{"id":2366,"date":"2018-06-23T10:11:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T09:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/?p=2366"},"modified":"2020-03-03T16:31:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T16:31:26","slug":"camille-casimir-breton-and-ann-compton-atcherley-the-french-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/camille-casimir-breton-and-ann-compton-atcherley-the-french-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"Camille Casimir Breton and Ann Compton Atcherley: The French connection"},"content":{"rendered":"

< Back to The widowed Ann Atcherley and matters pecuniary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although two of her sisters married Frenchmen, Ann Compton du Moulin\u00a0[<\/a>] wed Englishman Rowland Atcherley, with whom she had three children. However, following Rowland\u2019s untimely death, Ann married Camille Casimir Breton\u00a0[<\/a>], a perfumer and hair dresser from France. Camille\u2019s life in the city of Bath was, to put it mildly, not without incident.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Camille Breton probably arrived in England some time in the early to mid-1850s \u2013 after the census of 1851 was taken, but before the following notice appeared in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette<\/em> of 4 October 1855:<\/p>\n

\"\"DEPOT FRANCAIS,<\/span>
\n9, CORRIDOR, BATH.<\/span>
\nMessrs. CAMILLE, BRETON, et BEAUPIN,<\/span>
\nLATE of 18, UNION STREET,<\/em><\/span>
\nHAVE the honour to announce to the Nobility and\u00a0Gentry of Bath, and its Vicinity, that they have\u00a0OPENED the ABOVE ESTABLISHMENT as HAIRDRESSERS\u00a0and PERFUMERS.<\/span>
\nThe Advantages offered by Messrs. B. B. are their many\u00a0Years’ Experience in the First-rate Houses of Paris, as Hair-Dressers and Wig Makers.<\/span>
\nThey guarantee every article of Hair well-made, and of the\u00a0Best Style, being Manufactured by themselves, an advantage\u00a0that cannot be offered by houses which are obliged to engage and\u00a0trust to Workmen often deficient in the knowledge of their trade<\/em>.\u00a0The Working of Artificial and Natural Hair, as well as the\u00a0Treatment of its Maladies is quite a Science, and has been\u00a0Studied by Mons. Camille at the Academy of Medicine at\u00a0Montpellier.<\/span>
\nMessrs. B. B.s PERFUMERY will be found of the Best\u00a0Quality, being prepared with the purest ingredients, one\u00a0trial of which will prove its superiority.<\/span>
\nAn Assortment of Wigs, Front Hair, Plaits, Hair, Tooth,\u00a0and Nail Brushes, and Combs, of every description, at\u00a0Moderate Prices.<\/span>
\n9, CORRIDOR, Bath<\/em>.<\/span>
\nAn APPRENTICE WANTED.<\/span><\/p>\n

(The first comma in the third line of this notice, which made Monsieur Camille Breton appear to be two people rather than one, was an error.)<\/p>\n

Messrs Breton and Beaupin were evidently working in Bath, at 18 Union Street, before they opened their establishment at 9 Corridor, but I have found no mention of them prior to the above notice. I have however found that Depot Francais was first opened in 1850, at 11 Corridor, by \u201cMademoiselle Healey (from Paris)\u201d. Mlle Healey offered for sale \u201call kinds of French Essences, Soaps, Eau de Cologne, Bear’s Grease, Circassian Cream, P\u00e2te \u00e1 Amandes, &c.\u201d, along with \u201ca splendid assortment of French and English Hair, Nail, and Tooth Brushes, Tortoise-shell Combs, Hair Nets, Hair Preservers, Writing Desks, Dressing Cases, &c., together with every variety of Stationery\u201d and a \u201cNew and Safe Liquid Hair Dye, warranted to dye the Hair and colour in ten minutes.\u201d The 1851 census shows Jane Healey, a 27-year-old single woman born in St Malo, France, working as a perfumer and living at 11 Corridor in Bath.<\/p>\n

