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Dunlop of that Ilk
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Danson House Boyds Part 2
SYMPOSIUM ON GLOBAL HUGUENOT MERCHANT NETWORKS FEATURNING THE BOYD FAMILY
Danson House, Bexley Heath, Kent, England
Friday, 15 May 2009
Dear Richard and Jerri Lynn,
Congratulations on your brilliant Clan Boyd website. It is of marvellous
assistance to Boyd researchers all over the world!
There is a long build-up history to the Boyd symposium taking place at
Danson House next May. The first question you will undoubtedly have is -
since when is the Boyd family Huguenot (French Protestant)? The answer is
that the Boyd family in question had Scottish roots and was a junior branch
of the Boyds of Kilmarnock but had settled in France, first in La Rochelle
(they were driven from there by the siege of La Rochelle) and later in
Bordeaux from the early 1600s. 'Our' Boyds were prominent, wealthy merchants
who specialized, whilst they were in France, in the sugar refining and wine
industries.
Please forgive me if the story that follows sounds rather rambling but I
think it is important that you know the context of the Danson House Boyd
symposium, the details of which I (and my fellow Boyd researchers) hope you
will post on your website.
The story begins in Charleston, South Carolina or is it Aberdeen, Scotland?
What happened was that the University of Aberdeen, Scotland was doing some
spring-cleaning of its manuscript collections and came across some unusual
documents amongst the Fraser papers (the Fraser in question has been a Royal
Librarian in England in the late 1600s and left his papers to the
university). The documents in question were two letters in French from
members of 'our' Boyd family. The first letter was from Jean [John] Boyd 1st
who was still stuck in Bordeaux, France afer the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes of 1685 when things had become highly unpleasant for Protestants
there, begging his 'cousin' Fraser for help in obtaining a passport to get
out of France so that he could get to England or Scotland (he mentions that
he had spent many years in Scotland in his youth). The second letter, dated
1692, was from Jean [John] Boyd 2nd [son of Jean 1st] written from
Charleston, South Carolina addressed to his sister in London (sent care of
Fraser). This letter gives a detailed description of the newly established
town of Charleston, its flora, fauna and customs of the local indians along
with a map. A very detailed descripion and transcripts of these documents
and the whole history behind them has been published in the Transactions of
the Huguenot Society of South Carolina [authors Harriott Cheves Leland and
Dianne W. Ressinger]. I will be happy to mail you a copy of this if you
would like to receive it.
The present-day Aberdeen University academic who found the above-mentioned
letters felt that they would be of interest to historians in Charleston and
copies in due course found their way to the desk of H. Cheves Leland who is
the Archivist of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina. She summoned the
assistance of Dee Ressinger (a Hug. Soc. of S.C. member who has already
translated and published two sets of Huguenot memoirs from seventeenth
century French into English as well as undertaking detailed background
research on them in France, England, Ireland and the US) and the two ladies
set about translating the letters and researching the background history.
Jean Boyd 2nd and several of his brothers had arrived in Charleston having
escaped from France via England in the early 1690s (probably in their own
ship) along with a considerable amount of capital. They acquired a large
amount of land in SC and sought to establish a winery. This did not succeed
as quickly as they hoped (probably due to the lack of infastructure needed
for such a project). 'Our' Boyds were born and bred in France and were
French speakers. This family had been intermarried for several generations
with key French Protestant merchant families (including Faneuil). They were
considered to be leading members of the Huguenot community of South Carolina
throughout the 1690s and were mentioned in lots of documents. However, since
their business affairs did not progress as they hoped they decided (whilst
retaining some land and business interests in SC) to return to Europe
(Ireland to be exact).
I should mention at this point that Jean [John] Boyd 2nd was the father of
Augustus Boyd who is already mentioned on your website and the grandfather
of Sir John Boyd of Danson House. Incidentally one of Jean 2nd's brothers
George remained in France (despite remaining a Protestant) and his
descendants continued to operate vineyards and wineries. One wine the
extremely high quality Chateau Boyd-Cantenac. This Chateau and vineyard near
Bordeaux is no longer owned by Boyds but retains the name.
