Abraham de La Rue Smith 1773-1846

[Macj99]

I  have just identified my 4 x great great grand father who was a baker living in the Hammersmith area of London. He has the name ' de la Rue' Smith and I do not know why on some documents. Does anyone know anything about this name/family which sounds french in orgin. many thanks

[QueenoftheWest]

My first thought was that De La Rue was Abraham's mother's maiden name, but I can see that it was actually Freare.

Abraham's brother William De La Rue Smith, baptised in 1769, shared this middle name, so it must be of some significance in the family.

For background, Abraham Sr. and Martha also had:

Marshall Montague Smith (1766)
Elizabeth Smith (1768)
Marshall Frere Smith (1770)

Possibly others.

It is possible the name comes from ancestors further back, but occasionally people did just select a name that was not 'in the family', but someone they personally knew and liked or a public figure they admired had this name.

Just sharing my thoughts.

Queenie 

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
The Montague bit was from Ann Montague who married John Freare  7 Feb 1729 at St Seplucre.They were his maternal grandparents.
Uncle Marshall Freare 1743-1771 left a PCC Will as he departed for Senagul .It mentions his sisters Nancy and Martha  £10 and mother Ann who each gets £20 and rest to Martha's children and niece Mary Ann Smith.
The estate us worth £320 which seems quite a bit.

Ciderdrinker

[QueenoftheWest]

She also had a brother called Marshall, so presumably Marshall also comes from her side.

Queenie