Later in 1851, Depot Francais moved to 18 Union Street (on the corner of the Corridor) and in advertising her new establishment, Mlle Healey included details of a new service: \u201cLadies and Gentlemen’s Hair Cut and Dressed in the newest Parisian style. Mademoiselle Healey having engaged one of the finest Hair Dressers in Paris, informs those Ladies and Gentlemen who may honour her establishment with their patronage, that it cannot be surpassed in London or Paris.\u201d Was Camille Breton the hairdresser from Paris? If not, then he must have joined the business at some point over the next three years.<\/p>\n

In 1855 Jane Healey married Mr Thomas Barry, who then became the proprietor of Depot Francais. He did not remain so for long though. The Bath Chronicle<\/em>\u00a0of 6 September 1855 included notice of the sale, by auction, on 13 September at 18 Union Street, of the \u201cPerfumery, Desks, Dressing-Cases, Shop Fixtures, Household Furniture, and General Ornamental Effects of Mr. Barry\u201d, who was \u201cretiring from the Business.\u201d Curiously another notice in the next edition of the paper, published on the day of the proposed auction, advised that the sale would not take place. I suspect that Messrs Breton and Beaupin, who had been working at Depot Francais, made a private offer to take over the business.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As we have seen, \u201cMessrs. B. B.\u201d \u2018set up shop\u2019 at 9, Corridor (pictured above in 2008). The Corridor was Britain\u2019s first provincial shopping arcade, opened in 1825 to emulate those established in London, which had themselves been modelled on the covered, high-class shopping centres of Paris. Which leads us nicely on to the next advertisement placed by Breton and Beaupin in the Bath Chronicle<\/em>, from December 1855 through to March 1856:<\/p>\n

Coiffeurs Fran\u00e7ais,<\/span>
\nNo. 9, CORRIDOR.<\/span>
\nMessrs. CAMILLE BRETON & BEAUPIN<\/span>
\nHAVE just returned from Paris with large Assortment\u00a0of the best PERFUMERY; also the Newest\u00a0Style of Hair Dressing for Balls or Concerts, and Dining\u00a0Parties.<\/span>
\nMessrs. B. and Co. are the Inventors of the New HAIR\u00a0PARTING, and cannot be equalled. Messrs. B. have studied\u00a0the maladies of the Hair, and are quite competent to undertake\u00a0its Restoration.<\/span>
\nNo Connection with any other House.<\/span>
\nHAIR DYED.<\/span>
\nAN APPRENTICE WANTED<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was presumably through her patronage of Coiffeurs Fran\u00e7ais that the widowed Ann Atcherley, n\u00e9e Du Moulin, became acquainted with Camille Breton. I imagine the two of them exchanging pleasantries and having conversations about the weather and fashionable happenings in Bath while Camille attended to Ann\u2019s hair, before those conversations became gradually more personal as the nature of the couple\u2019s relationship changed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The marriage of Camille Breton and Ann Atcherley \u2013 or Ann Du Moulin as she was named in the register before a correction was added\u00a0(her signature also reflected her maiden name) \u2013 took place at Bath St James in 1856. Apart from revealing Ann\u2019s apparent preference for using her maiden name, the marriage register also provide a little information on Camille\u2019s background. He gave his age as 32 (suggesting a year of birth of 1823 or \u201924), his marital status as Bachelor, and he named his father as Joseph Breton, a farmer.<\/p>\n

Ann and Camille\u2019s marriage was blessed with a child, Robert Camille Breton\u00a0[<\/a><\/strong>], who was born at the family\u2019s home (14 Henrietta Street in Bath) on Valentine\u2019s day 1857. Robert was baptised at Bathwick a month later on 13 March. His father\u2019s occupation was given as Perfumer, as it had been when Camille married Ann.<\/p>\n

By this time, Camille Breton\u2019s partnership with Mons Beaupin had ended \u2013 and on the most disagreeable terms! A notice placed in the Bath Chronicle<\/em>\u00a0of 18 December 1856 confirmed the dissolution of the \u201cpartnership connexion\u201d between Frederick Beapin and Camille Breton, \u201cFrench Hairdresser and Perfumer.\u201d Elsewhere in the same newspaper, a report on court proceedings provided the background to the split:<\/p>\n

