Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born to an unmarried mother, a laundrywoman, in the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence (a poorhouse) in Saumur, France.[4][5] She was Jeanne's second child with Albert Chanel; the first, Julia, was born less than a year earlier.[5] Albert Chanel was an itinerant street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments,[6] living a nomadic life, traveling to and from market towns, while the family resided in rundown lodgings. In 1884, he married Jeanne Devolle,[7] persuaded to do so by her family who had "united, effectively, to pay Albert to marry her."[8] At birth, Chanel's name was entered into the official registry as "Chasnel". Jeanne was too unwell to attend the registration, and Albert was registered as "travelling".[4] With both parents absent, the infant's last name was misspelled, probably due to a clerical error. The couple had five children who survived – two boys and three girls, who lived crowded into a one-room lodging in the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde.