My name is Sylvia Leach and I have been researching my family history for over 15 years now. The name of Villeneuve is my mother’s maiden name, and I have chosen the paternal line as this is an interesting story.

My initial research has been to study the Villeneuve name in London as there were only two families in Victorian times, my own and one other. I have also been researching the Villeneuve name in Berlin in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. My ancestors were French Huguenots who went to live in Berlin and stayed there for generations. My Great Grandfather came to London via the USA. So far, I have been able to trace ancestors back to the 1500’s in the Languedoc region.

New research has enabled me to find out where the family lived through the Berlin Address book, dating from 1818 to 1847 with descriptions of the local areas where they resided.

I am also interested in the young men with the surname of Villeneuve who fought and died in the Great War, as there are a number of records for those who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as the largest distribution of the name Villeneuve is in Canada. This will form part of the study with an international focus.

A book about one of my ancestors, Arthur Villeneuve who died in the Great War, has now been published by Writing the Past, and is entitled 'The Young Man in the Photograph'.

Copies of the book have been given to libraries/archives where Arthur lived. These are Northampton, Pontypridd, and Southwark. Copies have also been donated to the Welsh Guards Museum and the Flanders Field Museum.  

Villeneufue, de Villeneuve, de Villeneufue, de Villenove, de Villenuev, de Villeneufe,

de Villanova,Villanova  -

The Spanish version of the name is Villaneuva.

There is also a primary spelling of Vilneuve.

The Villeneuve name originates in Provence in the south of France, which is where my Grandfather’s family originally came from.

The name of Villeneuve is ‘Habitational or Topographical’. The reference is taken from names of towns, villages, and farmsteads, most of which existed before surnames were commonplace. The meaning of Villeneuve is – ‘Dweller on the new farm’ which would mean that people would know where the family lived, although the exact translation is ‘new town’.

There are several towns in France with the name of Villeneuve.

De Villeneuve was the surname of Admiral Pierre Villeneuve, captain of the French fleet at the battle of Trafalgar.

There were Knights that travelled to Malta between 1555-1797.  The name of ‘Villeneuve’ is listed amongst the Knights from Provence, and these are:

de Villeneuve, de Villeneufe, de Villenuv, de Villenove and de Villanova, as well as Villeneufue. The ‘de’ denoted people of noble birth.  

I am also including another variant of -

Villanova Villevielle

This was the name of several Knights who were buried in St John’s Cathedral, Valletta, and Villanova is the Latin version of the name written on the monumental tombs, as well as on the list of travellers. The English translation for Villevielle is old town and was also used by some people for the surname of Villeneuve when Latin was written. It may be that Villevielle is used to distinguish one generation from another, as we use ‘Senior’ after an older person’s surname.  In France they use the term ‘Old’.

In the UK 1881 Census there were 13 people with the surname of Villeneuve. This equates to 2 families who lived in London, one of which is mine, and the total number of people in the UK with this surname. A visit to The National Archives enabled me to view the Naturalisation document for the father of the other family.

In 2014, there were over 28,000 people with the surname of Villeneuve. In Canada there were over 19,000 people, with most of them living in Quebec, followed by Ontario. In France there were over 6,000 people and then the USA at over 2,200.  

The study is in its infancy and only includes:

Baptisms

Births

Marriages

Burials

There is no DNA project associated with this One-Name-Study.