Greetings from Spain,
Can anyone out there help me please? I hold some F.H. details for the above Deards family, but many other B.M.D. records are unknown. My records start on 24 Aug 1684 when John Deards married Mary Bloxom @ St James, Duke´s Place, London. They had 4 known children named William, Elizabeth, Mary & John. All 4 children later married, but one of them, John, [who himself had a son, also named John], died before his parents did. John, the Grandson became a Master Mariner who died in 1755. His Will stated that his next of kin was "his Uncle William the Toyman" - presumably the son of John Deards & Mary [nee] Bloxom. The father, John died in abt. 1730/31 & his widow Mary in 1738 - both buried in St Dunstan´s Church, London. This Mary left a Will. "Uncle William" died in June 1761 @ Dover Street, Piccadilly, London and the main beneficiaries of his Will were, he said, his two "assumed sons" William, & John Deards - who was to take over the business, a daughter Mary Martin [nee Deards] and a Granddaughter, Rebecca Deards [then a Minor] - who was the assumed daughter of William Deards.
Re- the two "assumed sons":-
1. John Deards married a Mary Gaucheron on 20 Nov. 1773, retired from business in the same decade, and died in Apr. 1794, also leaving a Will. His widow & main beneficiary was Mary Deards [nee Gaucheron] who re-married in 1800, to a Mr. Charles March esq..
2. William Deards, meanwhile, ran a Toymakers´shop in Pall Mall, but he was made bankrupt in 1764. His wife´s name was either Margaret or Mary. By 1768/9 he had moved to Maryland, Colonial America where he worked as a clerk for the influential Caroll of Carleton Hall. He returned to London after 1777, where he worked as an "extra clerk" for several years, and was known to be still alive in 1793. The date of his death is unknown.
Can anyone add any more B.M.D. or other info. for this family please?
Many thanks.
Regards, Barbara [Deards]
P.S. The family´s other interest was in horseracing - to the extent that William [?? - 1761] and his son John [?? - 1794] were each appointed Clerk of the Course @ Newmarket.
