52 Ancestors: Food and Drink - Henrik Bergithon Bordewick

So I struggled a little with this one, and thought I needed to do this about the Jones branch, then realized I didn't have anything planned this month for the Parks or Bordewicks, and this thought came to me. It's perfect, so I had to go with it.

My grandfather owned a fishing boat for much of my early childhood, and used to go fishing and bring home salmon for the family to eat at our gatherings together. It's a past-time he inherited from his father, who inherited it from his. The Bordewick clan originally came from the Lafoten Islands in Norway. One of the commercial industries there is fishing. But when my great-grandfather was young, the fishing dried up for a time. Less of a haul for those making a living off the fish. So my great-great grandfather Henrik and his brother Eivind (I believe) decided to try to make more money off the small amount of fish they could catch by setting up a concern outside of Norway. Eivind chose to stay in Norway to do the fishing, while my great-great grandfather and his family left to head to Belgium in an attempt to set up business there.

So my family left Norway, along with a few girls to help my great-great grandmother around the house, one of whom was her elder sister's daughter. I'm not sure if the other two were related to the family or not, but I have determined that much, at least. Unfortunately, this was about the same time as the Boer war, and unfortunately, the Belgians saw the family name, and thought they were English. We have distinct stories of the family being spat upon on the street. So they moved to England, near where my great-great grandmother's younger brother lived. 

At that point, my great-great grandfather got out of the shipping industry, and became part of the shipping industry with his brother-in-law, who was already well established in the trade. We believe that it was sometime around this move (either right before or right after they moved here) that the name changed from Bordewich to Bordewick. They stayed in England for around ten years or so. Long enough for the family to become citizens of the UK before moving again, this time to Canada, to be close to another of Henrick's wife's siblings, her younger sister. They stayed there, settling in Vancouver BC, and living there for another twenty years before Henrik died at the age of 68.

Of their three sons, only one had children, my great grandfather, Bjarne. He and his wife had two boys, one who was lost at the beginning of World War II, and the other who was my grandfather. So he is the one who carried on the family legacy, and had a series of boats he used to fish from, and provide our family with fresh caught fish during fishing season. It's a legacy that has been gone since my uncle sold his boat several years ago, and with neither myself or my sister interested in carrying on that legacy, as we are the only two grandkids in our family. Still, it's a fascinating family history that I treasure, even if it's a skill now lost to us, unless one of my sister's kids chooses to take it up one day. You never know.

Bordewick Placeline

 Here's the second part of my family placeline, this time starting with my mom and working back from her. Her paternal line is Norwegian/Germanic, but the family as a whole has hit a block with my five times great grandfather, Hans Henrik, who came to Norway from Germany. Bardoweick, or so the family story says. But as of yet, no one in the great extended family has been able to find his family back in Germany.

Same note as before here: Bolded locations are ones where a major life event happened, either Birth, Marriage, or Death. Italicized locations are places where the family lived, but there were no big events in that person's life at that location.

1. My Mom: Ruth Anne Hillinger nee Bordewick

My mom's story is similar to my dad's. She was born outside the US, and came here with her parents. Unlike him, her parents weren't already citizens when she came here, but because she did come with her family, she met my dad, and the rest, as they say, is history.

A. Seattle, Washington. The place my mom lived for most of my life until she passed.

B. Port Orchard, Washington. Where mom and dad lived for a few years after my sister and I moved out before coming back to live in Seattle.

C. Bellevue, Washington. When my mom's family came to the US in 1960, they settled in Bellevue, where mom attended high school, and where she eventually married my dad.

D. Vancouver, BC. Where mom's family lived when she and her siblings were all born. Her family lived there until her father went looking for a better job, which lead them to moving to the US in 1960.

2. My Grandfather, George Robert Bordewick

My grandfather was the first generation on both sides of his family born in Canada, and all his children were born there as well. If he had not chosen to leave the country to find a better living, our family likely would have stayed there for at least another generation, if not more. But we did, so here we are.

A. Bellevue, Washington. Where my grandparents lived together through the remainder of their children's childhood, three marriages, and right until his death.

B. While serving in the war, Grandpa stayed mostly in the south west of England, and even went north to visit his in-laws' families when he had leave time. 

