Stéphanie Jorelle married to my great grandfather Percy Albert Sinnett Smith. While her father's name is well documented, the name of her mother remains unknown. Based on what we know today, her mother should be Charlotte Durighello. However, the circumstances of Charlotte's life speak a different story.

Charlotte Marie Victoire Durighello, the supposed mother of Stéphanie Jorelle,  is one of tour most mysterious people in our family tree, even though, as contradictory it may sound,  we do know quite a lot about her life. Charlotte was born November 24th, 1809 to the Chevalier Angelo Illustrisimo Durighello and his wife Marie Eugénie Celeste Vailhen in Aleppo, Syria. Her father Angelo Durighello was one of the weathiest merchants in the then booming Syrian town. He was born into a highstanding Venetian family and as a prominant citizan, was appointed consule of Spain, France and the United States. His wife Celeste was the daughter of Charlotte van Masseyk, herself a descendant of a Mennonite family and Thomas Vailhen, another wealthy merchant and agent from Marseille and Berre d'Etange.

Charlotte Durighello married young. Her first husband was Jean Derché, Drogman to the French Embassy, who died shortly after their marriage, leaving her behind as a young widow at 17 years of age with a baby son, Alexander Ange Joseph. At the age of 20 Charlotte married Derché's successor, Félix Guilliume Jorelle, originally from Paris and Méry-sur-Oise. Between 1839 and 1842 the couple moved to Alexandria, Egypt, where Félix was made vice-consule of the French Embassy. After Félix's untimely death in 1859 in Alexandria, Charlotte married a third time, less than a month after her husband's demise in Scontland. Her third husband was the polish-born army surgeon Gustave Adolphe Haage, who was stationed in Cairo for some time. Gustave died in 1874 in Paris, Charlotte a year later in 1875.

It is here where the mystery begins: My great grandmother was Stéphanie Jorelle, the daughter of Félix Guilliume Jorelle, as family lore tells us ("daughter of a French diplomat") and her marriage document confirms. Stéphanie was born around 1853 in Alexandria. Unfortunately birth documents don't exist or couldn't be obtained for now, so we don't known her mother's name. As Charlotte was most probably still married to Félix in 1853, it should be Charlotte. We have no records of a divorce.

Félix and Charlotte had a son named Ange Francois Jorelle. He was born 1830, one year after their marriage. According to different sources, Félix probably had at least one more child next to Stéphanie  born in Alexandria -  Richard. We do know Richard Jorelle was Alexandrian-born from a newspaper article but we have no official proof for his parentage. However, there was no other Jorelle family in Egypt at the time, so Félix is the most likely candidate as a father. Another family historian claims there was another son, Guillaume, who worked for a maritime company in Suez and "returned" to France after a severe illness. However, this Guillaume may not be the son, but rather the grandson of Félix, born to Ange and his wife Pauline Vailhen in 1861.

Gustave Haage, Charlotte's third husband, had two daughters, Emilie born in 1841 and Julie born in 1845 in Alexandria, around the time Félix and Charlotte moved to Egypt. On the marriage documents of the two girls, Charlotte Durighello is listed as their mother. In Emilie's marriage document it is however noted, that Charlotte's name and the name on the birth certificate differ. The explanation for this was, that due to an event not described in detail, it had not been possible to enter the proper name of the mother at the time of birth. This leaves two options open: the girl(s) had another mother or Charlotte was the mother and a fake name was entered to protect her identity. If this is true, it would mean, Charlotte had an affair with Gustave Haage as early as 1840 and maybe Félix and Charlotte made an agreement for each to live their own lives, including children born out-of-wedlock. Not unusual for the times.  The choice of names for the two girls, Emélie Jeanne Angéline and Julie Sophie Céleste suggest, that Charlotte is indeed their mother. In Emilie's case, Angeline as the female form for Angelo, Charlotte's father combined with Jeanne, the female form of Jean, Gustave's father.  In Julie's case, Céleste is Carlottes mother's name and Sophie the name of Gustave's mother. But who is Stéphanie's mother in that case ...?

Ange Guillaume's mother-in-law,  Félicité Augustine Madeleine Geoffroy, wife of Charlotte's uncle Alexandre Marc Antoine Marie Vailhen, gave birth to a  son Jules Félix Richard in 1850 and a daughter named Stéphanie Marie Antoinette in 1853. Alexandre was 20 years older than Félicité. The last trace of him is the birth of Pauline Vailhen in 1836 in Tarsus, Turkey today. Félicité had at least two further children, next to Pauline, Richard and Stéphanie - Zoé Sophie Antoinette and Marie Victoire. The birth year of Félicité's daughter Stéphanie coincides with the birth year of my great grandmother. Félicité's husband is not named as the father on the birth certificates of Zoé Sophie Antoinette, Jules Félix Richard or Stéphanie Marie Antoinette. All three children seem to have been given the surname Vailhen. Birth documents for Marie Victoire are missing.  The naming of Richard and Stéphanie could reflect a connection between both families as,my great aunt, daughter of my great grandmother Stéphanie, was named Marie Antoinette. A coincidence? And does this mean, that Charlotte wasn't the only philanderer in the family, but so were Félix and Félicité? If yes, then we don't descend from Charlotte but from Félicité. If this is true, when did Félix and Charlotte seperate? And how many children did Félix have  with Félicité?  An interesting thought, worth to be pursued ...