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More Deboard (de Borde) History

I originally posted what I knew about the Deboards (de Bordes) on April 10, 2010 and, as expected, it didn’t attract much attention. Recently, however, there has been a flurry of activity centered on that subject. On December 30, 2010 I was contacted by one Andrew Smith who resides in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. He told me that his great great grandparents and mine were  the same people which makes him my third cousin. There followed an exchange of information and, as a result, I now know quite a bit more about that branch of my family. So for those in my extended family who are interested I will list some of the things that I learned.

One of the things “Andy” sent me was the four generations photo shown below:

This photo, taken in 1901 shows the following:

On the right is Eliza (Richardson) de Borde our mutual great great grandmother . On the left is Susan (de Borde) Robbins who is a sister to my great grandmother Clara (de Borde) Williams. Standing in the center is Ada Fanny (Robbins) Smith, and the baby is Arnold Vivian Smith, eldest brother to Andy’s father. In addition, Andy sent me photos of our mutual great great grandfather’s works of art. These pieces by Joseph de Borde may be seen by clicking here.

Andy also sent notes, shown below, made by his grandmother and his great aunt, both daughters of Susan (de Borde) Robins concerning the history of the de Bordes:

In addition, thanks to some old census records (1881), we have the following data:

Joseph Deboard age 60     30 Clarendon Street       Paddington       London

Occupation: Engine Fitter

Birth Place:  Leicester

Baptised: 04.04.1821  St. Margaret     Leicester

Parents: John Deboard and Maria (Mary)

From this we know that gt gt gt grandfather was called John Deboard. Note the spelling of the last name at that time.

Finally, thanks to my first cousin Phillip Kidd, we now have the following two photos:

(Click image for larger view)

Read more here . . .

5 Comments to More Deboard (de Borde) History

1. 

   Wow, Unc. Great find. I don’t think I had heard of anything Pre-England in the Family History. It would be interesting to pursue that a bit more.
Rob on January 18th, 2011
2. 

   Rob – Glad you found that interesting. I’ve been poking around on the internet trying to find something about the de Bordes at the time of the French revolution or before, but nothing definitive yet.
rmason on January 18th, 2011
3. 

   Hi there Cousin Rob,

   I’ve just been looking at your blog with great interest, focussing on your findings about the Deboard history. As you know, my brother Andrew has been delving into this for many years, uncovering a little more every now and then, and has just told me of his contact with you.

   I hope you have found the note written for me by my great-aunt Nell (your GGrandmother Clara Deboard’s niece) has added to your store of knowledge. I was christened Graham de Borde (Smith), using ‘de Borde’ as a 2nd christian name, as my father wanted to continue the old family name he was aware of from childhood. It also adds a little spice to plain old Smith, the most common surname in Britain! I expect you’ll find it interesting to see yet another form… two words with upper case only for the second. Great Aunt Nell used deBorde with no space. These were the only forms I have been aware of until now.

   To add another footnote to this story, I gave my son Martin (b. 1971) the ‘de Borde’ christian name, and my grandson (b. 2005) is called Alfred (Freddie) de Borde Smith. Both Andy’s sons have the same appellation.

   I look forward to reading some more of your blog….. What an eclectic mix of titles!

   Best regards,
   Cousin Graham (several times removed!)
Graham on January 19th, 2011
4. 

   Greetings Cousin Graham,

   It is so good to hear from you. Yes, Andy and I have been having a very informative exchange of information. My sister Irene and daughter Deanna have also got into the act, and I will forward your comments to them. So far we have turned up several spellings, “de Borde”, “Deboard” and even “de Bourde” but “de Borde” does seem to be the original. It certainly would be interesting to find something about the family back in France but I haven’t had any luck with that except what I learned from the note written to you by your great aunt Nell.

   I’m glad you found my blog interesting, and you are right there is absolutely nothing specialized about it – it’s all over the map.

   Warmest regards,

   Rob
rmason on January 19th, 2011
5. 

   My Grandmother on my Father’s London Paddington side of the family was Violet Adelaide Hatch (c1885 – 1968), whose mother was Eliza De Board (de Bord), born c1855, married to John Hatch (grocer).

   Passed on to me from my Father I have that very same “Four Generation Photo” (from Andrew Smith), so obviously family connections here.

   My Father (1916-93)told me that the De Boards were French Huguenots who were percecuted by the Catholics so moved to England. He told me they were skilled metal workers who among other works completed the wrought ironwork around the Victoria & Albert memorial in London.
Peter Emery on April 21st, 2014

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