Sunday, February 22, 2009

Mapping the Amazon River

When Henri climbed into a long canoe at Chasuta, Peru he began his trip down the Amazon river until it emptied into the Atlantic. Along with spending his time making journal entries, he also mapped the river. The following scan is a small part of his work. I have also included a Google map image of roughly the same area.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Le Château de Vaumarcus

The castle of Vaumarcus in the canton of Neuchâtel was the birthplace of Henri and of his ancestors.






































1859 Painting and Undated Photo of Henri

The castle of Vaumarcus can be seen in the painting as it is viewed from the ravine. The painting is by Swiss artist Rodolphe Léon-Berthoud (1822-1892).

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Henri's Parents

Portraits of Catherine de Senarclens and Albert de Buren, Baron de Vaumarcus.


Interesting Historical Tidbit:
Catherine's Brother was Baron August de Senarclens de Grancy.

He became Grand Master of stables of the Grand Duke of Hesse, Major General, Knight of Honor and Devotion in the Order of Malta. It is also likely that he was the biological father of four of his employer's wife's children and, thus, an ancestor of the current King of Spain and the current heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom.

Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, bought the area of Heiligenberg near Jugenheim in 1820 for his chamberlain, Senarclens de Grancy, to live, and after the acquisition Grand Duchess WilhelminaTsar Nicholas I and Queen Victoria. no longer lived with her spouse. Senarclens's identity as the father of the later children of Wilhelmina of Baden was strongly suspected: correspondence detailing this involved many government ministers, ambassadors and sovereigns.

By Wilhelmina, he is believed to have fathered four children:

* Infant (b&d 1820)
* Princess Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt (1821-1826)
* Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt (1823-1888)
* Princess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt (1824-1880)

Alexander and Marie were the only two to survive childhood and were deemed to be the legal children of Wilhelmina's husband, Grand Duke Louis II. They are ancestors of the later Tsars of Russia, as well as the Battenbergs (now known as the Mountbattens).

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