Over the years, I have received a number of requests for Felix Vobaron’s dates. Until recently, I have been unable to provide anything more detailed than ‘sometime around 1800-1850’. However, thanks to some class act sleuthing by trombonist Michael Shirley, we now have our answer!
Félix Joseph Francois Vobaron (1791-1848)
Félix Joseph Francois Vobaron was born on the 23rd of July, 1791, in Vienne, Isere, in southern France (just south of Lyon) to Georges and Rosine Franck Vobaron.
In 1814-1815, he served in the French army (29th line infantry regiment), listed as a ‘Musicien’. In Grande Methode de Trombonne, he lists this experience as the inspiration for his studies and attempts to expand the capabilities of the trombone, describing the trombonists in the French Army as skilled but stuck playing relatively simple music.
In 1815, Félix also married his first wife, Marie Reine Philippine Joseph Deugeugnies.
Félix had two children, Emile Gustave Vobaron, who would go on to become a “major trumpet in the 4th regiment of dragoons, garrisoned in Belfort in 1851”, and Edmond Vobaron (born 19th of February, 1816), who like his father was a professor of music and wrote several books for and about the trombone.
Around 1833-1834, Félix taught the provisional trombone course at the Royal Conservatory of Music, under Cherubini, to whom Grande Methode de Trombonne is dedicated. Prior to the publication of Grande Methode de Trombonne (thought to be published in conjunction with the course), Félix was, by his own account, part of the Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux and Beaux-Arts of Gand, and a member of the Royal Academy of Music.
Félix Vobaron ultimately died on the 22nd of April, 1848, in Carcassonne (where Edmond Vobaron is believed to have lived and gotten married), though it appears he resided in Saumur, where he formerly served as ‘Chef de Musique’ at the cavalry school there (we know he had left that post by 1846, when his Methode d’Ophicleide Basse was published).
We have also confirmed a few suspicions:
- Félix did indeed serve in the French Army.
- Edmond Vobaron is indeed Félix’s son.
We have also had some interesting findings as well:
- Félix died in 1848, earlier than we suspected. This may mean some works attributed to him are posthumous, or attributed in error.
- Félix had two sons, Edmond and Emile. Thus it is important to distinguish who wrote a piece if written by ‘E. Vobaron’. So far, we think Edmond played trombone while Emile played trumpet.
An enormous and well-deserved thanks goes to Michael Shirley for uncovering this information. A week ago none of this was known and in that time, he not only found half a dozen sources, but personally reached out to confirm with some descendants/relatives much of this information. You can view in detail all of the sources we used below.
Sources
In the process of uncovering this information, Mike found several sources which corroborated to form our understanding:
Félix Vobaron’s military record provides us with the time he was in the military, as well as his place of birth, parents, and date of birth.
A digitized marriage record for Félix and Marie Reine was located.
Two family trees incorporating Felix were discovered, here, and here. One has his death date and the other his birth date, both in agreement with our findings. There are listed descendants and relatives of the family.
Edmond Vobaron’s marriage certificate may be viewed in full as what seems to be part of a digitized microfilm, on Page 35 here. The marriage certificate notes that Felix Vobaron was deceased at the time of the marriage, which we believe to be August 11, 1848.
Finally, we are indebted to two descendants/relatives of the Vobarons, who have created the trees above while exploring their heritages and also provided us with two written accounts regarding the family and their findings, Dominique Chassignet, and Danielle Dufaud. The translated transcripts of Mike’s conversations with them are below.
Hello,
To answer your questions I have Vobarons in my genealogy because my great-grandmother is a Bouchez. In my region this name originates from the village “Le Salbert”, a village in which I also reside (since merged with Evette to give Evette-Salbert). It is for this reason that I deepened my research on the Bouchez living here. Marie Gertrude Thérèse Bouchez therefore appears as the wife of Emile Gustave Vobaron. I suppose they must have met in this sector since Emile Gustave Vobaron was “major trumpet in the 4th regiment of dragoons, garrisoned in Belfort in 1851”, Belfort being a commune near Salbert where Marie Gertrude Thérèse Bouchez resided. I have little other information about the Vobarons.
On the other hand, I still looked towards Edmond Auguste to discover that he had married a Claire Soulens on 8 but 1848 in Carcassonne (11) and therefore that he had for parents Félix Joseph François Vobaron and Reine Philippine Joséphine de GHEUNIES, and was the brother of Emile Gustave. The marriage certificate can be viewed here: https://mdr.aude.fr/mdr_aude/index.php/docnumViewer/calculHierarchieDocNum/536222/504933:540566:540579:540581:536222/0/0, page 39/113 This answers your question on the link between Félix Joseph François and Edmond Auguste. You will find some information on the Vobarons by going to the geneanet / roxanedu, which is a descendant, here: https://gw.geneanet.org/roxanedu?lang=fr&pz=gaelle+tifany&nz=dufaud&p=francois+georges&n=vobaron
Best regards Dominique Chassignet
Dominique Chassignet, via e-mail, July 2021. Translated into English from original French.
Hello, I found a Félix Joseph Francois Vobaron born on 23/7/1791 in Vienne (isere france) music teacher. He died on 4/22/1848 in Carcassonne France at the age of 57 but he lived in Saumur (Maine et Loire) he married DEGHEUGINIES Marie Reine as a first wedding, then with Delahaye Adèle as a second wedding. Felix has a son Edmond Auguste born on 19/2/1816 in Viennes (France)
cordially Danielle Dufaud
Danielle Dufaud, via e-mail, July 2021. Translated into English from original French.
The Vobaron Project 