Hi I am looking for any information on Thomas Hibbert (date of birth unknown) who was part of the British Army who came to Africa to fight the Boer War (1899-1902 I think) he defected to the Boer side and married and unknown French Huguenot Lady, they had 5 sons and 2 daughters, Ben (don't know if short for Benjamin or Bernard), Edward Alfred (born 1913, died 2007), Arthur, John, Thomas, Dora and Lorraine. Ben is my grandfather, and married Mary Petrie Walter, they had a lot of children, my father - Arthur Matthew Hibbert and his other siblings were all given away to various people, so my late father believed he was the only child, my late father had my brother John Arthur Hibbert and me - Carol Linda Hibbert. On my late dad's birth certificate it has his father down as Ben Hibbert born Ireland, but we are certain this is not right, I have tried every avenue to get more information, but just don't know how. I would like to trace my roots back to Thomas so that I can "return home".
silver2013
Wednesday 3rd Jul 2013, 06:56AMMessage Board Replies
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Hibbert is not a common name in Ireland. There were only 16 people of that name in the 1901 Irish census:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
You?ll notice that most of them were born in England or Wales. So essentially it?s an English name, and there's therefore a strong chance your family originated there rather than in Ireland.
I looked at the birth registration index for Ireland 1864 to 1885. There?s no-one named Thomas or Ben(jamin) Hibbert born in Ireland during that period at all. There was an Arthur Hibbert in Cavan in 1865, an un-named male in Dublin South 1869 and another in 1871 and Francis Gordon Hibbert in Omagh 1875.
The 2 un-named children seem the most likely possibles. They would be about the right age to be in the Boer War. In the early days of birth registration it wasn?t uncommon to register a birth without the child?s name (strange as that may seem). It happened in neo-natal cases too but in these two, there are no balancing deaths and so both must be presumed to have lived.
Proving that either was your Thomas could be tricky. Baptism records would probably be the best bet. So you would need to order the birth certs, and then assuming you know the denomination (try Church of Ireland), check the local baptism records to get the child?s name.
Another angle would be to look for Thomas?s military records. They should be in the National Archives in Kew, London to see what they say about his origins.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/army.htm
Ancestry also has some British military records on-line. You could try that site.
Ahoghill Antrim
Wednesday 3rd Jul 2013, 09:09AM -
Thank you so much for that information so quickly, I will try my best. Kindest regards Carol
silver2013
Wednesday 3rd Jul 2013, 09:17AM