Surname Saturday 2.0: The Bordewicks

Apologies. Forgot to post this yesterday, but I want to get this up this week.


The Bordewick Family

Unlike the Hillingers, the Bordewick clan has been around for many generations. In my direct line, my mother and her siblings were the last, though there are many branches out there still active and thriving.

The first generation that we are certain used the surname was my fifth-great grandfather, Hans Heinrich Bordevich. There have been a number of spellings and alternate versions of the name over the years, but the three most common are Bordevich, Bordewich, and Bordewick. Occasionally, the children in the early generations of this line also had their father's name in addition to or instead of the Bordewick surname on official documents. It does make it difficult to trace the line, but thanks to Hans Henrich's son, who took great records about his family, we were left with a great deal of information on our line.

The Bordewick name is also one of the only ones where we know the origin of the name that is not from a patronymic naming system. Hans Henrich came from a small area called Bardoweick near Luneburg in Lower Saxony in what is now Germany. The city was created sometime in the 8th century, and held great prominence for a cathedral that had been built there in its heyday. The city was decimated during the Hundred-years War by Henry the Lion, and never returned to the glory it once had. The ruins of the church can still be seen there today.

We know nothing about Hans Henrich's family in Germany, or why or even when he chose to leave, and have no true record of him until he appears in Norway in 1796, engaged to the woman he would eventually marry and have three sons with. He became a shipmaster there, and sailed several ships from Norway to countries in Europe, eventually dying in a shipwreck in 1813 along with his men.

After his death, the line passed down to his two surviving sons, Johan Petter and Hans Oliver. Johan finished his schooling and went into business working for one of the ship brokers in the Lofoten Islands, eventually buying himself a brokerage there in Lyngvaer. There he settled with his wife, Leonharde, and there they had eleven children together before she died in childbirth with their final daughter. Five more children followed, along with a second wife, Heinrikke Roness. Johan's children spread out through the islands, a few even further. Three of his youngest sons came to the US, two of whom settled here and raised families, the descendants of whom still live in the US today. Johan's younger brother died in his thirties, his only son dying childless. Most of the Bordewick/Bordewich clan today descends from Johan's line, though we have on occasion run into others who use the surname; we have not yet found direct connections to any of the ones we have met.

My direct line descends from two of Johan's children—his son, Hans Henrick, his second son by Leonharde, and his daughter, Leonharde (named for his first wife), second daughter of his second wife. Hans Henrick married Kaja Angell, and the two had nine children together, the eldest surviving of whom was my great-great grandfather, Heinrick Bergthon. He was born the year after his half-aunt, Leonharde Marine, and when the two were old enough, they married. The two had three sons together, and they are the ones who finally left Norway in my direct line.

Heinrick (Henry) and Leonharde (Harde, pronounced Har-dah) left Norway in the late 1800s because the fishing was growing scarce in the Lofoten Islands during that time, so Henry and his brother Eivind decided to try to set up a business together transporting things from the continent to Norway. The family settled first in Antwerp, but their reception there was quite poor. Most Belgians thought them English, and since Belgium had sided with the Boer War, they looked poorly on my great-great grandparents, and Henry decided they might do better in England. They family moved there, settling in Hull for a time, long enough for my great-grandfather, Bjarne, to pass exams and be accepted to Cambridge before deciding to move again, this time to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Bjarne moved with them, and because he did, it was there he met his wife-to-be, Mary Park.

The family all lived in Vancouver until my grandfather, Bjarne and Mary's son, moved to Washington state with his own family in 1960, where our family has lived ever since.

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 18001, 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 Petter and Leonhard's children were:
+ Johan Petter Jr, born 1827, died 1913, who married Magdalena Krogh in 1854. They had 5 children together.
+ Antonette Henrikke, born 1829, died 1908, who married Emil Gronning in 1853. They had 4 children together.
+ Anna Magdelena, born 1832, died 1854, married Hans Lang in 1853. They had no children.
+ Hans Henrik, born 1834, died 1893, married Karen Dorothea (Kaja) Angell in 1859. They had 8 children.
+ Elsie Sofie, born 1837, died 1861, married Johan Irgens.
+ Hans Jorgen, born & died 1837 (four days old)
+ Johan Henrik, born 1839, died 1924, married Elen Nilsen in 1867. They had 4 children.
+ Wilhelm Julius, born 1841, died 1853
+ Jorgen Christian, born 1842, died 1899, married Ellen Koch Wolf in 1879. They had 4 children.
+ Lars Nikolai aka Henry, born 1844, died 1912, married Birgitte Andersen in 1869. They had 5 children together. He served as the US consul to Norway until his death.
+ Leonharde Marine, born & died 1846. She lived less than a month, and was buried in her mother's arms.

* 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. See third generation info for further info.
+ 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 – Hans Henrik and Kaja Angell's children:
+ Henrick Bergthon, born 1862, died 1930, married Leonhard Marie Bordewich 1887. They had 3 children.
+ Eivind Sofus, born 1864, died 1948, married Valeria Unger in 1898. They had 2 children.
+ Richard Angell, born 1866, died 1898, married Jensine Mikalsen. They had 1 son.
+ Johanna Petrine, born 1867, died 1944, married Hans Lind. They had 2 chilren.
+ Harald Carlos, born 1870, died 1940, married three times. Married Jenny Olsen. They had 1 daughter. Married Dorothea Tesdal. They had 1 son. Married Anna Tesdal. They had 4 children.
+ Alfred, born 1872, died 1883.
+ Karen Robertine, born 1873, died 1952, married Paul Jensen in 1899. They had 5 children. She also married Otto Krogstad in 1932.
+ Helga Hagerup, born 1876, died 1946, married Sandrup Bang in 1895. They had one daughter.

* Fourth 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