Hannah Courtoy

Rumoured to have been the Morganatic Wife of a member of the House of Hanover, George IV or William IV . Her two elder daughters buried with her in the Mausoleum at Brompton cemetery (Mary and Elizabeth who also lived with her throughout her life, but perhaps strangely never married) may be issue from that 'marriage'. Her third daughter Susanna (who inherited the bulk of John Courtoy's significant wealth, and later married Septimus Holmes Godson) is probably issue from her later relationship with John Courtoy.

ID: I787 Name: Hannah PETERS Given Name: Hannah Surname: Peters Sex: F Death: 26 JAN 1849 in St George Hanover Square, Westminster, London 1 Note: As reported in The Times on Wednesday 14th February 1849 Page 9 Issue 20099 Column A. Burial: 13 FEB 1849 Brompton Cemetery, London Residence: 1847 14, Wilton Crescent, Belgravia Square, London Note: re: PROB 11/2087 recorded at National Archives. Will: 24 FEB 1849 Note: PROB 11/2087 at National Archives. Hannah Courtoy otherwise Hannah Peters, single woman. Census: 1841 14, Wilton Crescent, Belgravia Square, London 2 Birth: ABT 1780

Burial: 1853, Brompton Cemetery.

Occupation: 1820

Residence: 1847, 14, Wilton Crescent, Belgravia Square, London..

Will: 24 Feb 1849

Hannah Peters: — On the 2 1st December 1821 was brought into custody under and by virtue of the following order: Lord Chancellor. Friday, 3d August 1821. Between Mary Courtoy, Elizabeth Courtoy and Susanna Courtoy, infants, by Hannah Peters, their mother and next friend, plaintiffs ; George Norborne, Vincent Rowland, Edward William Charles Drummond, George Courtoy, William Courtoy and Louisa Courtoy, defendants

Finally John took another mistress called Hannah Peters (allegedly employed by JC as a housekeeper circa 1800 introduced by Francis Grosso). She had a father and brother who were both called John Peters, but Judy hasn’t been able to find out more about her origins.

Hannah lived in Hanover Square, and, as you will see, is as amazing in death as she was in life! Hannah had three daughters called Mary Ann, Elizabeth and Susannah Courtoy. John was now in his 70s, which is perhaps not too old to produce children, but there are rumours that Hannah was a Royal Mistress, so goodness knows who is the real father of each daughter!

Maureen Sayers briefly became friendly with Hannah when employed by John Courtoy from the latter part of July 1817 until the end of January 1818. A young Joseph Bonomi was visiting the Courtoy Household during this period, prior to going to Rome to study under Canova. Subsequently H.P.C. declared her intent to M.S. regarding assisting in financing expeditions to Egypt to further her interest in astrology and esoteric Egyptian knowledge.

It was when wealthy John Courtoy died around 1815 that the troubles started. He died intestate supposedly, but somehow a will was found. Judy reckons it might have been a forgery, and that Hannah paid £300 to the man who wrote her the will. A French woman, who claimed that her mother was John’s half-sister, thought she had a good legal claim to the fortune, as John had never been officially married. But in the will that was produced it was Hannah Peters that got the booty, Mary Ann Woolley got her home and some money to live on, and Judy’s ancestor and his brother received relatively little. Hannah inherited cash, diamonds, plate, china, linen etc, but not her home in Bromley, which, after her death, was sold with the money going towards St George’s Hospital to treat poor Huguenots.

Plague or cholera swept through London from 1848 until 1852, and Hannah died in 1848. A very special crypt was built for her in Brompton Cemetery, and her daughters Elizabeth and Mary Ann are buried there also. The 150-year-old mausoleum is a strange imposing structure, carved with elaborate Egyptian figures. Strangely it is the only mausoleum for which plans do not exist, and writer Howard Webster has been investigating it. He has a theory that it was created by a Samuel Warner (who also invented the torpedo and died in suspicious circumstances). Warner and his likely collaborator, Joseph Bonomi, an eminent architect and Egyptologist, are buried nearby. Hannah Peters’ mausoleum is of dark polished granite, decorated with narrow bands of hieroglyphics, with a huge bronze door. There is no surviving key, so it has not been opened for 120 years.