Cheves Leland and Dee Ressinger in the course of their researches discovered
that there was an amazing Boyd international merchant network which operated
(along with allied families into which they had married) between the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The only way to research a global
family is to network information internationally so they contacted a number
of academic historians who specialized in multinational merchant networks,
each of whom had discovered one piece of the Boyd jig-saw but none were
aware of the big picture.
This is how the Danson House symposium came about. The gathering together of
all the Boyd researchers in one place on one day to pool information face to
face. The leading speakers at the Symposium, which is being chaired by
Professor John Miller of Queen Mary College, Univeristy of London are:
Professor David Hancock, Univeristy of Michigan, Professor Bertrand van
Ruymbeke, University of Paris 8 and Professor Louis Cullen of Trinity
College Dublin.
The formal notice of the symposium is as follows:
DANSON HOUSE SYMPOSIUM - 15 MAY 2009
For Bookings contact: Janet Hearn-Gillham of Danson House, Bexley Heritage
Trust, England
Email:
janet.hearn-gillham "at" bexleyheritagetrust.org.uk
A one day symposium on international Huguenot merchant networks, featuring
the Boyd family, is being co-sponsored by Bexley Heritage Trust, The
Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Huguenot Society of
South Carolina. It will take place in the unique setting of Danson House,
Bexley Heath, Kent, England, the former home of Sir John Boyd, (near London)
on Friday, 15 May 2009 commencing at 9.30am. It will be chaired by Professor
John Miller Queen Mary College, University of London. Speakers are:
Professor Louis Cullen, Trinity College Dublin; Professor David Hancock,
University of Michigan, Professor Bertrand van Ruymbeke, University of Paris
8, Harriott Cheves Leland Huguenot Society of South Carolina; Dianne W.
Ressinger, Huguenot Society of South Carolina; Daniel McGill, Ballycastle
Historical Research Group [Co. Antrim, N. Ireland] and Vivien Costello,
Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
A mercantile cadet branch of the Boyds of Kilmarnock, Scotland moved to
France in the early 1600s, settling first in La Rochelle and subsequently
Bordeaux. The French Boyds adhered to Protestantism, prospered and married
into Huguenot families, thereby becoming allied to the illustrious merchant
dynasties of Faneuil and Thauvet. At the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685, Jean [John] Boyd the first, along with one of his sons George
remained in Bordeaux whilst other family members fled abroad. Initially the
exiled Jean [John] Boyd the second settled in South Carolina and as part of
a letter addressed to his sister Madelaine in London, compiled the earliest
known map and description of Charleston. Subsequently he moved to Ireland
where several family members also remained. Meanwhile his son Augustus was
sent to the West Indian island of St. Christopher [St. Kitts] where he made
a fortune managing and owning plantations. Augustus brought his family to
England in 1735 and settled in Lewisham near London. His son John
inheritated his assets, became a baronet and built an imposing mansion
Danson House at Bexley Heath, Kent. Sir John Boyd (first baronet)'s grandson
Sir John Boyd (third baronet) by marrying Harriet Boyd of Ballycastle, Co.
Antrim, Ireland, linked two ancillary branches of the Kilmarnock Boyd
family, the last of whom was Kathleen Boyd of Ballycastle who died in 1944.
Thanks to some recently discovered manuscripts, fascinating details about
the international business activities of the Boyds and their associates
during the eighteenth century have emerged. Amongst the commodities they
traded were Caribbean sugar, French wine, Irish food provisions and slaves
from the Bance Island slave factory, Sierra Leone, Africa.
The conference fee for the whole day is only £ 35.00 including lunch and a
tour of Danson House. There is an additional dinner in the evening in the
Danson Library for an extra £ 45.00 but that is an optional extra and has
really been put on so that all the Boyd research addicts can congregate and
talk about Boyds into the night (having travelled from the four corners of
the globe to get there).
Regards.
Vivien Costello huguenotdocs"at" hotmail.com
41 Evora Crescent, Howth,
Co. Dublin, Ireland
PART
ONE
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