I am researching my ancestors Captain William Lingard b.1831 and his nephews, Jim (James) Lingard b.1861 and Joshua Lingard b.1856. All were UK born traders in the Malaya/ Straits Settlements region up to the 1920's.William returned to the UK and died there in 1888. Jim died in Surabaya in 1921 and Joshua in Penang in 1915.

I know that William, Jim and Joshua all spent time in Singapore and that Jim's 4 children: Edward b.1896, Nelly b.1899,Walter James .1901 and Albert Joshua b.1910 were all educated in Singapore.Edward and Albert both became engineers and Nelly a school teacher. Nelly and Albert died in Singapore in the 1980's.

Captain William Lingard apparently married a Dutch Indonesian woman- Joanna Almayer (Olmeijer?). There may have been a daughter from this marriage that lived in Singapore in a house that her father bought her before returning to England.

Any information relating to any Lingard's in Singapore would be much appreciated.

Very interesting family. Fortuitous as I have not done a search on this for some years and just chanced to type in in today.

Cap William was a widely regarded sailor by the Indonesians (Datu Raja de Laut) ahd due to his prowess he founded a trading post on the Berau river in Borneo - where he posted one of his Singapore employees there - William Olmiejer (uncertain of spelling without my docs). Later when his nephews arrived Jim also went to live on the post where he stayed until long after William had abandoned his trading buisness following the introduction of steam ships.
I am interested that he died in the UK (is this verifyable whene did he arrive back from the east?) as he disappeared from Singapore debt laden and after scuttling one of his ships.
Your spelling Almayer comes from the Joseph Conrad book Almayers Folly this is Conrads Anglisised spelling - I am uncertain if William married a woman of this name also.
I believe Conrad did not meet Jim Lingard but he used his name in the titling of his book Lord Jim.
The novel Outcast of the Islands also refers to his Borneo experience.

I visited the Berau and Surabaya locations and the Olmiejer gravesites in 1993
I also understand that you also have relatives in Australia?!

Great to hear from someone else that is researching the family. Are you a descendant of the Lingards or Olmeijers?

My great-grandfather was Edward Lingard, son of Jim. He migrated with his Borneo born wife and children to Australia during World War II. So yes there is an Australian branch as well as a Mexican branch too. Walter, also one of Jim's sons settled in Mexico in the 1930's and had three children there.

I have not verified that Capt William Lingard did die in the UK ie by accessing his death certificate. I found a record in the Free BMD Index of a death in 1888 for a William Lingard in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Lancashire.This is the region he was born in.

I think I got some information from one of Norman Sherry's books (who as you probably know wrote alot about Conrad and his real life life inspirations) about him returning to the UK, possibly in 1883? And that in his will, he left his assetts in Asia to Jim and his assetts in UK to another nephew (not sure who?) which included a public house called 'Royal Oak'.

According to family anecdote he married a Joanna Olmeijer who may have died before hi sreturn to England. I have not been able to verify this or find evidence of any pffspring. However, in one of Sherry's books he makes reference to a Miss Brooksbank of Singapore, grand daughter of William.

What is your email address-we can discuss further. Mine is ashram25@hotmail.com

Do you know anything about Joshua's wife and if there was any children? He apparently died in Penang and his wife could have been Thai? Or anything about who Jim's wife was?

Are you able to view my family tree? I have done a bit of work on the Lingards of Lancashire. Jim's father was a 'beer traveller' (or a publican).Do you have any more info about them?

Did you see Jim's grave in Surabaya?
Cheers

A book titled Joseph Conrad: Third World Perspectives by Hamner p34, says that William Lingard died in Macclesfield, Chesire 27 May 1888 and that the Straits Times for the 5 September 1888 carried an obituary. See link below.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=i1Ty1dv-9AIC&printse...

Also om the Free BMD there is a death record for a William Lingard b.1830 d.June 1888 Macclesfield, Chesire.

What do you think?

Seems strange that there is so much mystery around when and where William died if there was an obit in the newspaper...Not sure how to view the Straits Times though.

hi

all i can tell you about the lingards goes as far as my grandfather, Walter Lingard b. 1901 refers.

At some point from borneo, he traveled to Australia. Years after, he travelled to London, where he stayed for some more years. Then he went to the United States, and afterward to Mexico. Here he met who would be his future wife, Yvonne Woog Cuervo, who had french blood. Here they married, and had 3 children: Graciela Lingard Woog (the eldest), Walter Lingard Woog, and Roberto Lingard Woog, my father.

Each one of them had family as follows:

Graciela married to Mauricio Gay, had 2 children, Mauricio and Fabian, and then she divorced. Still lives joyfully :)

Walter died on February 21st 1996. He married to Olga Gonzalez Boland, and had two children two, Walter Lingard Gonzalez and Olga Lingard Gonzalez. They are the eldest of my cousins.

Roberto died in 1996 too. he married to Susana de la Vega Andere and had two children: Roberto and Yvonne Lingard de la Vega.

thats as far as my knowledge on the lingard last name goes. Ive always been eager to learn more about it, so thx for the research done!!!!!!!!!!!!

So who are you?????

You were wondering about the Olmeijer family. They were planters from Surybaya (sp?) and there were 11 children in the family. William Olmeijer is the character around whom Joseph Conrad created his first novel, Almayer's Folly, although the account is mostly fictional. My connection is to Marie Sophia Olmeijer, who is my great great great grandmother. She married the photographer Walter Bentley Woodbury when he was working in Java (a love match--he was smitten when he saw her as a schoolgirl on her way to Singapore to school). He took her back to England, which was not a good move for her as the Dutch attitude to interracial people or marriages was much more relaxed than Victorian England's. However Walter Bentley was an inventor and he had to patent the Woodburytype in England. (Google "Walter Bentley Woodbury" or "Woodburytype" and watch the screen light up.) Marie outlived Walter, remarried and outlived a second husband then moved to the Barbados where she married a third and younger husband and lived happily until 1941.

Hi. I have just read your information regarding Marie Sophia Olmeijer. She was my great great great great grandmother from my maternal side. My Grandfather's Grandmother was Constance Woodbury. I presume she was Marie's daughter. I was wondering if you had any information regarding her children. Constance married William Mather in South Africa.

Thanks

Jacqui

Have you contacted Jennifer Mather? She is the genealogist of the Constance branch of the family as she is a great grandaughter of Constance and Walter Mather. I'm the great granddaughter of Hermance. Constance married twice, being widowed from Arthur Bentley (possibly a relative) with three small children. She and her sister Mayence went out to South Africa. Constance stayed, married Walter Mather, had eight more children, opened a boarding house and lived into her nineties. Mayence and her husband (maybe) W. S. Bent went north to Nairobi where they tried farming but Mayence ended up opening the Stanley hotel, which she ran with her second husband,Fred Tate, until Fred's health necessitated a return to England in 1937. She kept part ownership of the hotel until 1948, was the guest of honour at the opening of the New Stanley Hotel, and lived to her nineties too. She had one daughter, Gladys.
Muriel in Chilliwack