British citizens in Morocco 19th century?

Question

I know that my grandfather's grandfather lived in Safi in Morocco in the 19th century. I don't know his name at all, but I do know his wife's given (first) name. I also know that he was British - either born in Morocco or immigrated to Morocco. They were most likely Jews and he was a shop owner in Safi.

How would you go about looking into British records of citizens living abroad in those days? It would be best to find business records or marriage records.

As I'm Israeli, it's difficult to visit Morocco to find answers, so I'm hoping to find answers through foreign governments. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, Safi was under French rule at the time - would the French have any records of British/Jewish citizens?

Answer 1

If he was indeed a British citizen then any marriage might (but might not) have been registered with the local British consulate in which case you ought to find the marriage in the consular marriage index. FindMyPast seem to have two different databases for that index:

• British Nationals Married Overseas 1818-2005
• British Overseas Marriages

If you do find an entry there then you can order the certificate from the GRO in the normal way - just make sure you choose the marriage option from the "overseas events" section, not the normal marriage option.

If they had children while overseas then there is an equivalent index for births which were registered with the consulate, which you can find as British Nationals Born Overseas 1818-2005 on FindMyPast.