Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, by Winterhalter: the Era within which our Cannings flourished
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FRENCH CANNINGS:
19th Century Cannings of France
An English family ~~ father Alfred Canning is a Civil Engineer ~~ moves to France, then lead their lives involved with the Court of Napoleon III, the American Confederate Navy, the English military in India, business in Australia, and even intellectual circles in Spain, creating a puzzle of the sort that genealogists have nightmares about.
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MAIN MENU
Introduction
The Rafton Mystery
Biographical Sketches
Family Tree Chart
CSS Shenandoah
French Second Empire
Canynges of Bristol
"Lost" Thomas Canning
George's Photo Album
Family Photo in 1911
Sons of George of Cleveland
Angel-Butlers of Guernsey
Doing Research
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Canning Chess Set, Knight's Head
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MAIN MENU
Introduction
Why is this family such a mystery? Why was the name Rafton Canning hushed up, beginning with a ban on the name within the family in France in or before 1877, then carried over to North America? Where did George P. Canning of the CSS Shenandoah fit in to the picture? Where did his wife Margaret Hook (Hucks) go, leaving her two small sons in France? Who shot George P. Canning? Where is George of Cleveland's birth registration? What was the significance of the name Baltriune?
Biographical Sketches
Meet our known forebears, a synopsis person by person. This page links to individual pages for many of the Cannings.
Family Tree Chart
Prepared in 1963-64 by George Rafton Canning. As we acquire certified documents, the general relationships shown on this chart seem to be panning out! The Chart contains the top three generations as we know them, continuing down to the sons and daughters of George of Cleveland.
The Rafton Mystery
We are looking at the possibility that Baltriune Canning (b. 1837, Rotherhithe, London) assumed the name Rafton Canning in or before 1862 when he married Mary Anne O'Connor in Paris. For some reason, the name Rafton is hushed up in the family, never mentioned, whether in France, nor later Canada, nor in the US. Grandson Gustave Perrot, son of Louise Canning Perrot, says late in his life (admittedly foggy) that his memory of Rafton was a chubby and perhaps balding man, but his memory of Baltriune was of a man in great physical shape. These memories would have been from a time when Gustave was 7 years old or even younger. Nevertheless, Gustave's memoirs tend to belie the theory that the two men were one. Then, why the secrecy surrounding the name Rafton?
Knowns and Unknowns
The documentary evidence compared to family lore, with speculations and a few conclusions about the birth parent history of each of our forebears.
The French Second Empire
The Second Empire of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie de Montijo, is the historical context that our French Cannings lived and breathed in. Rafton's wife Mary Anne O'Connor Canning had been adopted at age 16 by Mme. Lannes, wife of General Lannes, Napoleon's closest general. Her obituary (she lived to 93) reads similarly to the dramatic escape that the Empress made from France at the fall of the Second Empire ~~~ was Mary Anne close to the Empress; did she accompany her on her dramatic escape from France? Will we ever know? In this section we will collect historical facts to create vignettes to help us understand the world our Cannings were living in.
The Confederate Steamship Shenandoah
The fastest ship on earth at the time, this ship single-handedly took the U.S. whaling fleet, with Sergeant George P. Canning in charge of the Marine Unit on board. It carried super-advanced Whitworth guns, 50 years ahead of their time, capable of firing conical, rotating shells. The saga of this ship's construction, her purchase by the Confederacy, her global mission in the Civil War, and capped off by the feat of sailing, unrivalled then or since, in returning from the Bering Sea to England without ever once sighting land, is material enough not for just one book, but several.
Historical Canynges
The Canynges of Bristol and London were superlative merchants. Excerpts from an exhaustive text on 15th Century Trade in Britain describes what is known about them, and presents one idea about why William Canynges virtually disappeared from the historical records while being the wealthiest shipper in Britain, in fact, "the wealthiest man in the known world."
George's Photo Album
The family members important to George of Cleveland's family. George collected fine portrait "cartes" of individuals in his family, and put them safely into this velvet-bound, clasped album, owned by one of his descendants. Each carte has been scanned, front and back, and catalogued.
