22 July 2011

Gaspar Weiss

I am constantly surprised at the amount of interest my post on Jean Gaspard Weiss has generated. I have a regular reader from Mulhouse, France, and also someone from Huddersfield, England who seems very interested in the extended Weiss family too. Do say hello people! Are you relatives? Researching forgotten flautists and composers?

In my post on Jean Gaspard Weiss I mentioned he had a son Gaspar/Gasper Weiss, born 12 September 1777. Gaspar was baptised at St Marylebone, London, on 12 October 1777. We know very little about Gaspar so I will draw together all the information I have found on him.

Gaspar next appears in 1846 (aged 69), when a music selling partnership he and his brother Willoughby had in Liverpool was dissolved. In 1847 he appears to have performed in a concert in Chester, though exactly how or what he performed is unclear.

In June 1848 Gaspar Weiss was declared bankrupt. He was noted as a music seller from Liverpool. In July 1848 there was a sale of all the stock of Mr Gasper Weiss, Pianoforte and Music Seller, at the premises of his shop, 3 Church St (interestingly his brother Willoughby's shop was at 2 Church St), to liquidate his assets. On August 25, 1848 he was to be granted a certificate, unless cause was shown to the contrary. On September 19, 1848 the certificate was to be confirmed by the Vice Chancellor. Dividends were payed out, until the apparent final one on December 12, 1850.

And that is all we know of Gaspar Weiss. Did he marry? Have children? When did he die? Where was he between his birth and aged 69 - I certainly haven't been able to find him in the 1841 England Census. We must presume that he went to France with his father when Jean Gaspard returned to Mulhouse - he would have only been a boy at the time. As for the answers to all these questions, I can't see us ever knowing!

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