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Showing posts with label John Alexander Apcar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Alexander Apcar. Show all posts

16 June 2016

Follow Up Blog On the 2014 Story "A Misleading Apcar Line"


                                                                                                     
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A recent comment by a reader of a blog piece I did back in 2014 on “A Misleading Apcar Line -Charles Apcar Was Not Armenian” made me go back and revisit it.  

*NOTE: The hyperlinks in square brackets [ ] do not work in this blog, please scroll to the bottom to read the links.*

The comment was made by Clare at Arrunga Design who said: 

“This is facinating and thank you for your efforts in chasing the paper trail. A word of caution though. Ida starts her divorce application in 1888 after a year of marriage with non consumation. She does have a son in 1894 but maybe by John Apcar. She gives birth in France away from London Society and scandalous wispers. By putting her soon to be divorced husband on the birth record as the father she protects her son from illegitimacy and ensures his legal rights to his faux fathers title and wealth .

John Apcar was a barrister and this would have been the way to handle this delicate situation.

I am inclinded to think Charles was an Apcar and wished to acknowledge his true heritage through Naturalization.
Best wishes Clare”

It has taken me a while to further investigate any potential possibility to this angle of the original story but I am now able to reply to Clare as follows:

Looking again at my research a little wider has given a much better view of this family story. I am still of the opinion that Charles was born of de Soveral genes as per the evidence in two important documents (1) the baptism register and, in particular (2) the highlights from the naturalisation application.

Your speculative theory is interesting, and I’ve taken some time to expand my research on this story with further documentary evidence of various events within the family. A rather time consuming and costly exercise but fascinating nonetheless.

As has already been highlighted Charles was born and baptised with the surname [de] Soveral, (see original blog article for a copy of the baptism record), coupled with the naturalisation documentation, stating he was ‘Soveral but known as Apcar’ (his desire was to be naturalised as a British subject rather than stay a French citizen), the latter document being the key to his exact identity. IF he had “wished to acknowledge his true heritage” as you put it, I believe he would not have put “Portuguese” as his nationality in the first place. IF John Apcar had been his natural father, it would be mentioned somewhere on the naturalisation application as important supporting information. 

Snapshot of the naturalisation application of Charles Soveral



I also note Charles is listed as “Soveral” on the census return for 1901.  However, speculating myself now, I would suggest the following scenario.  That having married Ida Kreeft in 1899, 

Marriage of John A. Apcar and Ida Vicomtesse de Soveral



John Alexander Apcar was clearly an influential father figure in Charles’s life from an early age. I argue that upon marriage to Ida John decided to adopt five year old Charles to make the family complete.  The natural father of Charles as stated on the baptism record being Edward de Soveral who was deceased at the time of Ida’s 2nd marriage to John. Worthy of note here is that Ida had also been adopted as a child herself by Siegerich Kreeft and his second wife Anne[1], Siegerich having lost his only natural daughter aged seven in 1865 a year after her own mother Emma (Siegerich’s first wife) had died.

Charles’s entitlement to any Apcar inheritance would have been secure anyway because he was adopted, it would not have relied on naturalisation to inherit. Ida had previously sued her estranged husband Edward de Soveral in 1892 for a sum in excess of £9,000 (a purchasing power value today at over £800,000) to the extent that he was publicly humiliated and declared bankrupt a year later. In one newspaper report Edward is noted as absconding from a hotel in London without paying his £100 bill, something he was pretty adept at doing. After their wedding, Edward and Ida honeymooned in various locations in France visiting family and friends. Edward encouraged her to spend a great deal of money on extravagant and luxury items in exclusive stores and boutiques, and on more than one occasion he was unable to settle their hotel accounts. Ida’s mother Anne was summoned to France to bail the couple out. Edward professing a financial hiccup declared he would go Paris to obtain money to repay Anne but the money didn’t materialise. Ida had no option but to sue him for her losses resulting in shame and embarrassment for both him and his aristocratic family, as well as bankruptcy.


I would further suggest a couple of possibilities. That there may have been some sort of temporary (but probably strained) brief reconciliation between Ida and Edward that resulted in Charles being born in France. I also think that Edward’s son (from his first marriage, spouse deceased), the Marquis de Soveral pulled a few strings and minimised the amount of newspaper coverage his father would have otherwise taken up had the Marquis not been part of His Majesty the King’s inner circle of friends. I am convinced the Marquis spoke quietly to newspaper editors to minimise the coverage of Ida and Edward’s troubles. 

Courtesy of The Royal Archives:
Marquis de Soveral with King Edward VII

I say this because although the situation where the Vicomte Edward de Soveral’s apparent desertion of Ida was reported in the English newspapers, those articles were greatly muted, and actually barely given space, compared to the reports of the same scandal in the European papers[2], whose columns swam with metaphorical titters. Effectively they said a foolish old man fell for a beautiful blonde. Whilst wooing her, he alluded to having great wealth which he didn’t.  Her canny mother didn’t do anything to discourage the burgeoning fast-moving relationship, and after a whirlwind romance they all fell into the local registry office in Surrey and later a Roman Catholic church to formalise the union. He was around 65 years of age she was 26, although as can be seen from the marriage certificate he started married life with a lie, stating he was 56 years of age. (During the Court hearing in London into his bankruptcy in 1892 he confirmed his age at 70, thus his year of birth was circ 1822. There is a  Portuguese reference to a date of birth  of 21 May 1822[3] in São João da Pesqueira Municipality, Viseu District, Portugal). 