Frederick\u00a0Beaupin\u00a0was summoned for having, on the 10th inst., assaulted Camille Breton in the Corridor. Mr. Slack appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Bartrum, of the firm of Payne and Bartrum, for the defendant.<\/span>
\nMr. Slack said the assault complained of was a most unprovoked and dangerous one, inasmuch as it was inflicted by an instrument capable of producing mortal results. The parties are foreigners, carrying on the business of hairdressers together at [9], Corridor. A few days ago, there was an action brought against the firm in one of the superior courts for \u00a32 which, together with the costs (amounting to \u00a32 more), was paid by the complainant. On Wednesday evening he asked the defendant to pay half of this sum, [as] well as his share of some taxes which the complainant had paid, making in all \u00a32: 7s. 8d. Defendant said that he wanted a receipt; upon which the complainant went and procured one, and presented the receipt to the defendant, who then said that was not what he wanted. Complainant replied, \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d upon which defendant lifted the curling tongues he had in his hand and felled his partner to the ground with a blow on the face, just below the eye.<\/span>
\nComplainant having confirmed this statement, Miss Henrietta Smith, milliner, of 8, Corridor, stated that, on Wednesday evening, the complainant came and asked her for a receipt stamp, and she directed him to Union Passage. Shortly after she heard a heavy fall on the floor at No. [9], which was followed by cries of \u201cMurder!\u201d She went in immediately; and in the parlour behind the shop she saw the complainant on his back, on the floor, and the defendant on top of him, holding him firmly by the whiskers. The face of the former was covered with blood, and there was a pool of blood beside him. With the assistance of a man named Broad, she released Mr. Breton; but as soon as the combatants were on their legs they rushed furiously at each other, and were only restrained from doing further violence by the people present. […]<\/span><\/p>\n

Sacr\u00e9 bleu! In January 1857 \u201cMons. Camille Breton, French Hair Dresser, Perfumer and Wig Maker,\u201d announced that he had removed from 9 Corridor to 16 Union Street; notices to this effect continued to be published until April. Then in September 1857 Camille started placing prominent advertisements on the front page of the Bath Chronicle<\/em>, \u201cinforming the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, and Inhabitants of Bath and its Environs\u201d that he had \u201cjust returned from Paris with a large assortment of perfumery\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the evening of Tuesday 26 January 1858, disaster struck: a fire broke out at Camille\u2019s premises in Union Street. Policemen were quickly on the scene with \u201cfire annihilators\u201d and other \u201cfire\u00a0apparatus\u201d, subduing the worst of the flames. Then they got a fire-hose attached\u00a0to a plug in the centre of Union Street, \u201cand played\u00a0away until all was subdued.\u201d The Bath Chronicle<\/em>\u2019s report on this incident concluded: \u201cMons. Breton, we understand, is insured.\u00a0The amount of damage is very considerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same edition of the Chronicle<\/em> which carried news of the fire, Camille Breton placed a notice returning thanks for the expressions of sympathy he had received, and stating that he had made arrangements \u201cTo\u00a0carry on the hair-cutting,\u00a0dressing, and wig-making, as Usual, <\/em>At\u00a018, Union Street, two doors below His own Shop, during the Reparation of the Premises\u201d.<\/p>\n

The above notice was repeated in the following week\u2019s Bath Chronicle<\/em> \u2013 but after that, I have found no trace of Mons Breton\u2019s name in the Bath newspapers. Nor indeed have I found any trace of Camille, Ann, their son Robert or Ann\u2019s daughter Ann Isabella Atcherley\u00a0[<\/a><\/strong>] on the censuses of 1861 or \u201971. Where did they go? The answer to this question is, I believe, France.<\/p>\n