The Family in 1911
The North American family in a photo, 1911, possibly at Chatauqua, New York, where the Canning Orchestra often performed. This is the youngest photo I've seen of George Canning and wife Annie Angel-Butler (both with black, not white, hair!). Behind them, a whole generation their senior, are mystery personages. Oddly enough, there are 26 people in the photo. Each one is supplied with a letter of the alphabet, so that we can refer to them as we try to unravel who they might be.See if you know anyone!
Sons of George of Cleveland
A photo of the six sons of George Canning of Cleveland, Ohio.
Angel-Butlers of Guernsey
The Cannings connected with the Angel-Butlers quite early on. Rafton's brother-in-law John O'Connor perhaps hired or partnered with the Angell brothers, building incredibly huge presentations for the Arcadia show in Islington, and perhaps earlier, for the Court of Napoleon III. The informant who registered the birth of Arthur Rafton Canning in 1865 was Louisa Butler, a dressmaker with a stylish Champs Elysee address.
Doing Research
Sources online, and in the physical world, for getting your genealogical records, both from England and from France. Genealogy is nothing if not backed up by the BMD's ~~~ Birth, Marriage and Death records. Beginners often "cherry pick," going from famous person to famous person, looking for someone in their family. That is not genealogy! You go from yourself, and "proceed backward" document by document, stepping on firm footing each step of the way. That said, our forefathers knew the challenge we would be up against, and provided us with inimical first names, so that our task would be easier: Baltriune, Raftan, Pyrithoe ... the list is short and concise. Where you find one of these as a Canning, or otherwise, you're almost 100% sure that that's us!
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Existing Records
Achilles Botriune Canning (1862 Paris-1937 Cleveland): (Raftan's 1st son)
(1) Consular birth registration.
Document Number: 102
When & where born: 09 August 1862 at Paris
Name: Achilles Botriune
Sex: Boy
Name of father: Raftan CANNING
Maiden name of mother: Mary Ann O'Connor
Father's profession: Commercial Agent
Informant & his residence: Raftan Canning, father [of] 4 Rue de Villejust, Paris
When registered: 26 December 1862
Consular Officer performing registration: T Pickford HBM Consul, Paris;
Consular district of birth: Paris
(2) Certificate of Death from the State of Ohio, Div. of Vital Statistics, obtained from the Cleveland Historical Society. In this, his name is spelled Achille Botrium Canning, but this is explained by the fact that the convalescent hospital filled out that part of the certificate, and "botrium" is a microbial term, thus the confusion. The family always spelled it Botrine, and Achille himself was a Notary, so we take Botrine to be the correct spelling as he intended it. Date of birth: blank. Age, "About 75 years." Birthplace: "Paris, France". Father: "Unknown". Mother: "Unknown". Wife: Anna. Trade or Profession: Collector. Date of death, July 30, 1937. Place of death, Cleveland, Ohio. Address at time of death: 925 Roanoke Rd., Cleveland Hgts. Informant: Henry Canning, Son (same address). Cemetery: Calvary Cemetery. Funeral Director: R. S. Mcllurch (McColloch?), The Millard (Milland?) Co. lic. # 1237. Body was embalmed.
Alfred (D.?) Canning (c. 1797 where? -1851 Rotherhithe, London) Proposed father of the Mystery Generation (Rafton, Marinus, Baltriune, Louise, Arthur who "went to Spain"), husband of Anne Powell Canning;
(1) death registration Rotherhithe 1851, "Found dead in bed" written right on it, and coroner's inquest held, age "about 54," Occupation "Engineer," died of "Natural Decay", living at 5 Surrey Place, Lower Queen Street, Rotherhithe, London;
(2) marriage of his son Raftan Canning to Mary Anne O'Connor in Paris, January 1862, lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(3) birth of his son Baltriune in 1837 lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(4) Marriage Alfred D. Canning and Anne Powell on June 2, 1817, Saint Martin, Worcester, Worcs. (not conclusively ours; no parents' names, places of birth; but date of marriage corresponds well to our records)
Alfred Canning (1858 Paris - France?): Eldest son of Baltriune Canning. Consular Birth Registration, Paris; Info reads Alfred, boy, born Nov. 16, 1858, Father Botrinne Canning, Gentleman, Mother Margaret Hook, Informant's signature "B. Canning", residence L. Boulevart de l'Etoile Fernes [=Ternes], registered Dec. 23, 1858
Arthur Arturo Canning: born probably in the 1820's, was Senior Associate in Greek (1852) and Greek Literature (1853) at the annual colloguium on science and literature, El Ateneo de Madrid, in Spain
Arthur Rafton-Canning (1865 Paris -1952 Vancouver, BC): (Rafton's third son) --
(1) Birth Registration from British Consulate at Paris; Name, Arthur Canning; Date of birth, May 7, 1865; Father, Rafton Canning; Mother, Mary O'Connor; Profession of mother's father, Clerk; Informant, Louisa Butler, Dressmaker [Note: possibly related to our Angel-Butlers of Guernsey], 117 Faubourg St. Honore, Paris; When registered, Nov. 7, 1866 [Note: months after Rafton's death].
