Dear Clive,
Thank you for your interest.
Well, essentially I would dearly love to know the name of my grandmother. I do not know when she was born but as I have already mentioned she was killed shortly after my mother was born (so 1943 - 1944). It was a road accident involving an army truck and it occured outside a church in Mahé. My mother clearly has no recollection of her, and no one ever talked to her about it.
I have tried to look for death records on the internet, but unfortunately it doesn't seem that this facility exists yet. I would like to write to a records office in the Seychelles, however I thought I could try this website first to slightly improve my chances which are currently minimal!
I do know that my grandfather was a fisherman and he owned either Cousin or Cousine before selling it to emigrate to Australia in the early 70s. Also I do not believe that my grandmother and grandfather were married as his name is Payet and my mother's maiden name was Esther. Are there any other Esthers out there who may be able to shed some light on this?


Kind regards, Alison

Allison

I will see if I can locate the birth record for your grandmother. To recap her surname was Esther and was born in the early 1940's. If her birth record can be found it will list her mothers name.

In your first post you mentioned your grandfather might still be alive but he emigrated to Australia so will not be in Seychelles now. Is this correct.

The Esther surname is originally from Praslin. The Payet family is a large family.

Clive

Dear Clive,
Many thanks for your speedy response!
It would be wonderful if you could locate my mother's birth record as this may have my grandmother's name on it. Yes, my mother was born in the early 1940s, and my grandmother was killed shortly afterwards. Charles Payet (my grandfather) is now in Australia and is in his 80s. Very interesting to hear that Esther is a common name in Praslin. That is where my mother and her older brother Walter were born. When she was taken away to be cared for, she spent most of her time in Mahé.

I do wonder though whether there would be a birth certificate for VICTORY MAY PEARL ESTHER, as the "VICTORY" and the "May" were given to her by the people who cared for her - namely Grace Durope, a missionary. The "VICTORY" was a celebration of VICTORY in Europe, because my mother came to them in around that time. "May" was from Grace Durope's sister, who was called May. In all honesty, my mother hates the name VICTORY, as it is so unusual and people comment on it. Needless to say she has shortened it to Vicky!

Incidently, I see that you have done some research on the Morel family. My mother used to have a pen-pal called Charles Morel, who would have been around the same age as her. I remember seeing a photo of him sitting at a school desk. It was a black and white photo, but I remember that he had dark hair. However, I don't know where he lived.

Anyway, thank you in advance for anything that you can find out. I appreciate that there is a slim chance, but it would be wonderful if a name could be found for my grandmother.

Kind regards,
Alison

Hi Allison

Managed to get to the archives today and found the birth entry record for your grandmother, Victory Pearl May Esther. She was born on 24th May 1943 at Grand Anse Praslin. Her mothers name was Angeline Esther.

As the archives did not have the record I obtained the short birth certificate from the Civil Status Office. I am sending a scan of the certificate to you by separate email. If you will like the original certificate please email me a postal address and I will be happy to drop it into the post.

Hope this is of help.

Clive