Becoming Hervey

At the core of Holmesian deduction is the tenet, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". I'm not sure to what extent this can be applied by the family historian but in searching for Pierre d'Aigueville it might provide just the tail of clew.

The name Hervey is of such significance that it becomes an heirloom and is handed down from generation to generation within all branches of the family. Prothero's footnote offers an explanation of why the name is fossilised in parish registers from the late eighteenth century onwards. However, this is supported by no other evidence.

In discovering the significance of the name Hervey a great many questions about Pierre d'Aigueville will also be answered. This therefore becomes a valid research target in its own right.

It is almost possible to eliminate the name as a connection of Sophia Anselme. It certainly doesn't occur among the Gravillons and the Rats. It isn't obvious among the Anselmes  and doesn't occur among those that have so far been discovered.

Therefore we can be sure that if it is either a baptismal name or a surname then it originates within Pierre d'Agueville's family. It is helpful to consider some other artists from the French theatre who took the name Hervey and to discuss their motivations.

Madame Hervey was born at Boissy sous Saint Yon in 1778, and is therefore a contemporary of James Harvey d'Egville. At the age of 14 she was sent to become an apprentice in Paris and became stagestruck. She maybe didn't need too much persuasion to go to Marseille with an old actor where she launched her career in 1797.

Like Pierre d'Aigueville she performed at Lyon and Bordeaux before returning to the Vaudeville and the Comédie Française in Paris. She adopted the name Hervey as her mother's name was Hervet - her surname was Moreau de Comagni. The is a bit of a mouthful if one wants to be remembered and it would have been put into very small print when fitted into one of the tiny playbills that appear in the newspapers.
Hervé (1825-1892) started out life as Louis Auguste Florimond Ronger. His musical promise was early recognised and he was enrolled at the Conservatoire. By the age of 15 he was organist at the Bicêtre Hospital and was singing in provincial theatres. Hervé is credited with creating the genre of operetta; as conductor at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal he rapidly became established as a successful composer.

Today he is little remembered while the reputation of his rival, Jacques Offenbach, endures. Unlike Madame Hervey, Ronger did not choose his sobriquet himself; Ronger was offered the name by one of his pupils, the Marquis d'Hervé.

Obviously, Pierre d'Aigueville flourished before either of these two examples found fame. So if the name was taken as a homage to somebody in his background then we must look further back in time. If Hervey were not his true family name then it is unlikely to be that of his mother's family unless they were of some consequence. Names were frequently repeated among the members of the succeeding generation at this time - partly because many children did not survive until adulthood - but to name every child in the next generation after ones mother seems obsessional.

In 1643 Jean Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673) joined the Béjart family in L’Illustre Théâtre and became co-manager with Madeleine Béjart. Even Madeleine's mother Marie was part of the company. Madeleine's sister, Geneviève, performed under her mother's maiden name - at least she was distinguishable from her siblings - and the name that she took was Hervé. Poquelin married one of the other sisters, Armande, although the marriage seems not to have been so blissful as the relationship he enjoyed with his muse Madeleine. Poquelin is also known by a sobriquet; Molière. If one were to fossilise a connection perhaps it might a connection such as this? Or it might just be that Pierre loved his mother.

Armande Béjart

Marie Hervé (1593-1670) was the daughter of Jacques Hervé, a mercier of Château Thierry (département de l'Aisne). The archives départementales are digitised and online - the link appears in the top right of this site.