The Upper Courtoy Line

The following is TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE SPECULATIVE.

It will be revised when Judy Jerkins gets back to her files (and/or I do some serious research). Judy said that in 2011, and again in 2021.

John Courtoy (1727?-1818) (but there was another 1743?-1826??) [Linda's possible G5F]
Born Nicolas Jacquinet, according to document Judy says she uncovered in the London PRO.
(Ron Courtoy of London purchased a file on Courtoy from the Public Records Office in 2003).
A Nicolas Jacquinet was born in Jussy in 1727 (northern France, 50km south of the Belgian border).
This family traces itself back to Edme Jacquinet b. 1642 and Françoise Petiet b. 1640.
[A second Nicolas Jacquinet was b. 1743 at Haroue, Meurthe-et-Moselle (350km E, N of Nancy)]
Jacquinet undertook an apprenticeship as a Wig Maker and moved to England 1750-54.
He achieved very considerable financial success, somehow.
Perhaps c.1766, aged c. 40, he changed his name to John Courtoy.
He was 50-75 at the birth of the nine children listed below.
So it's reasonable to assume that he had earlier children as well.
m?/p? Marianne / Mary Ann Woolley [Linda's possible G5M]
Children 1-2 (1777, 1780)
Children 3-6 (1784-1793)
p? Hannah Peters (c.1782?-1848)
A courtesan of some standing, it would appear.
Children 7-9 (1798?-1802?).
John d. 8 Dec 1818, aged 92, in Little St Martin Street, Leicester Fields, London.
John was bur. in London 16 Dec 1818.
Mary Ann d. Dec 1822 in London.
According to The Times of 31 Dec 1818, this John Courtoy left a very substantial sum of money.
And make what you will of this strange little piece.
Judy's sources were replayed in a piece by Celia J. Dodd (see 21.6), of the 9th child, mirrored here.
[Note: There may have been another John Courtoy d. in London in 1826, intestate?]
Hannah d. during the plague epidemic in 1848, and has a very special crypt in Brompton Cemetery.

Added Jan 2021: Judy drew attention in January 2021 to a book published under the splendid title 'Courtoy's Complaint', with several (informal) reviews. It was edited by David Godson (of south England), from the diaries of a Maureen Sayers during the Regency Period (1810s, 'Mad King George III's late years). It was published, possibly in an all-black-cover edition (bad) and a cover with the same cover but red-lettering (good), in November 2017.

  1. John (Jno?) Joseph William Masserat Courtoy (1777-1852) [Linda's probable G4F]
    William was b. 24 Jan 1777, chr. 22 Jul 1777 in St Mary's, Marylebone Rd
    m. Elizabeth Williams (1785-1846) of Wales [Linda's probable G4M]
    m. 9 Jul 1806, at St Clement Danes (in The Strand, and in recent times the RAF Church)
    William worked as an Army and Navy Agent
    9 children, including George Courtoy (1809-1885) [Linda's G3F]
    This is the relevant line for this family tree.
    See elsewhere for the Lower Courtoy Line
    William and Elizabeth may well have lived all their lives within the sound of the Bow Bells.
    Elizabeth d. 26 Mar 1846, aged 61, in Forest Gate,West Ham, of uterine cancer.
    William d. April 1852, aged 75, and is buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery.
    But Judy says he died as John Cortoy aged 75, resident of Commercial Road, Limehouse, in 1852
  2. George Courtoy (c. 1780-1854?) [Let's call him Great-Uncle George]
    m. Mary Creech
    (daughter of Robert and Ann Creech of Dorchester)
    Worked in the Navy Pay Office, and rose to become in charge of the wills of seamen.
    div.?
    He contested the will of his ex-wife and ended up with her money and property.
    But he bequeathed to her nieces, rather than his own family.
    No children
  3. Louisa Ann Courtoy (1784-?)
    Remained a spinster
    No children
  4. John Courtoy (1787-?),
    chr. St Marylebone
    but d. very young
  5. John Courtoy (c.1790-?)
    Survived youth
  6. Another (c. 1793?)
  7. Mary Ann Courtoy (c. 1798?)
    A spinster, died young?
  8. Elizabeth Courtoy (c. 1800?)
    A spinster, died young?
  9. Susannah Courtoy (c. 1802?)
    m. Septimus Holmes GODSON 1830
    They had children, and the line is active
    As the last survivor, she was very rich, and a million pounds was left in the trust fund

Acknowledgements

This page is entirely based on Judy Jerkins' work. Judy has provided a summary web-page (mirrored here), but there are many other snippets in large numbers of her postings on various genealogy sites, and she has more documents that she hasn't yet had time to consolidate into a full story.

Judy has also documented a separate, well-to-do family of Courtoys (1645-1900).

This a page within Linda Spinaze's Family Web-Site
Contact: Roger Clarke and Linda Spinaze
Created: 23 April 2011; Last Amended: 6 August 2011, book info added 21 Jan 2021