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