The summer period is a good time to change the pace of our often overloaded daily lives and enjoy some lighter, more entertaining reading. So I decided to keep things light-hearted and tell you about a case that amused me greatly at the time.
In the 1920s, a widowed French doctor from Normandy opens an account with his only daughter, but is never heard from again. Many years later, the bank is wondering what will become of these customers. Information on these two characters is sparse. The surname is rather banal, as is the girl’s first name, “Berthe”. Research in France reveals that father and daughter seem to lead a rather peaceful life in their Normandy village. However, life sometimes has its surprises. Indeed, we soon realize that Berthe has disappeared… no trace of her in France. Investigations widen and multiple foreign databases are reviewed, until the young woman’s fate becomes clearer.
From Normandy to Great Britain, it’s just a step, or rather a sea. Berthe has crossed the Channel to marry a wealthy French marquis. Tracing his path has been a real treasure hunt. After a discreet marriage, a life of travel and adventure followed, during which the couple criss-crossed Europe in Rolls, settling for a time in Rome before heading for the United States. As patrons of the arts, they rubbed shoulders with many of the artists and intellectuals of the day, and led a social life until the Marquis’s death.
“Berthe”, who has since become “Marie Odette”, has taken American nationality and is peacefully ending her life in the United States, a long way from the rest of her family and the Normandy coast where she spent her childhood. With no children of his own, the management of his fortune will be entrusted to a trust after his death. For genealogists, however, it’s a real challenge to retrace this kind of destiny. In our case, the first and last names given as wife were totally different from her birth name and surname. Depending on the countries involved in the research, the way in which events linked to women are recorded varies (sometimes maiden name, sometimes married name). In concrete terms, if all the stages of a person’s life are not traced (marriage(s), divorce(s), change of first name(s)), there’s a risk of completely missing out on the person’s destiny.
From Roturière to Marquise, it’s just a short step. History and literature are full of examples where a character of modest origins rises to a high social status, notably through a chance encounter. Today, things have changed: upward mobility still exists, but in different forms. It often relies on a combination of talent, effort, strategy and sometimes luck. Unlike times when titles of nobility were essential, social mobility in the modern world depends more on the ability to adapt, to innovate, and to exploit the opportunities offered by education, networks and certain growth sectors.
The field of possibilities has widened.
I can’t help wondering what the relationship with the Bank would have been like, had it known in time who its illustrious client was…
