One reason why the Brethren of the French and English nations apparently associated to such a small extent, is that the British masons would, as a rule, regard the French Lodges as irregular and self-constituted, they having no mandate from the Grandmaster of England or Scotland.
In Peterborough there is no record or tradition of a French Lodge.
Mr. Thorp, in the little history from which these facts are drawn, mentions the marriage of a member of the French Lodge at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Brother Louis Jan to a Miss Edwards, in 1809. The couple went to France in 1814, returned to England for some years, but went back to Rouen, where M. Jan died. His widow came back to Ashby, where she supported herself and her children by teaching French. She died in 1867.
As regards the parole prisoners whose headquarters were at Peterborough, a careful search through the marriage register of St. John’s Church has failed to discover an entry of any marriage which can be identified as that of a French prisoner and English girl; but in the years 1800–01 five marriages between Dutch prisoners and English girls were celebrated in the church and duly registered.
The first three bridegrooms were young officers, who were married on the eve of their restoration to liberty under the terms of the Convention of Alkmaar. From the register of Dutch Prisoners of War in the Record Office, we have been able to identify these bridegrooms. In the Parish Church Register there is absolutely no hint that the bridegrooms were prisoners of war. The names only are given, without any description, although the statement that there are entries of French prisoners, designated as such, in this marriage register having been once made, has been adopted time after time by writers and lecturers on this subject.
1. On the 17th February 1800, Albertus Coeymans was married to Ann Whitwell. Witnesses who signed the register, B. Pletsz and James Gibbs. James Gibbs appears to have been the Parish Clerk, who usually witnessed the marriages. From the register in the Record Office we find that Albertus Coeymans was 2nd Lieutenant in the Furie, was captured when the ship was taken, received at Norman Cross 19th November 1798, and “discharged to Holland” 19th February 1800. The witness B. Pletsz was Captain of the Furie, and was received at Norman Cross on the same date as the Lieutenant.
2. On the 17th February 1800, Adrian Roeland Robberts Roelans was married to Mary Kingston. Witnesses, Joseph Little and James Gibbs. Mr. Roelans was a midshipman on the Jupiter, and was received at Norman Cross, with others of the captured crew, on the 4th November 1797, being released on parole twelve days after his reception. It is interesting to note that the witness at this wedding was not another Dutch officer, but Mr. Joseph Little of Thorpe, in which hamlet Miss Kingston resided. That the marriage of his friend was satisfactory to this witness, and that the intimacy between them was kept up after the liberation of the midshipman under the Alkmaar Cartel, may be accepted as established by an entry in the register nine years later of the marriage of Joseph Little of Thorpe to Mary Roelans, probably the sister of his friend the midshipman captured on the Jupiter.
Mr. Joseph Little remained at home with his Dutch bride, and as far as can be traced through the complicated connections of the large clan of Littles, the blood of Roelans still runs in the blood of several of them. A brother of Mr. Little’s had married a sister of the Miss Kingston who became the wife of Cadet Roelans, thus creating another link in the marriage connection of the Dutch Roelans and the Northamptonshire Littles.
3. On the 18th February 1800, Charles Peter Vanderaa married Lucy Rose. Witnesses to the marriage, J. Ysbrands and James Gibbs. Mr. Vanderaa was Lieutenant on a brig-of-war which was captured. He was received at Peterborough on parole on 11th June 1798, and was released on 19th February 1800. The witness J. Ysbrands was the Captain of the Courier, taken prisoner and received at Peterborough on parole 21st June 1798, released 19th February 1800 in accordance with the Alkmaar Convention.
4. After an interval of six months, on 20th August 1800, is the entry of the marriage of Antoni Staring to Nancy Rose. Witnesses, E. B. Knogz and James Gibbs. The bridegroom was Captain on the Duyffe man-of-war. He was received 27th May 1800, released 26th August, having been married on the day previous. The witness E. B. Knogz was surgeon on the Duyffe, and was received at Peterborough and released on the same day as the captain.