D. Truro, Nova Scotia. His training before he was sent overseas was here, and grandmum came to live here while he was here.

C. Vancouver, BC. Grandpa is another one of my family who really didn't move around much. He ws born in Vancouver and lived there with his parents until he married, went off to war, then settled down with his bride and their growing family after the war was over. I don't have strong details about grandpa's time in the army, but I may add more if I am able to find it.

3. Bjarne Bordewick, born Bordewich

A. Vancouver, BC. Where Bjarne finally settled with his parents after travelling halfway around the world from their home in Norway. Another of his mother's siblings lived here in Vancouver with her husband and their family. Here he met my great-grandmother, Mary. They married here and had two boys, George and Henry (aka Harry), and lived here until he died in a car accident near their new home in 1950.

B. Cleethorps, England. When things went bad in Belgium, the family moved here to be close to Bjarne's mom's younger brother, who I believe lived in Hull. Bjarne spent several years here, and was even starting his testing to go to Cambridge when his family moved again, this time to Canada. I believe he came separate from his family, but the records are a little scattered. It's possible I have records wrong, and he came with his family, but at this time, I do not have a record of all five family members together on a boat.

C. Antwerp, Belgium. When fishing in the Lofoten Islands became difficult, Bjarne's dad and his uncle Eivind tried to set up a fishing venture, sending their fish to markets where they could charge more for them. Unfortunately, Bordewich in Norway became Bordewick in Belgium, and the Belgians heard it as an English name. This was around the time of the Boer War, and feelings about English were at an all time low. The family still tells stories about the family being spit upon on the street. We don't think they even lasted a year here before they moved again.

D: Henningsvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Bjarne was born in a small town south of the town his grandfather ran. He lived here until the family moved when he was young.

4. Henrik Bergithon Bordewick, aka Henry Bordewick, born Bordewich

A. Vancouver, BC. Where Henry lived with his wife and sons until his death in 1930, having moved from England in 1910.

B. Cleethorps, England. He lived here for several years with his family, becoming a UK citizen in 1910 before moving to Canada shortly after.

C. Antwerp, Belgium. Where he'd hoped to start a new business, which failed badly (see above for more details), causing the family to move again.

D. Henningsvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Where he had his own small farm, and his three sons were born before fishing (which he and his brother used to supplement their family larder) became difficult, and he and his brother Eivind came up with an idea for how to make money from the fish they were able to catch.

E. Lingvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Where he was born, and where his father was born before him. A small town his grandfather ran, first as the man in charge of the town trading post, but later also as mayor for a time.

5. Hans Henrik Bordewich

A. Henningsvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. When Hans's father Johan remarried, he decided to leave, since his father showed no signs of stepping aside so that his sons could take over his business. He and his wife moved to Henningsvaer, where his grandson was born, and where he passed away at the age of 59. 

B. Lingvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. I believe Hans Henrik lived his most of his life in the town he was born in. If not, he was one of the few of Johan's children not to be born there, but at the moment, my records are not concise enough for me to be certain.

6. Johan Petter Bordewich

A. Lingvaer, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Shortly after his first marriage, he moved to Lingvaer, and all of his sixteen children were born in Lingvaer, if what I believe is correct. He helped run a trading post there, and when his boss needed to leave (quite abruptly, from the family lore), he took over the post and ran it quite well for many years. He even became mayor of the town for a time. After his first wife's death, and a subsequent child by one of his family staff, he eventually married again, having four more children with his second wife. He died here at the age of 76, quite a good age for someone living back in 1879.

B. Trondheim, Norway. Johan was born here to a captain and his wife, and lived there until he was old enough to work. According to the family lore, he eventually began working in the Lofoten Islands for a man who ran a trading post there.

7. Hans Henrik Bordwig (or Bordvik, or many other variations)

A. Trondheim, Norway. Hans Henrik came to Norway and met and married his wife, Anna here. They had three sons, and he started up a shipping concern. He was captain of his own boat, and helped ship goods to many places in Europe before his ship ran aground on an island on the edge of the Lofoten Islands. It was winter, and while the men made it to shore, they all froze before they were found. 

B. Bardoweik, Germany. This is where we have been told that Hans was born, though as of yet, no one in the extended family has been able to find a record that precisely matches his information, so we have been unable to trace back further in his family line.

