Welcome to the Ochanoff, Goilov, Fiechter, Ferran, Persohn, Graham & Co. "family roots" web site!

This web site started with the genealogy of  my Grand mother Marie Fiechter, born Countess Ochanoff - Goilov in 1895 in Leova, Bessarabia, Russia (a small town now in the Republic of Moldova) and our family expedition to Moldova in 2004 in search of  her ancestors. We only had five names to go by: Ochanoff (Ohanov), Goilov (Goilav), Buiucliu (Buikliu), Von Prunkul and Lebedeff (Lebedev).

Things quickly got out of control as more ancestors were discovered, descendants and consorts were added ( I regret to admit, I lost count of my grand-nephews and  2nd cousins! ).

I apologise for mistakes & omissions, please send me some feedback... I also apologise for writing it in English, I might translate it into French one day.

Our family is spread all around the world, but we do keep in touch. This must be a side effect of the strong Armenian connection we just discovered! I hope this web site will not only help keep us together, but also help us finding long lost cousins.

The "expedition" to Moldova was great; Everywhere we went, we were entertained like royalty by people who could ill afford to. I hope one day we can reciprocate their hospitality, and do something to help a few children out of their post-communist, mafia induced misery. Not as easy as it sounds...

I sincerely hope you will enjoy browsing through this site just as much as I enjoyed building it.

Monchique, July 8th, 2004

Dr. Jean Ferran

UPDATES

July 2026: Due to privacy concerns, the website has now been split and the living people have been blanked; If you wish to access the full data, please send me an e-mail stating your interest at ferran@monchique.com and I will grant you access.

March 2026: Added an article from the Armenian genealogy society about the Ochanoff family in Bessarabia. The original is in Russian, but I made a Traduction in French...  and in English

January 2026: General update on the Ferran-Graham data. A few bits and pieces gathered since the last update...

April 2025: The website has moved to a new address:   

November 2024: A long awaited full update of the all of the Ferran / Persohn line, thanks to François Ferran who has compiled al the information from our father's dossiers and completed and confirmed it through his own research! Thank you François for all the hard work.

August 2024: No, I'm not dead yet, just lazy... Another update of the "All the families" file. No big discoveries in the meantime. Can't believe I have been working on this for 20 years, and very much feeling for the old Bessarabia in the present war.

Febuary 2023: Uploaded the last version of the master database "All the families!" including some new discoveries in Moldova about the Lebedev and Buicliu families and some corrections.

June 2022: A weak effort; I have updated an old photo album of the Graham family between 1938 and 1955. Interesting photos of Egypt... It is at Photo Album Patricia Graham-Thomas 1930-1950s And also the photo albums from Henri Ferran: Henri Ferran & Persohn Famille and his journey on "La Cassiopée" in 1928 & 1929:   La Cassiopée

January 2021: Added a new book (accessible under the "Genealogy Main Site" tab), for the Bouscharain family which is associated to us through René Fiechter's wife Jeanine Bouscharain and our American cousins. and René Fiechter's pedigree to the first page. Also modernised the report of the Moldova expedition now available in Powerpoint or pdf format. The quality of the photos is now much better!

April 2020: Several months of research by François Ferran have yielded a few more generations of our ancestors on the Persohn's side, thank you again to Odile Nguyen's hints and François's perseverance. On the Graham side, a push from a correspondent, Jane from Ottawa in Canada, has helped us sort out the Blackall / Blackhall family from Ireland. More to come on this hopefully soon, but here is the update.

December 2019: Some interesting progress in Basel, Switzerland, thanks to Geneanet and Odile Nguyen who very kindly gave us some hints about the ancestors on the Ferran -> Persohn's side (not the Fiechter side as you would have expected!).

August 2019: A long overdue update of the whole website... a it was getting too large, I have now split the database in two, the Graham-Thomas on one side and the Ferran-Fiechter on the other. Hopefully it will make it easier to consult and to update!

December 2018: Completed the bulk of the Ferran family research and there will be little to add in future. Thank you François Ferran for all the hard work of checking and documenting the family records.

March 2018: Another update on the families de Malvezy and de Thézan by François Ferran. Unfortunately, the connection to Claire de Tignières proved to be wrong :o( So Charlemagne escapes from that side...

December 2017: A small update (but much research work from F.F.!) on the Ferran from Gruissan.

September 2017: A serious upgrade on two families: On the Ferran side, the genealogy of Claire de Tignières, and guess what, another conection to Charlemagne, but also to "El Cid", Rodrigo de Bivar and his lovely wife Ximena. And on my cousin's side, René Fiechter, the full genealogy of his mother Jeanine Bouscharain tracing an old French Protestant family through the centuries.