Marriage of Ida Kreeft and Edward Vicomte de Soveral



Prior to the marriage, Ida’s mother Anne was keenly aware of this well known Portuguese royal related surname of de Soveral and in particular Edward’s son the Marquis.  Having tasted society’s highest echelons herself, Anne was no stranger to the world of Foreign Consuls. As already mentioned she had been married to Siegerich Kreeft who was the Consul for Mecklenburg-Schwerin in London. She became widowed in 1885 leaving her with the urgent matter of finding a suitable husband for Ida.  Siegerich had been an engineer working on the railway development in Italy and, search as I might, I could not find a marriage in the UK of Siegerich and Anne. Searching European records I found Siegerich Kreeft had married Anne Kuzel in France in September 1866. It would seem that Ida was Anne’s daughter whom Siegerich adopted after marriage. 

Ida saw the circles the de Soveral’s moved in. You can’t get any higher than royalty, and as I have already stated, the Marquis was a very close friend of King Edward VII, and Anne did everything to encourage romance.   However, when the Marquis met Ida who was now his new step mother, he was less than impressed and thought her a gold digger. What Ida didn’t know was that Edward de Soveral was not wealthy and relied upon his son the Marquis for an allowance.  Edward promised her a settlement for life but could not fulfil it because his son would not put up the full amount.  At first glance, what is odd is that the divorce document of Edward and Ida does not indicate it went to Nisi or Absolute and I believe this is because the Marquis probably paid Ida off to go quietly.  And this is where I speculate that perhaps the 69 year old Edward may not be the father of Charles, but rather his promiscuous and rampant son the Marquis de Soveral. He was well known in society to engage in close relationships with ladies and was by all accounts suave, popular and charming with females.  Perhaps whilst negotiating with Ida the best way for her to desist from dragging his father Edward through the Courts any further, he got just a little too close, and Charles was the result.  The Marquis’s life knew no bounds and he was a rascal socially (although very reverent in the King’s presence and incredibly discrete), being part of the hedonistic set that included Alice Keppel. Baptising Charles with Edward’s name was the best way to save the Marquis and therefore also saving his friend the King from potential salacious newspaper headlines and embarrassment.  



To give you an idea of how the Marquis was an integral part of London life and how he could certainly hold the attention of a gathered audience. Quoting from the book “Edward VII: The Last Victorian King” Christopher Hibbert wrote:  

“…….finding Cassel on occasions a trifle dispiriting, the Prince [of Wales, later King Edward VII] never tired of the Marquis de Soveral, the lively, stimulating Portuguese Minister in London whose charming presence was welcome at every party. Known as the ‘Blue Monkey’ because of his animated manner, blue-black hair and dark complexion, Luis de Soveral was recognised, indeed, as being ‘the most popular man in London’, except at the German Embassy, where he was known as ‘Soveral-Überall’ and strongly disliked for his known anti-German sentiments.  The Princess of Pless, the former Daisy Cornwallis-West, treated him as a rather distasteful joke. 

“He imagines himself to be a great intellectual and political force and the wise adviser of all the heads of the government, and of course, the greatest danger to women!...[but surely] even those stupid people who believe that every man who talks to a woman must be her lover, could not take his Don juan-esque pretensions seriously. Yet I am told that all women do not judge him so severely and some even find him très séduisant. How disgusting!”

The Princess of Pless apart, virtually everyone in London, even the husbands of his mistresses, and both the Prince of Wales and Alice Keppel, delighted in the sight of his tall figure approaching, a white flower in his buttonhole, a monocle firmly fixed in one glittering eye, his large moustache neatly brushed, his regular teeth revealed in a warm and happy smile, ready to greet an old friend with enthusiasm or to charm a new acquaintance. ‘As a talker he was quite wonderful in keeping the ball rolling’, Henry Ponsonby’s son, Frederick thought. ‘And without being exactly witty his conversation was always sparkling and amusing.  It was only when he had to talk seriously that one realised how clever he was.’ Yet he did all he could to disguise his cleverness, having found by experience that ‘both men and women fight shy of a clever man.’…….”



It would be interesting to get the Will of Edward de Soveral to see if Charles was mentioned, assuming Edward died before Charles.

Clare, turning now to John Apcar and your thought that he might have fathered Charles. From the moment he passed the Bar exam in 1871 up to the 1890s  John Apcar was a High Court barrister in Calcutta. Although not impossible for John to have fathered a child, it is highly unlikely given that he spent most of his career in India. 