*

So there are all the locations for my Bordewick/Bordewich/Bordewig line. 11 locations. A very descent amount. The ones coming up next won't be quite as long, though they still extend back quite a ways, so we shall see.

Hometown Histories – Henningsvær, Lofoten Islands, Norway – Bjarne and Henrik Bergithon Bordewick

My great grandfather Bjarne Bordewick, was born in Henningsvær in 1888. His father, Henrik Bergithon was there born in 1862.

Henningsvær is a small fishing village off the coast of Norway in the municipality of Vågen. It is part of the Lofoten Islands, an archipelago of small islands located between the 68^th and 69^th parallels north of the Arctic Circle. It is located primarily on the islands of Himøya and Hellandsøya. It is 74 acres (just over a tenth of a mile) large, and in 2013, had a population of 444 people.

It is a popular tourist destination as a fishing spot, and also offers climbing and diving for other tourist activities. Most stay in cabins called Rorbu. They small houses built for fishermen. They are built on land, but overhang the water, using posts to keep them up over the tides. This allowed access to the fishermen's boats when the cabins were in use. Cabins of this sort have been numerous in the area since as far back as 1100. Now they are used largely to house the tourists who come to the area, as most fishermen live on their boats when fishing in the area.

Henningsvær is the most famous fishing village in Lofoten. In 1842 (twenty years before Henrik was born), the village was bought by squire Henrik Dreyer. At the time, the town was less than 100 homes, including almost 80 fishermen's cabins. He quickly developed the village into a center of trade and fishing. He also established an infirmary with a resident doctor, as well as a chapel and a lighthouse. He also had a great deal to do with the first telegraph line being established in the Lofoten Islands. He passed away in 1882, and an English man attempted to buy the village. The public fought the purchase, leading to a political movement which led to the Nordland County Council taking control of the village by the middle of the next year. Unfortunately, soon after, fishing began to decline in the area, and the cod run seemed to dry up, not returning until 1920. It was this change that led to my family's departure from the town, leading to a long journey that would lead them halfway around the world.

The town is referred to as the "Venice of the North." Its major industry, aside from tourism, is cod. It is the center of the world's greatest cod fishery. During the winter, the harbor is filled with fishermen and transports to take the cod to their destination. The area has been considered one of the best fishing areas for centuries. North Atlantic cod congregate nearby to spawn, which draws anglers from all over the world.

one of the Henningsvær bridges

It is connected to the rest of the islands via the Henningsvær bridges. The two bridges are called Engøysundet Bridge and Henningsvær Bridge. Engøysundet Bridge is to the north. It is 636 feet long. Henningsvær Bridge is to the south. It is 843 feet long. They were opened to traffic in 1983. They are part of a chain of bridges which connect the Lofoten Islands together. They are box girder cantilever bridges made of prestressed concrete.

Henningsvær church is located on the island of Himøya. A church was first built there in 1852, just ten years before my great-great grandfather was born. Likely the family attended services there for much of Henrik's life, at least until he and his wife moved away.

The Bordewick clan's history in the Lofoten Islands begins with Henrik Bergithon's grandfather, Johan Petter Bordewick. He lost his father in a shipwreck when he was only three, and he began doing clerical work for a man who ran a trading post in the islands when he was old enough to make his own way. He eventually became the owner of the business. He was already married with two young children at the time, but the family grew quite quickly after that.

In 1846, Johan's wife, Leonharde Linkhausen, died in childbirth complications with their eleventh child. The eldest children took over care of their siblings, but eventually their father began to look for a new wife. First his eldest son, and then his second son, my great-great-great grandfather, Hans Henrik, left his household, despite promises that they would take over the business when time came for Johan to retire. When Johan finally remarried in 1860, Hans took his family and left the town to find his own way. So it was that he and his wife Kaja (born Karen Angell) moved to Henningsvær, where all their children were born.

Henrick Bergithon, aka Henry

My great-great grandfather, Henrik Bergithon, was raised away from his grandfather's household. I do not know if they had much contact with them during his childhood, but it is obvious to me that they had at least some contact. His father's third-half-sister, Leonhard Marine was only a year older than Hans, and at some point after Johan's death, the two fell in love and married. They, too, settled in Henningsvær, where they had three sons.