The belief that ancient Egyptians had uncovered the secret of time travel was widespread in Victorian times. A spokesman for Brompton Cemetery suggests that Warner was an ingenious hoaxer, who managed to dupe Hannah and her daughters into believing he could build them a time machine!

A few weeks ago Judy arranged for two Courtoy descendants (one of whom was American) to visit Hannah Peters’ mausoleum in Brompton Cemetery. Raymond Godson was able to join them, and this photograph was taken there. Judy would have loved to be there too!

Looking up the 1841 census a minute ago, Hannah 'Coventry' age 40, is listed at Wilton Crescent with daughters, Mary & Elizabeth (both 21). The surname had been amended to Courtoy by a Courtoy descendant who has a public tree at Ancestry. You may like to get in touch with her. She has the baptism of Elizabeth as 31 Jan 1804 at St Martin in the Fields with a birth date of 5 Oct 1803.

Hi Annie, I hope that you are still on this topic after all this time. I am descended from John Courtoy aka Nicolas Jacquinet. I have picked up the early work of Judy Jerkins and sought to add to this where I could with further evidence and facts. The interesting baptisms of the "daughters" of Hannah Peters and John Courtoy are that they are all registered with both surnames e.g. Mary BBD of John COURTOY & Hannah PETERS. I have taken the initials BBD to mean Base Born Daughter (i.e. out of marriage). The entries in IGI are mnot always accurately made having been created for a different reason than genealogical research. The relevant register entries for the 3 baptisms are timely made - there was some thought that they were added after the fact though my visit to Westminster Archives dispelled this. I would like to make contact with you and share further information. Regards Cefyn Grafton

I am new to this forum so please excuse any naivety on my part. I am researching the life of John Courtoy, who was a wig maker living in 18th/19th century London. He was reported to be the father of three children born to Hannah Peters, who was over fifty years his junior. Although a wig maker he amassed a huge fortune during his lifetime making him one of the one hundred richest people in England at the beginning of the 19th century.

I am interested to learn of Hannah Peters early life. She was born around 1782 and died in 1848. She had a brother John and a sister Ann who married a William Austin; they had two children named William and Henry. I know nothing else about Hannah's early life but would welcome any information people may have.

Annie. :rolleyes:

Mary and Sheena,

Thank you so much for your researches which have helped a great deal. I am going to follow up these leads to try to learn more about Hannah's early life, which is my primary area of interest.

As I said earlier I already know a great deal about her life with John Courtoy and more importantly perhaps the aftermath. I have found a great deal of material, including proceedings in the Court of Chancery, Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Old Bailey, even information from Fleet Prison. I also have access to letters and Journals written at the time that provide direct information about the family in the years 1817/1818.

I know John Courtoy (then known as Nicholas Jacquinet) was born in 1727 in Jussey, France. With your help I hope to unearth Hannah's origins too.

Again, thank you both so much.

Annie.(Clavaret)

All I have on Hannah is that her parents were likely to be John & Hannah. Their children Hannah and Ann were baptised at St James, Westminster (IGI sources) 1781 & 1779 respectively. Ann married William AUSTIN - this supports the names in the Will of Hannah. There is also supposedly a brother of Hannah/Ann - John - though no details.

"Nearly fifty years after first coming to England John Courtoy, now seventy-one years of age and with the reputation for being a notorious miser, could be counted among the richest men in England. It was at this point in his life that he came to employ a housekeeper by the name of Hannah Peters. Hannah left home in 1799 to escape a drunken and often abusive father. With help from her sister Ann, she first found employment as a scullion working for Charles ‘Prince’ Boothby, a renowned rake and chronic gambler. When in 1800 under the weight of overwhelming debt Boothby committed suicide, Hannah was forced to seek alternative employment. She worked first in a tavern, then as a housekeeper for John Courtoy. She was barely twenty years of age when she took up her post in John Courtoy’s home. Within the space of six years she gave birth to three daughters; Mary, Elizabeth and Susannah. Each was baptised with the Courtoy name." d.godson - The Fortune of a Dying Miser