Question--Josette's first appearance?

[Julia99]

When Josette's ghost first appears . .in b&w . .is she Josette DuPres or Josette Collins?

[BuzzH]

When Josette's ghost first appears . .in b&w . .is she Josette DuPres or Josette Collins?

Do you mean that wonderful scene where she's [spoiler]dancing around outside the Old House at night after stepping out of her portrait?[/spoiler]That ranks up there as my favorite 'ghost' scene ever on DS!  It was so wonderfully creepy and spooky.

I think she was Collins wasn't she?  Because it had been established she was Jeremiah's widow.  But it's been a while since I've seen the pre-Barnabas eps, and apparently it will be a LONG time until I see them again.  But that's a story for another board/thread!   

[Gothick]

It was episode 70.  Her maiden name was not du Pres originally--I've been wanting to look this up for you. It was something like Franiere, I think?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Her maiden name was not du Pres originally--I've been wanting to look this up for you. It was something like Franiere, I think?

Yes, she's referred to as Josette LaFreniere in Ep #45. What a surprise that later writers didn't realize that. 

[Gothick]

Thanks, MB!

Apart from that episode, she was pretty much invariably called Josette Collins in the '66/'67 shows.  I don't think we found out she was originally Josette du Pres until the 1795 storyline.

G.

[Julia99]

muchas gracias . . .

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting, I didn't remember that Josette was given a different surname before either Collins or DuPres.  Since I've been researching French names in my own ancestry recently, I looked up Lafreniƒ¨re, and it might best be translated as "Ashwood."  A rather pretty yet melancholy name, at least with the English connotation of "ash."

The only other French surname I recall being mentioned on the show is Cordier, which means a rope maker.  The name is most usually found in the north and NE of France, where my own ancestors lived.  (I found the record of a sale made by one of my great grandmothers in the early 1600s of a hemp field - hemp being the source of rope, of course.)

Also, in the area where my ancestors lived, the surname COLLIN is found.  The name is a diminutive of the first name "Nicolas," which was one of the most frequent men's names used in this region.  Collins is the English equivalent, but I haven't looked into the etymology of English surnames so I don't know if there is a connection between the French name COLLIN and the English name Collins.

-Vlad

[Philippe Cordier]

Looks like I forgot a few significant French surnames:

Dupre :  Refers to someone owning or living close to a meadow.

Bouchard :  Like many French surnames, this one is of Frankish (Germanic) origin, though what I would call "Frenchified."  The Germanic original of the name, according to my handy guide, is "Burchard" ("Burkhardt" would be another form, I think.) The name is found frequently in Burgundy.

[arashi]

Interesting, I didn't remember that Josette was given a different surname before either Collins or DuPres.  Since I've been researching French names in my own ancestry recently, I looked up Lafreniƒ¨re, and it might best be translated as "Ashwood."  A rather pretty yet melancholy name, at least with the English connotation of "ash."

The only other French surname I recall being mentioned on the show is Cordier, which means a rope maker.  The name is most usually found in the north and NE of France, where my own ancestors lived.  (I found the record of a sale made by one of my great grandmothers in the early 1600s of a hemp field - hemp being the source of rope, of course.)

Also, in the area where my ancestors lived, the surname COLLIN is found.  The name is a diminutive of the first name "Nicolas," which was one of the most frequent men's names used in this region.  Collins is the English equivalent, but I haven't looked into the etymology of English surnames so I don't know if there is a connection between the French name COLLIN and the English name Collins.

My family came from France as well Vlad. My great uncle traced the family back to Etienne Pellerin b. 1647 in St Etienne de Bacilly, near Avranches, Normandie, France. He migrated to Port Royal, Acadia, Nova Scotia around 1678. From what I've read Pellerin means pilgrim in old french, but I'm not too sure.

[michael c]

it really is interesting how josette(or at least her ghost)was firmly established as a character almost from the very begining.certainly way before barnabas collins ever was.

as far as last names go they use angelique's(bouchard)so infrequently that it's easy to forget that she ever had one.i don't remember anyone ever directly calling her by that name and certainly not "miss bouchard".was it common for household servants to be refered to only by thier first name in the eighteenth century?

even in the credits she's billed as "lara parker as angelique..."(unless of course she's appearing under one of her many guises).

the credits only seemed to give some special billing to three actors:joan bennett,jonathan frid and alexandra moltke.

was anyone else ever given a "special guest star" type credit?

[Philippe Cordier]

It's great you were able to locate your family's origins, Arashi!  There are many French-Canadian names in my hometown, including Pellerin!  (I only have a portion of French descent, but it's my direct line; my family members didn't come by way of Canada but directly from Lorraine in 1872.)  I'll message you on what I found on the origin of your name.

as far as last names go they use angelique's(bouchard)so infrequently that it's easy to forget that she ever had one.i don't remember anyone ever directly calling her by that name and certainly not "miss bouchard".was it common for household servants to be refered to only by thier first name in the eighteenth century?

If books and movies are to be trusted, servants were often called by their first names.  This is getting my mind working again on Angelique's origins, but that could be the subject for another thread.

Wonder why the change in names from Josette LaFreniere to Josette Dupres (easier pronunication?).  And actually, I guess the name I found wasn't Dupres but Dupre.  Pronunciation would be the same so I think one is probably a variant of the other.

[arashi]

I think it's interesting in the first few episodes of 1795 they have Angelique and Josette converse a bit in French but then dropped it later. Would Angelique as a servant be as well versed in English as she was?

[michael c]

I think it's interesting in the first few episodes of 1795 they have Angelique and Josette converse a bit in French but then dropped it later. Would Angelique as a servant be as well versed in English as she was?

arashi,

i don't know if you've seen the pre-barnabas episodes but during the laura collins storyline they conduct a seance(the show's first)and vicki goes into a trance and becomes possessed by the spirit of josette collins.here the spirit only speaks in french.

an absolutely awsome scene.

[arashi]

I haven't seen those episodes, and didn't know that! I look forward to seeing it when they hit DVD.