Leonharde, aka Harde

However, soon after their youngest son was born, Henrik and his brother Eivind made plans to make more money in a poor fishing economy at the time. They decided to try to set up a direct-route fish-selling venture. Eivind would stay in Henningsvær and fish, then send the goods to Henrik in Belgium where he would sell them to the locals. So Henrik and Leonharde moved their sons away from the islands. It was the beginning of a long journey for the family.

The Bordewick boys and a cousin who traveled with the family all the way to Vancouver

They moved to Belgium, but were quickly reviled by the Belgians, though the family story as to why is a bit garbled. Either they seemed to German or too English. Either way, the plans fell through, and the family moved again. This time, they settled to live near Leonharde's younger brother, who had established himself in Hull, England. They lived across the bay from him in Grimsby for several years as the boys grew up. My great-grandfather, Bjarne, was just taking his tests to enter Cambridge when the family moved again. One of her sisters had settled in Vancouver, and so the family settled there as well. It was there they finally settled for good. Two of their three boys married there, though my great-grandfather was the only one to have children.

Sources:

About Henningsvær

Bordewich family history by Pat Bordewich

The Bordewick Family

Bordewick Family tree

Henningsvær

Henningsvær Bridges

The History of Henningsvær

Lofoten

Lofotens rorbuer history

Rorbu

Hometown Histories – Vancouver, BC – George Bordewick & Merle Jones

Both of my maternal grandparents were born in Vancouver, BC. Merle Tydfil Jones in 1915, and George Robert Bordewick in 1918.

Vancouver is a seaport on the west coast of mainland British Columbia, Canada. It is set on the mouth of the Frasier River. It currently encompasses a land area of around 114 square kilometres. In 1911, when my grandmother's parents married, the population was 164,020. By 1921, three years after my grandfather was born, it had risen to 232,597 people. By 1920, Vancouver replaced Winnipeg as the leading city in western Canada. As of 2011, the population was more than 2.3 million people. It is the most populous city in Western Canada.

The city is located in the areas that include the ancestral territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tseil-Waututh peoples of the Coast Salish Native Tribes. They had villages in many parts of present-day Vancouver. The area is called S'ólh Téméxw by the First Nations of the area. The Musqueam have been living in the area for 4,000 years. The Squamish and Teleil-Waututh are much newer to the area, but living in the area by the time European mapping took place. The Musqueam and Squamish tribes still live in the area today.

George Vancouver, NPG

The city's name was taken from one of the early explorers to the area, a naval Captain named George Vancouver. He explored the area in 1792. His was the second European scouting party to explore the area. The first was a Spanish Captain by the name Jose Maria Narvaez. Vancouver's party surveyed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and they were there to map the entire west coast all the way up to Alaska. This work was accomplished in small oar and sail-propelled boats so that they could get into the smaller and shallower inlets without difficulty.

The major river of the area is the Fraser River, named for Simon Fraser, who was the first European to reach the area by land. He travelled to the area along the river now named for him, in 1808. The river became one of the leading routes for those who came into the area for the Frasier Canyon Gold Rush in the 1860s. It was not as successful as the San Francisco or Yukon Gold Rushes, but it brought many Europeans into the area. Because of the Gold Rush, the Province of British Columbia was formed from the unincorporated western area at the time.

The first non-native settlement in the Vancouver area was about 1862, in the Southlands area. The original main settlement, Gastown, was started on the west edge of the Hastings Logging Mill. It started with a tavern created by the millworkers in 1867, which was soon joined by other stores and hotels. Eventually it became a townsite that was named Granville, BI. Shortly after the railroad was started in the area, it was renamed Vancouver, and was incorporated as a City in 1886.

City of Vancouver, 1898

The railroad caused quick growth to the city, and provided easy travel to the eastern provinces of Canada. Immigration from eastern Canada and Europe increased greatly, and also many Chinese immigrants chose to settle there.

Vancouver's port quickly became significant as a link in Britain's global trade network. After the Panama Canal's completion in 1914, it became even more important. The city was then able to compete with the major international trade ports around the world, giving another alternate route to Europe from Asia.