(2) Death registration from the Archives at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Died Dec. 15, 1952 at Age 86, at Vancouver
Baltriune Canning (1837 Rotherhithe, London -1865 died at sea): Rafton's brother (see "George P. Canning" following).
(1) Birth certificate in Rotherhithe, London, born July 15, 1837, in a "Cottage on the Rector's Island" (=Seven Islands, now Southwark Park), father Alfred Canning, Civil Engineer, mother Anne Canning formerly Powell, residence of informant (father) "Cottage on the Island", registered August 25, 1837;
(2) birth certif of his first son, Alfred Canning 1858 Paris (qv), listing him as "Gentleman";
(3) birth certif of his second son, Rafton Boutrenne, 1860 Arcis-sur-Aube, Champagne, France, "no profession"; both boys' mother is Margaret Hook (Hucks).
Eugene Hilary Davidson (1839 Calcutta - 1918 Toronto?) Marriage certificate to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, July 9, 1869, Kensington, married in the Register Office, both then living at 48 Ledbury Road, Bayswater, London, his father Charles James Collie Davidson, Colonel in the Indian Army; her father Dennis O'Connor, Clerk.
George Canning (c. 1864 where? -1938 Ft. Worth, buried Cleveland): (no birth record; supposedly Rafton's 2nd son) ~~~ death certificate from Ft. Worth, Texas, (certified copy) d.o.d. March 31, 1938, d.o.b. August 27, 1863, saying his father's name was George Canning, mother's name Mary Ann O'Conner, and that he, (George) was born in France. We have found no birth registration for George, in the British Consul's records.
George P. Canning (1837-1865): (Rafton's brother Baltriune Canning, which fact is established by an officer's journal from the CSS Shenandoah, wherein it is described how Rafton Canning, owner of an "ale and stout depot in London," responds to newspaper ad seeking George's relatives in Nov., 1865) ~~~ evidence consists of historical military documentation from the journals of the officers of the CSS Shenandoah (photocopy of stamped official photocopy), the warship which destroyed the US whaling fleet in the Bering Sea, 1865, with George P. in charge of the Marine group and the guns ~~~ the crew learned he had a wife in Paris (but he would tell no one of her name or whereabouts), a brother in Australia, and that his friends were in "St. Germain"; he was accompanied on board by an older Negro servant named Edward Weeks/ Wickes to whom he was very close and for whom he insisted on equal pay; he said he was wounded at Shiloh, as an Aide de Camp for General Polk (but no record exists of him there); he died on board ship Oct. 30, 1865, of phthisis, and was buried at sea with a Roman Catholic ceremony.
Marinus Francis Alfred Canning (c. 1828 where? -1911 Perth): (proposedly was Rafton's brother) -- (1) Death certificate from Perth, Western Australia (certified copy): Date of Death, Nov. 13, 1911, at 83 years of age; Father's name, Francis Canning (deceased); Mother, Ann Powell; Born in Paris, France; Buried, Anglican Cemetery at Kerakatta (?) on Nov. 15, 1911; followed by a listing of his issue [children] in order of birth w/ ages: Ada 5(4?), Letitia 52, Arthur 50, Edmond 45, Eleanor 44, Blanche 42, Algernon 40, George 38, 1 male 4 females (deceased).
