A 2009 article appearing in the Telegraph (UK) tells the story of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's great-grandfather, a WWI hero and Legion d'honneur recipient born in the eastern French village of Ordonnaz in 1878.¹ In actuality, it appears that two different men named Louis Volant, both French WWI veterans born within a year of one another, and both who died in France in 1949, were confused. J.K.


Rowling, however, has much to be proud of in her French ancestry, including a line of hard-working single mothers, several of whom lost their husbands before their time.

While J.K. Rowling's ancestry is primarily English, with a bit of Scottish thrown in, her maternal great-grandfather, Louis Volant, was born in Paris's 10th arrondissement as Louis Schuch on 30 July 1877 to unwed mother, Salomé Schuch.² Five years after his birth, his mother and father, Louis Pierre Volant, finally married in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, officially legitimizing the four sons previously born to the couple:³

• Louis Schuch born 30 July 1877 in Paris, Île-de-France, France
  
• Gabriel Jean Volant born 24 Dec 1878 in Paris, Île-de-France, France⁴
  
• Adolphe Charles Volant born 21 February 1880 in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France⁵
  
• Gaston Lucien Volant born 17 March 1881 in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France⁶

A fifth child, daughter Helene Salomé Volant, was also born to the couple on 16 August 1882 in Levallois-Perret.⁷ How the two young people from opposite sides of the country both ended up in Paris, where they met and had five children together prior to getting married, must be quite a story in itself.

After growing up in Levallois-Perret, Louis Volant returned to central Paris, residing at 27 Rue Milton in the 9th arrondissement by 1897 and working as a waiter. He and his future wife, Eliza Mary Ann Smith, the daughter of boatman Henry Smith and Elizabeth Hunter, posted their marriage banns in Paris in December 1899, prior to marrying in Gorleston, Norfolk, England on 22 January 1900.⁸ The couple then settled in the Seymour Buildings in St. Marylebone, London, and Louis found work as a waiter (head wine waiter by 1903), first at the Café Royal, and later at the prestigious Savoy hotel.⁹ While living in St. Marylebone, the couple had four children:

• Marcel Volant born 25 Apr 1901 in London; baptized 26 June 1901 in St. Mary's Church, St. Marylebone, London; and died in Middlesex in 1974.¹⁰
  
• Gladys Marion Volant born 24 October 1903 in London; baptized 27 December 1903 in St. Mark's Church, St. Marylebone, London; and died in North London in 1981.¹¹
  
• Ivy Florence Volant born in 1905 in St. Marylebone, London.¹²
  
• Stanley George Volant (J.K. Rowling's grandfather) born 23 Jun 1909 in St. Marylebone, London; married Louisa Caroline Watts "Freda" Smith (born 6 May 1916 in Islington; died 1997 in North London) on 12 March 1938 in All Saints Church, London, England. Stanley died in London in 1977.¹³

When World War I began, Louis Volant, who had registered as required for the French military in Paris in 1897 and was still a member of the Territorial Reserve, returned to France to fight for his country.¹⁴ Following the Armistice, he apparently returned to England and resumed his work as a waiter at the famous Savoy hotel in London, selected in 1921 to serve a special luncheon to a party aboard a Goliath of the Grand Express Aeriens (a forerunner of Air France) en route from Le Bourget airport in Paris to London. The manager of the Grand Express Aeriens took a special shine to Louis because they had both served in the trenches in the same regiment of the French Army during World War I.¹⁵ At some point after this, however, Louis Volant returned to France, while still remaining in contact with his wife and children. He died in Maisons-Laffitte, Yvelines, France, a suburb of Paris, on 17 September 1949.¹⁶

Next Page > The Volant & Schuch Families