This would have been the year before my Grandmother, Merle was born. Which means she grew up in a flourishing, global city. And it showed in the family she married into. Merle's parents, Daniel and Eliza Jones, had both come to Canada from Wales. Daniel in the nineteen-teens, and Eliza in the late 1800s. George, on the other hand, was born to a much more multi-cultural household. George's father, Bjarne, was from a Norwegian family who had immigrated from first Amsterdam, then settled for a time in Hull, England before immigrating to Vancouver, BC. His mother, Mary, was born in Philadelphia, PA to Irish immigrants. The family moved to Ireland for a year when Mary was in her late teens, then to the Vancouver area in the early nineteen-teens.

In 1919, the Canadian National Railway station was completed. My great grandfather Daniel worked for the Railway, even making a point of asking the railway workers along the way to look after his daughter when she went to join my grandfather while he was training in the east. It was named Pacific Central Station, and provided links down into the US to Seattle and Portland, and via those down to California, and also the most direct route across Canada.

Robert and Lizzie Park with friend, at Mary's wedding, 1911

British Columbia was the second-most populous state for Irish immigrants according to the 2006 Canadian Census. Many came to Canada during the potato famine in the mid-to-late 1800s. My grandfather's mother's family, the Parks, were northern Irish. They left before the country was partitioned. They were protestant, which was true of many northern Irish, and I think coming to the US was their way of trying to escape the growing tensions at home. When things became difficult in Philadelphia for Irish immigrants in the early 1900s, they returned to Ireland. It was only the fact that Vancouver was a growing mecca for many immigrant groups that drew them to the city; along with a letter from one of their children touting the beauty of the area. As citizens of the UK (at least, I believe they were at the time), they were automatically naturalized as Canadian citizens when they arrived. It made the move quite easy, despite being halfway around the world from home.

Gabriel Howells and family ca 1885

Welsh immigrants, on the other hand, are far more populous in Alberta and Saskatchewan, though they are all over Canada. My great-great grandparents, Gabriel and Selina Howells moved to Saskatchewan to live on Gabriel's brother's farm. They moved soon after, settling in Winnipeg, but their children soon began to move west, all settling in BC, and most in and around the city of Vancouver. My great-grandfather, Daniel, came to Canada from Wales as a young man for a trip with friends. Though he meant to come only for a visit, upon meeting my great-grandmother Eliza, he chose to stay, and only returned home to Wales for visits. Again, as citizens of the UK, Daniel, Eliza and her family were all automatically naturalized citizens of Canada.

My Norwegian roots are a little murkier to me, as I am uncertain whether my great-great grandparents, Henrik and Leonharde (Henry and Harde) Bordewick, became Naturalized UK citizens while they were living in Hull, England, or whether they did not become Commonwealth citizens until they settled in Vancouver. I do know that as a fisherman, the West coast provided a great opportunity for Henry, and the community here was very much the home they had been looking for over a number of years, after several stops from their original home in the Lofoten Islands.

McGill University College of British Columbia, the oldest university in BC, changed its name to the University of British Columbia the year my grandmother Merle was born. The population of the campus was greatly diminished by the call to arms during World War I. By the end of the war, almost 700 members of the university had enlisted. In 1920, two years later, the university had only three faculties: Arts, Applied Science, and Agriculture, and only awarded the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Applied Science, or Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. At that time, there were 576 male students and 386 female students, with only 64 academic staff, only six of which were women. In 1922, the student body had risen to the number of more than twelve hundred, and they marched to push the local government into expanding the campus. Their cause was successful, and the campus was moved to Point Grey, with the first lectures there starting in 1925. Unfortunately, the depression had a bad effect on the campus, and their funds were cut drastically, to the point where many staff posts remained vacant, and several of the faculty lost their jobs. In addition, most graduate courses were dropped. Things were beginning to improve just as World War II broke out. At the close of the war, the numbers in the university increased dramatically, growing almost exponentially, and causing great expansion of both classes and campus.

In 1918, the year my grandfather George was born, the Vancouver General strike happened. It was the first general strike in Canadian history, protesting the killing of a draft dodger named Albert Goodwin. He had called for a general strike in the event any worker was drafted against their will. In response, a group of returned soldiers stormed the offices of the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. They attacked the Council secretary, Victor Midgely and forced him and another man to kiss the union Jack. One of the women in the offices also received minor injuries when she prevented them from throwing Midgely from the window. The city's reaction against the strike was strong, and the leaders resigned due to the backlash. However, they were nearly all re-elected shortly after, showing that within the union their support had been strong, and not influenced by outside forces. Vancouver was the only city in BC that took part in the strike. Many other strikes also took place in the city that year. It was an important point in the Canadian labour revolt that peaked with the Winnipeg General strike the next year. Another Vancouver strike in sympathy with Winnipeg became the longest general strike in Canadian History.