February 2017: The Ferrans of Gruissan get a new look, and now trace their genealogy to the 12th century, albeit through an illegitimate child... Check the Malvezy connection :o)

July 2016: Another big update of the Ferran family, documented by François Ferran, with copies of all the acts.

April 2016: An update on the Rawson family thanks to Stephen Killin's research.

January 2016: A routine update to start the year, with corrections on the distant Walter Graham, Lockwood and Duke in particular.

October 2015: Redesigned the Trip to Moldova to make it more accessible, and various updates (in particular "Ferran de Gruissan" thanks to François Ferran).

August 2015: Added some research on the Blackall family in India, an removed incorrect information on the Clementi family.

July 2015: Interesting breakthrough on our Grahams (Douglas and Ana) who are not only twice related to Charlemagne (on their father's side through the Rathbornes and on their mother's side through the Stradlings), but also to Henri I Capet, King of France, Edward I Plantagenet, and Edward III Kings of England through various bloodlines. Not surprising they glow blue in the dark!

May 2015: A major update as I have now incorporated the whole of the PERSOHN genealogy from Illzach as researched by my father and published in 1984. It traces back to the old families of Mulhouse and Basel in the 14th century.

May 2015: Updated the files with the informations painstakingly gathered by my brother François about several genearttions of the Ferran ancestors in Gruissan, Also some advances on the Mansergh and Irvine families.

February 2015: Kicked back into action by Anne van Weerden, researched and updated some of the Bayly family from Ireland

December 2014: Following a visit by the Douglas Graham family to the graveyards of Southern England, some photos have appeared and been added to the site. Also a general update, bits and pieces coming in...

September 2014: Having fun! According to the Evans family pedigree, and the legends of the Tribes of Wales, our Grahams would descend in straight line from Roman Emperor Mark-Anthony (more famous for having an affair with Cleopatra) via Syr Caradoc Vreichvras, a Knight of the round table, and Genvissa, a daughter of Tiberius and Julia Aggripina Minor who was married to Gweirydd, King of the Welsh Silures Tribe... For details see: Relationship between Douglas Graham and Mark-Anthony A lot of it is legendary, so not to be taken too seriously!

July 2014: I cannot believe this site is 10 years old! Various updates, I have been lazy recently; in fact had not enough time to do serious research :o(

January 2014: A big update on the Ferran direct line thanks to François' patient research in the French archive. Now the line is fully documented and confirmed.

August 2013: Added 4 generations of Rawsons thanks to George Thompson and Burke's "The Landed Gentry of Ireland"

June 2013: New finds on the Persohn family in Nice, and their collateral families

June 2013: Another update, some corrections, an update on Ana's distant ancestors of the Litton family and a sad thought for Mathieu who left us much before time:

“Those we love don’t go away,

They walk beside us every day,

Unseen, unheard, but always near,

Still loved, still missed, and very dear.”

March 2013: Added the massive research done by François Ferran to document the genealogy of the  Ferran family (reconciliating Municipal, Notarial and Church archives). Chapeau!

July 2012: Added the research about the Ferran family in Asson (64) in the 16th century. Link here

June 2012: Update, the Guiraud family connected to the Ferran main line. Always nice to find remote cousins!

March 2012: General update, plus added a new line of relatives: Onslow Graham

June 2011: New details from George Graham http://members.cox.net/ghgraham/ about the Hadden family, and a few more additions...

March 2011: Added new descendant lines from Balthazar Ferran, and new discoveries around Hazel Dorothy Graham

February 2011: New cousins appeared on the American Ramseyer family, so added quite a few new entries on that side.

January 2011: A further update as some babies are born and Gosselin have appeared... Also the website is moving to a new address:                

http://www.monchique.com/Ochanoff/

September 2010: Back to work and research. The whole site has been updated|!

October 2008: Added hundreds of new relatives of the Ferran family from my father's files, plus details on Arthur Thomas from Ceylon, and the Graham family from South Africa.

July 2008: OK, I have not been working as hard as I should have on the genealogy website! Still quite a few more ancestors, and new members of the family have been added...

August 2007: Added the Wyldbore -Smith family ancestors

May 2007: Completely redesigned the main genealogy site, using now Legacy instead of PAF. Also found some Ohanov cousins from Canada (Tordion)

November 2006: Added a further line on the Thomas family (Agar), and some new nephews...

August 2006: Updated the whole site.

 May 2006: Found a new family, some lost Graham's cousins!

April 2006: Just back from a trip to Languedoc on the trace of the Ferrans. Beautiful part of the world! I have added a gallery of photos.