogne Camp from 1803 to 1808 provides an interesting foundation from which to study the private lives of the First Empire’ soldiers and their love affairs. The long duration of the time spent in garrison here provides us with an exceptional sample. The impact on marriage and above all birth rates seems to have been (unsurprisingly) real, though beyond this the data do not offer any correlation between the names of the couples and the names of the newborns. Where statistics are available, it would appear that half of the marriages were the result of relationships with women born outside the region, and the other half were marriages of circumstance with women from the region. The husbands were for the most part soldiers, men employed by the army administration, musicians, occasionally non-commissioned officers, but never officers. The majority of children were born out of wedlock, but many were recognized by the father and were given his name. Unfortunately, since information is lacking concerning the women, whether wives or mothers, it is not possible to derive statistics for them.
Women at the Boulogne camp, 1803-1809: findings from the civil registries FOR the communes of Montreuil-sur-Mer, Étaples, Saint-Josse, Camiers, Dannes and Widehem - 2023.
30
The systematic consultation of the local records of marriages and births in six communes linked to the Boulogne Camp from 1803 to 1808 provides an interesting foundation from which to study the private lives of the First Empire’ soldiers and their love affairs. The long duration of the time spent in garrison here provides us with an exceptional sample. The impact on marriage and above all birth rates seems to have been (unsurprisingly) real, though beyond this the data do not offer any correlation between the names of the couples and the names of the newborns. Where statistics are available, it would appear that half of the marriages were the result of relationships with women born outside the region, and the other half were marriages of circumstance with women from the region. The husbands were for the most part soldiers, men employed by the army administration, musicians, occasionally non-commissioned officers, but never officers. The majority of children were born out of wedlock, but many were recognized by the father and were given his name. Unfortunately, since information is lacking concerning the women, whether wives or mothers, it is not possible to derive statistics for them.
Réseaux sociaux