George and Merle on their wedding day ca 1939 with his grandmothers Harde and Lizzie

This was the liberal, growing, thriving city my grandparents grew up in. Both grew up in protestant households, attending regular services on Sunday, and both got involved in youth groups in their churches. It was this that led to their meeting as teens, and the two quickly became an item, dating until the late 1930s, when George joined the Canadian Armed Forces. George asked Merle to marry him, and she said yes. The two were married at her parents' house in 1939, and then Merle and George headed for the east where George was trained. She stayed with him there until he was sent to the front, and then returned home, where she gave birth to the first of their four children.

He returned from the war and settled into civilian life, becoming an accountant. He and Merle had four children there together before George began to search for a new job in the late 50s. He eventually found the family a new home in Bellevue, Washington and they moved in 1960. However, even after their move, the family visited their fair home city quite often, and still do even today.

Sources:

1918 Vancouver General Strike

Bordewick Family History

Canadians of Welsh descent

Demographics of Vancouver

Frasier Canyon Gold Rush

George Vancouver

History of Vancouver

Irish Canadian

Pacific Central Station

Timeline of Vancouver history

University of British Columbia

Vancouver

Surname Saturday 2.0: The Bordewichs Part 2

The Bordewich Family

This Bordewich branch is actually an offshoot of the first.

My ancestor Johan Petter Bordewich had three families. The first with his first wife, Leonharde Marine Linkhausen, who died giving birth to their eleventh child. The second was a daughter with a family servant, who according to family records, he wanted to marry, but his children convinced him not to. This child and woman were both sent off, and the child was fostered with more distant family members. She only had peripheral contact with her father during her life according to records. The final was my great-great grandmother’s family.

Johan had been a widower for twelve years when his next child was born. Like with his previous affair, his children managed to convince him he should not marry the girl’s mother. But this time was different. Unlike the other child and woman, who were sent away, Johan put his foot down, and the two stayed in the household. And, eventually against his children’s wishes, he married the woman. The two had three more children together, the first of which was my great-great grandmother, Leonharde Marie, who was named for her father’s first wife. (A tradition on this branch that makes determining records somewhat difficult, as there are something like 5 different Leonhardes in this family.)

She grew up in a very large family of brothers and sisters, many of whom she likely never met, and several of whom probably resented having siblings so much younger who were not their mother’s children around.

I believe Johan’s choice to finally remarry resulted in a break with the son who had been set up to take his place in the family business, which was the care and running of the sea port of the town, if I understand correctly. With another family in place at the family home, Hans Henrick (my great-great-great grandfather on the other branch of this family) chose to set up his own business rather than wait until his father decided to retire.

Hans Henrick’s son, Henrick Bergthon, was a year older than Leonharde, and it is likely the two spent time together at extended family functions as children, though I have no specific proof of this. What I do know is that eventually the two married and had three sons of their own before leaving their families in Norway behind in hopes of finding better employment for Henrick.

The two moved to Antwerp, Belgium, where the Bordewich name was mistaken for British, and caused them to be shunned by the Dutch. They moved again, this time to Grimsby, England, a town across from the large ship-building city of Hull. My great-grandfather and his brothers and a few older female relations (I assume they were relations, though I cannot be entirely sure of this as of yet, but I know that one definitely was Leonharde’s sister’s daughter) grew up. My great-grandfather, Bjarne, had just taken the entrance exams for Cambridge when the family chose to move again, this time to Vancouver, BC in Canada, where they settled near Leonharde’s brother.

Bjarne soon met his wife to be here, and the two had two sons and lived there together for over thirty years before his death in 1950. My family (parents, sister, her kids, and my aunt and uncles) are the only remaining descendants of this line.

The Bordewick line is as follows, for those interested:

* Hans Henrich is the first generation we're certain of. We believe he was born in 1769. He married Anna Tiller 1796 in Trondheim, Norway, and the two had three sons before his death in 1815. She was born 1769 and died in 1846.

