In Search of the Blackard Origins in Scotland

A few Blackard family origin legends say the family is of English origin, however, the majority of the family stories passed down describe the Blackard family as Scot-Irish or Scottish.

Kate Blackard said this about Charles Blackard in a 1960 letter to her nephew Henry Doug Blackard: "Charlie Blackard was said to be a Scot Highland lad, came down into Wales and met and fell in love with a Welch girl. They were married and had two children, then decided to come to America..."

One source which is considered rather unreliable among professional genealogists states that the Blackards are from Aberdeen, Scotland. In "Armorial Families of Great Britian" by Fox Davies it states "The first known Blackards lived near Aberdeen, Scotland. Came to America through the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Some settled in North and South Carolina, others in Tennessee. Research of available records indicate that some of the descendants came to Virginia after the Revolutionary War."

I learned in talking with Charles Clay Blackard now of Florida, great great grandson of Stephen Thomas, that the youngest daughter of Stephen Thomas Blackard had told him unquestionably that the Blackards came to America from Glasgow, Scotland where they were working as woodworkers or cabinetmakers.

I also learned from Robert Blackard, now of Connecticut, that his aunt was a Blackard historian and told him that the Blackards were working in Glasgow around 1720. It is interesting to note that these two branches of the family have been separated for 200 years and both passed down a reference to Glasgow, Scotland!

Contrary to these stories, no-one has ever found any evidence that the Blackard ever lived in Scotland prior to the arrival of our family in America. In fact, the name Blackard was recorded only in England in the British Isles prior to 1790-1800.

The 1920 U.S. Census for Kings, Brooklyn , New York includes a Charly Blackard who was born in Scotland as was his father. However, both his mother and wife were from Holland. His wife's nationality was given as "Scot" even though born in Holland.

This would put the birth of Charly Blackard's in Scotland around 1790-1800. This does place at least one Blackard family in Scotland around 1790-1800 which is a first in our research.

I contacted an independent genealogy enthusiast in Fife Scotland and he told me that he personally could find no information on the Blackard family, even though the LDS does have a record of a marriage there for Margaret Blackard. I guess that means that her husband was from Fife, but the rest of her family was not.

I contacted John Blachard of the Northeast Scotland Family History Society and they gave a negative also - "I have just checked our vast collection of membership (11, 240) Pedigree charts and not one Blackard among them so that confirms that the North East is not the place to look."

The Guild of One-Name Studies group have research the following several surnames which are probably of the same Norman/German origin as BLACKARD: Blancher Blandchard Blanchette Blanchord Blancherd Blansher Blanshette Blanshord Blansherd.

I hired KBA Research of Cambridgeshire, England to research the Blackards in the UK.

Their first search was of the records of Aberdeen including parish records, etc from which they reported the following:

"Aberdeenshire Indexes for the family and reports:
At Kennethmont,
Baptisms:
William Blenchart, son of Robert, bapt 23 Sept 1728
Robert, ditto, bapt 9 Dec 1733
Helen, ditto, bapt 30 June 1730

William Blenchart, son of George, bapt 13 Sept 1734
Mary, ditto, bapt 13 Oct 1730
Janet, ditto, bapt 13 Sep 1734

Auchindoir & Kearn,
Baptisms:
James Blanshart, son of Robert, bapt 17 July 1720

Now it should be noted that the baptims at Kennthmont started in 1728, so that earlier children of that Robert may not show up, and the marriages don't "start" until 1740...

A & K's baptisms start in 1694 and the marriages in 1705.

There's a Robert Blenshart who married an Agnes Murray at A & K on 27 November 1719, which is good timing for that A & K baptism and the subsequent
baptisms as Kennethmont. Someone of that sort of name may have stayed on at Kennethmont, as an Elizabeth Blanchart married Robert Dawson on 11 August
1751 (also recorded at Gartly on 28 August 1751). No way of knowing, though, which party lived in which parish, and we don't know who were Elizabeth's
parents!

I agree that Aberdeen was of no help; however, this area was searched because it was the main Scottish port for emigrants to America. Also, there were a great many children from all over Scotland who were lured by the prospect of a better life, only to find that they were sent into bondage to the plantations and other parts of America. I will switch the remainder of the search to non-conformists and see whether I can find a Welsh connection. "

Next they checked for potential Blackards among the colonists who came over with William Penn and Hugenots at the Society of Genealogists in London and the Friends Library in London:

"This week I visited the Friends Library in London, where they have many records of the Quakers who emigrated to William Penn's colony. Whilst searching through these records for another client, I checked for the name Blackhard/Blanchard, but did not find anything. "

"There are no Welsh Emigration Records - Welsh people would have emigrated from English ports and, as you know, the passenger lists, apart from a few earlier ones, were not kept prior to 1891.

I have now searched the Hugenot lists at the Society of Genealogists and found: Jasper Blanchard, who was a German in the parish of Christ Church, London, in 1571.

John Blankarde, his wife Barbara and daughter Jane, of Broad Street, London, in 1582-3.

Stephen Blanchard first appears in 1541 at St Mary's, Wolneth, in 1567 in Aldersgate and in 1568 in St Oliffe's at Crouched Frier.

Peter/Peir Blanchart, a Silk Weaver, born in Flanders, who appears in 1618 at Bishopsgate and in 1621 with one child at St Botolphs.

All the above, with the exception of Jasper, were French. It should also be noted that Jasper also appears as Jasper Blankard and that he arrived in England in 1564.

I think that, when searching, we not rule out the names Blackberd/Blackbeard"

Next KBA Research searched the Parish records of Glasgow, Scotland to attempt to verify a record in the IGI of an Elizabeth Blackit married there in 1749. They found nothing to confirm this IGI data, unfortunately.

Next, I contacted another professional genealogist in Lenark, Glasgow, Scotland about searching for the Blackard family there and verifiying the Blackit IGI marriage. She assured me that there would be nothing to be found in the time frame that our family might have been there.

I did find a large family named Blaiker located near Lenark, Glasgow, Scotland where some of these stories say the Blackards once lived. In an attempt to look at families that may have had a parallel histiry, I found records of a Barclay family is from Ury, Scotland where the Blaiker family originated. This Barclay group relocated to Ireland and then Barbados soon after 1741. Then they arrived in New Jersey and followed the Great Wagon Road down to Rowan, County NC in 1755.

I did find one reference to a tobacco merchant identified as Francis Blackie residing in Glasgow, Scotland at the time of a parish census. Given that we know of a Francis Blackard in Barbados and that Barbados and Glasgow were connected in the tobacco trade this is an interesting lead. However, I have not yet followed this up.

Conclusions

Despite the ubiquitous family legends of the Blackards coming from Glasgow or Aberdeen, Scotland, there is still no evidence to substantiate these legends.

The most probable origin of this legend would be if the Blackard family came to the Americas from a port in Scotland, not that they necessarily ever lived there.

The French Hugenaut Blanchard family were in Aberdeen and have many descendents there today. They could be the source of the rumor that the Blackards came from there. In fact, there are some family stories that the Blackard family resulted in a name-change from Blanchard. However, recent DNA testing has shown that the Blackard family are not even remotely related to any of the three branches of the Blanchard family in America.

I have found the names Blackie and Blaiker located in or near Glasgow, Scotland. However, unless additional information is found or additional DNA testing performed, there is no way of knowing whether our Blackard family is in any way related to either of these two sound-alike names from Lenark and Glasgow.