> On to Ann Compton du Moulin \/ Atcherley \/ Breton: The French disconnection \u2013 Part 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gare de l’Est, Paris, mid-19th century<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Picture credits.<\/strong><\/em>Ten illustrations of different types of wigs and hair pieces: Adapted from an image from the Wellcome Collection<\/a>, and used under a Creative Commons licence<\/a>. <\/em>The Corridor, Bath: Original photo \u00a9 Copyright\u00a0Derek Harper, taken from Geograph<\/a> and modified, used and made available for re-use under a Creative Commons licence<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The newest fashions for dressing ladies hair (1863):\u00a0Adapted from an image from the Wellcome Collection<\/a>, and used under a Creative Commons licence<\/a>. <\/em>Gare de l’Est, Paris, mid-19th century: Adapted from a public domain image taken from Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 4 Oct 1855, page 2. Copy viewed at British Newspaper Archive.
\n[2]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 28 Nov 1850, page 2. Copy viewed at Findmypast.
\n[3]<\/strong> 1851 census of England and Wales. Piece 1941, folio 186, page 17. 11 Corridor, Bath St Peter & St Paul, Somerset. Head: Jane Healey, unmarried, 27, Perfumer, born St Malo, France, British Subject. Niece: Jane Healey, 2, born Bath. Servant: [Honour__ ?] Castelle, 15, Gen Ser, born [?], France.
\n[4]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 23 Oct 1851, page 2. Copy viewed at Findmypast.
\n[5]<\/strong> Marriage of Thomas Barry and Jane Mary Healey registered at Bath, June quarter 1855; volume 5c, page 1169.
\n[6]<\/strong> Bath BMD shows marriage of Thomas Barry and Jane Mary Healey at Bath Register Office or Approved Premises, Bath. Ref RO1\/13\/065.
\n[7]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 6 Sep 1855, page 2. Copy viewed at Findmypast.
\n[8]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 13 Sep 1855, page 2. Copy viewed at Findmypast.
\n[9]<\/strong> Catherine Pitt (2017), The Corridor: Bath\u2019s Original Shopping Arcade<\/a>. At: The Bath Magazine (website, accessed 10 Jun 2018).
\n[10]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 13 Dec 1855, page 2. Also subsequent editions to March 1856. Copies viewed at British Newspaper Archive.
\n[11]<\/strong> Marriage of Camille Casimir Breton and Ann Atcherley \/Ann Du Moulin registered at Bath, June quarter 1856; volume 5c, page 1105.
\n[12]<\/strong> Bath St James, Somerset, marriage register covering 1856. Entry dated 12 April for Camille Casimir Breton and Ann Du Moulin (marginal note corrects surname name to Atcherley). Copy viewed at Ancestry \u2013 Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914.
\n[13]<\/strong> Birth of Robert Camille Breton registered at Bath, March quarter 1857; volume 5c, page 679.
\n[14]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 19 Feb 1857, page 4. \u201cBIRTHS. […] Feb. 14, at 14, Henrietta Street, the wife of Mr. Breton, a son.\u201d Copy viewed at British Newspaper Archive.
\n[15]<\/strong> Bathwick, Somerset, baptism register covering 1857. Entry dated 13 March for Robert Camille Breton. Copy viewed at Ancestry \u2013 Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914. Indexed at FamilySearch<\/a>, Batch C01745-5, Film 1526166, Ref item 4 p 65.
\n[16]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 18 Dec 1856, pages 6 and 8. Copies viewed at British Newspaper Archive.
\n[17]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 22 Jan 1857, page 4. Copy viewed at British Newspaper Archive. Note: Advert repeated over subsequent weeks, slightly modified by April, when the adverts ceased.
\n[18]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 3 Sep 1857, page 1. Copy viewed at British Newspaper Archive.
\n[19]<\/strong> Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 28 Jan 1858, pages 4 and 5. Copies viewed at British Newspaper Archive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

< Back to The widowed Ann Atcherley and matters pecuniary. Although two of her sisters married Frenchmen, Ann Compton du Moulin\u00a0[] wed Englishman Rowland Atcherley, with whom she had three children. However, following Rowland\u2019s untimely death, Ann married Camille Casimir Breton\u00a0[], a perfumer and hair dresser from France. Camille\u2019s life in the city of Bath was, to put it mildly,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-history-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3324,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2366\/revisions\/3324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}