* Their three sons were Ole Hansen, Johan Petter, and Hans Oliver.
+ Ole Hansen was born 1801, and died about a year and a half later.
+ Johan Petter was born 1802, and died 1879. His line follows below.
+ Hans Oliver was born 1806 and died 1844. He married Edvardine Tiller, an adopted child of one of the Tiller family (his mother's family), and they had one son, Hans Henrick, who was born 1837 and died 1867.

* Johan Petter married twice, but had children by three different women, all three lines having descendants.
+ Leonhard Marine Linkhausen married Johan in 1827. They had 11 children children together before her death in 1846 due to complications of childbirth with their last child.
+ Jacobine Benjaminsdatter had one daughter by Johan, Petra Johanne Bordewich, born in 1852.
+ Henrikke Roness had one daughter with Johan before their marriage in 1860, after which they had three more children together before his death in 1879.

* Johan and Henrikke's children were:
+ Ida Amalie, born 1858, died 1930, married Peder Olsen in 1881. They had 6 children.
+ Leonharde Marie, born 1861, died 1944. Married Henrick Bergthon 1887. They had 3 children.
+ Anna Magdalena, born 1862, died 1949, married Aksel Kjelsberg in 1890. They had 5 children.
+ Peter Magnus, born 1867, died 1956, married Margaret Priebke in 1891. They had 7 children.

* Third generation – Henrick Bergthon and Leonharde Marie's children:
+ Bjarne Borrdewick, born 1888, died 1950, married Mary Park 1917. They had two children.
+ Harald, born 1890, died 1950.
+ Hans Henrik, born 1892, died 1957, married Winnifred Atwaters in 1919. They had no children.

* Bjarne and Mary had two sons, George and Henry. George was my grandfather. He and his wife had four children, and they have two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He died in 1991. His younger brother, Henry, died in 1942. He never married or had any children.

What I don't know:

* The information I'm most craving is to learn exactly who Hans Henrich's parents were back in Germany. There is some speculation he may have changed his name to Hans Henrich, possibly after someone else in his family.

The descendants of Hans Henrich and Anna Magdalena have been well-traced, but I'm always open to hearing more about them, or finding new branches I was unaware of, so if any of these names seem familiar, feel free to contact me.


Other information about this branch of the family:
Old Surname Posts –
* Bordevick
* Bordewick
Where We're From Posts –
* Where We're From – United States
* Where We're From – Canada
* Where We're From – Germany
* Where We're From – England
* Where We're From – Norway
* Where We're From – Waystations
Other -
* The Bordewick Family
* Four Generations
* Johan Petter Bordewick – Most Prolific Male Ancestor
* Bardoweick
* Women's History Month – Week 1
* Women's History Month – Week 5
* For Vetran's Day: Henry Norman Bordewick

Advent Calendar: Henrick Bergthon Bordewick

Henrick Bergthon Bordewick
(surname alternately Hans Henricksen, Bordevik, Bordevich, Bordewich due to changing naming traditions at the time in Norway, and to Anglicization of the surname)

Born 1862, Died 1930, Aged 67
Lived in: Vagan, Nordland, Norway; Lofoten Islands, Norway, Antwerp, Belgium; Vancouver, BC, Canada
Married: Leonharde Marie Bordewich
Children:
Bjarne Bordewick
Harald Bordewick
Hans Henrik Bordewick

Henrick Bergthon Bordewick was the first-born son of Hans Henrik Bordevick and his wife Karen "Kaja" Dorthea Angell, born in 1862 In Northern Norway. His family had been fishermen and sailors since his great-grandfather came to Norway from Germany, where the family name originated. Henrick married Leonharde in 1887 in Trondheim, Norway, and together the two made a home in the Lofoten Islands North of the Arctic Circle. Towards the end of the 1800s, fishing in the Lofoten Islands became difficult, so Henrick and his brother Eivind decided to leave their home and try to find a better place to make money in fishing. For a time, Henrick and his family settled in Antwerp, but their name and their business with the English made it difficult to live in Belgium, who had sympathies with the Dutch in South Africa, and thought the family English. They moved again, this time to Canada, and there they made their home with their three boys, remaining there until the day they died.