(2) Much biographical information from the Battye Library in Perth, Western Australia, where he was Member of Parliament, including records of voyages, stating (possibly from a passport) that he was born in England, and
(3) Obituary [the West Australian, Nov 14, 1911] stating "Mr. Canning was a son of Mr. Francis Canning, a member of an old English county family, the Cannings of Foxcote, Warwickshire, famous in English history. He himself was educated at l'Ecole Charlemagne, Paris, and privately in England. He had always been a politcal student, was a classical scholar..." and
(4) Biographical Register of MP's of WA: "Canning, Marinus Frederick [sic] Alfred: Educ. priv. in Engl. and at Ecole Charlemagne, Paris. arr. Q 1855; storekeeper in 1856; bank mngr early 1870s to Tahiti; 1875 joined Bank of NSW; 1877 to Noumea office and later possibly to Tas.; 21 Feb 1883 arr. in WA to found Perth br. of bank; 1884 left bank and founded WA Mortgage & Agency Co., 1888-95 mngr; sec. AMP 1886, Comm. agent 1887-89. founded WA Stannaries; 1893 JP: 1891-1911 member Perth Public Library Cttee."
Mary Ann O'Connor Canning Davidson (1832 Rathkeale -1925):(Rafton's wife) ~~~ (1) unreferenced newspaper obituary clipping (photocopy) titled "One in the Court of Napoleon III Dies," describing her sons (steel brokers in Cleveland), her adoption at age 16 into the court of Napoleon III by a French duchess, "many years of colorful court life", and her escape from France at the fall of the Court of the Second Empire, "...as a friends drove her to the coast from which location she made it safely to England" (2) death certificate, 92 years old, died March 2, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, was widow, wife of Eugene H. Davidson, born in Rathkeale, Ireland, father Jeremiah O'Connor (b. Ireland), maiden name of mother Unknown (b. Ireland), informant George Canning of 16861 Homer Ave. East, Cleveland, died of broncho pneumonia.
Rafton Canning (c. 1832 where? -1866 Clerkenwell, London): (1) Death registry from London, Apr. 3, 1866 (certified copy) age "about 34"; address at time of death at 48 Spencer Street, Clerkenwell (which is a baker's establishment - home? shop?) on a street containing several jewellers and goldsmiths; Occupation "Beer and spirit merchant"; person in attendance -- his brother-in-law John O'Connor of "14 Denmark Terrace, Islington"; cause of death -- "Phithisis, Certified [sic]". (2) Consular birth registry of his son Achilles Botriune in 1862 (see below), which lists father "Raftan" (not "-ton") Canning, residing at 4, rue de Villejust, Paris, Profession -- "Commercial Agent." (3) Consular birth registry of his third son, Arthur, in Paris, 1865, (4) Marriage record to Mary Ann O'Connor, January 1862, Paris -- spelled Raftan in this record, (5) reference to a letter received from a Rafton Canning, "owner of an ale and stout depot in London," by the officers of the CSS Shenandoah, when they advertised seeking George P. Canning's family; See the
Rafton Mystery
Rafton Boutrenne ("Paul") Canning (1860 Arcis-sur-Aube - France?): Son of Georges Boutrenne Canning and Margaret Hook
mentioned in letter (original, ink on thin paper, 8 pages) dated Aug. 3, 1877, from Louise Canning Pierrot to "sister" Mary Ann (O'Conner Canning). As Louise thinks she is dying ("I cough blood"), and Mary Ann has left for America, mention is made of every male child, of the generation following that of Rafton and Marinus, whom Louise has cared for. No mention of the father of Paul and Alfred is made. However, Paul is described as one who must have been a teenager "feeling his oats" and gets kicked out by Louise, preferring to lodge at the Chantilly stables where his heart lies. And Alfred is mentioned with him, as of good character, but hindered by his epilepsy, which is described as being serious. These two are contrasted by Louise with the "good" boys, sons of Mary Ann; Have 3 documents: (1) French birth record, 1860, Arcis-sur-Aube, parents Georges Boutrenne Canning 26, no profession, and Margrette Phillipis [sic] Hook, 27, no profession, born in the residence of the shire officer; (2) Letter, 1877, from Aunt Louise Canning Pierrot to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, delineating "Paul's" behavior and mentioning all the boys she is raising (see above); and (3) 1881 census in England, Rafton Canning age 20, working in Sussex as a servant ("Boots") at a hotel in East Grinstead, Sussex, born in "Arrusn Aube" (Arcis-sur-Aube), France
For fuller details, see the Biographies
To see scans of the complete set of all documents found to date Click Here. WARNING: Very large file!
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