Having had Charles in May 1894, Ida returned to England from France within a month of giving birth[4]. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest Charles was the natural son of John Apcar.  If your theory Clare were correct and John Alexander Apcar had been the father, I simply don’t see why Ida would go to the trouble of naming her son after her down-beat, bankrupt estranged husband de Soveral.  The Apcars were a large family with a great many things going on, an illegitimate child would not send them cowering into a corner. (see De Vine Intent, Sarah Apcar was a cousin of John living in London and she and her family took scandal and illegitimacy on the chin), and IF Charles had been the illegitimate son of J.A. Apcar he would have been baptised with the Apcar name and openly acknowledged as an Apcar. They were no shrinking violets.

The naturalisation document of Charles de Soveral states his father was Edward de Soveral and that he was of “Portuguese descent”. The de Soveral family were most definitely Portuguese and I am utterly convinced this application was completed truthfully.

Meanwhile Chevalier Siegerich Kreeft had died in Surrey in November 1885 having made his will in Turin, Italy in February 1884 in favour of his wife Anne.

Snapshot of the Will of Siegerich Kreeft



Anne Kreeft died in Surrey in 1889 having made her will in December 1885 in favour of her adopted daughter Ida de Soveral.

Snapshot of the Will of Anne Kreeft



If you have any documentation or further evidence to support your suggestion I’d be most interested to see it, but I think the main thread of my original blog story stands firm and Charles was not a natural born Apcar but the offspring of a de Soveral.



[1] The Will of Anne Kreeft 2 December 1885, see image above.
[2] The scandal was covered in a number of papers, including La Matin, 16 Avril 1892 “Un Scandale a Londres. Les dangers de la vie d’hotel – Le père d’un minister – La carte à payer" 
[3] Resenha Las Familias Titulares, Grandes de Portugal – Albano da Silveira Pinto + Visconde de Sanches de Baèna
[4] The naturalisation application of Charles de Soveral, National Archives, Kew.

28 February 2014

A Misleading Apcar Line - Charles Apcar Was Not Armenian



This is to show how easily one can be led in completely the wrong direction. Things aren’t always what they seem.



Whilst researching a branch of the Apcar family with India connections I came across a Charles Apcar who had been educated at Charterhouse School in the Surrey in the UK. Being sent back to the UK from India was not unusual, hundreds of children born in India were educated in England, so finding him at Charterhouse was no surprise. Their Roll of Honour page for WW1 states: “Charles Apcar. Rifleman. Born 17th May 1894, only son of John Alexander Apcar and Ida Apcar, of Calcutta, India. He was at Charterhouse [L] 1908 - 1912. He enlisted in the London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) and served with 5th Bn. He died on 8th November 1918 His grave is in the churchyard at Outrijve in Belgium, close to the east end of the church.” Of course I was keen to get his full details as well as those of his parents John Alexander Apcar and Ida. When you read “of Calcutta, India” you would naturally assume that is where he was born. I was struggling to find his birth so I decided to see if I could find the marriage of John Alexander Apcar and Ida. But what was her maiden name? I did not know.



Searching the birth marriages and deaths for John and Ida’s marriage, it appeared they married in the second quarter (Q2) 1899 in London. The records indicate that Ida had previously been married to Edward de Pinto de Soveral also know as Vicomte de Pinto and Ida had previously held the title of Vicomtesse de Pinto. Furthermore, records show that Ida started divorce proceedings against Edward de Pinto in 1888, having only married him a year before in London. She was seeking an annulment due to his inability to consummate the marriage.



It is unclear if the divorce was ever finalised but now, on a hunch, I searched for Charles de Pinto de Soveral and his baptism record in Hounslow, London showed up on 5th August 1894. This told me immediately that Charles Apcar listed as “only son of John Alexander Apcar and Ida Apcar” in the Charterhouse School listing was incorrect. Now to find his place of birth, quite possibly in the UK, but never assume anything. Since he died in WW1 in France his military record will have that detail. Looking at the records “UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919” I could see that he was born in Paris. Now I needed confirmation of the date and I could be 100% certain that Charles Apcar of Charterhouse was actually Charles de Pinto de Soveral. That confirmation came in a stroke of luck. Whilst searching the National Archives I came across his naturalisation application. “Charles Soveral also known as Charles Apcar”. On it was his date of birth 17th May 1894, in Paris, France of Portuguese nationality and on the application for naturalisation in the UK were the names of his parents Edward de Pinto and Ida Anna Alexander Soveral Vicomtesse. Because he died on the 7 November 1919 he never got the notification that his naturalisation application was granted on the 22 November 1919. Ida died in Q3 1920 in London and John Alexander Apcar died 8 February 1921 in St. Leonard’s Sussex. They did not have any children of their own but John Apcar treated Charles as his own son. No records can be found for Edward de Pinto and as he came from a long illustrious family in Portugal I would imagine that he ended up there. He either died before 1899 or finalised the divorce before 1899 because Ida would not have been free to marry John Apcar otherwise.



 

Charles Apcar, of Portuguese descent, born in France, educated in England died fighting for the country he wanted to belong to was not Armenian. 17 May 1894 – 8 November 1919