The Life of
Captain John Christmas
1753-1822
By
Lawrence Christmas and Susanne Christmas
June 2007
Captain John Christmas was a pivotal figure in the Christmas family
tree. First, he changed his
descendents’ surnames from Smith to
Christmas. Second, he established
the Danish branch of a family which had previously lived in England and Ireland.
Third, his life is unusually well documented, although certain accounts are
laced with erroneous information.
And finally, John Christmas was remarkable in that he lived through
the period of the Napoleonic Wars, captained voyages to India and to the
West Indies, achieved substantial wealth, and had children with at least
four women.
John Christmas Smith was baptized in Bideford, England on December
21, 1753. His father was Edward
Smith, a prosperous Bideford merchant.
John’s mother was most probably Judith Rebecca
Hopkins. The evidence is as
follows:
1) Edward Smith’s
will identifies his wife as “Judith Rebecca” and his son as John
Christmas while the christening record for John Christmas Smith identifies
his mother simply as
“Judith;”
2) There is a christening
record for a Judith Rebecca Hopkins of Bideford dated June 24,
1730. Meanwhile, a large memorial plaque honoring Edward and
Judith Rebecca Smith in Saint Mary’s Anglican Church in Bideford, states
that “Judith Rebecca Smith, his wife, died July 7th, 1797,
aged 67.” This date of
death and attained age are consistent with the christening date cited above
for Judith Rebecca
Hopkins.
3) In the will of Elizabeth
Hopkins (dated 1750), mother of Judith Rebecca Hopkins, an Edward Smith is
named as the “curator assigned to Judith Rebecca Hopkins spinster, a
minor . . . until she shall attain the age of twenty one years . . .
“ Also, the 1770 will of James Hopkins, Judith
Rebecca’s brother, identifies John Christmas Smith as a contingent
beneficiary living in Port,
Portugal.
A search by the authors of parish records in Devon County for a marriage
record of Edward Smith and Judith Hopkins, either to each other or to anyone
else, was unsuccessful. Further
information regarding the Hopkins family is presented further
below.
Smith Family in Bideford, Devon
An account
of John Christmas Smith’s ancestry in England is offered in a journal
entitled Devon and Cornwall Notes and
Queries. In that document a query dated July 9, 1910 (pp. 209-212)
asks whether members of the Christmas family from Waterford, Ireland owned
land or lived near Bideford, England.
The questioner goes on to summarize the story of John Christmas “who
is stated to have been born there in 1757 or 1759, and when settling in Denmark
in 1790 he obtained royal license . . . to use the name - and arms - of Christmas
as his surname instead of Smith, Christmas being presumably the name of his
mother.”
The response to the query is provided in a narrative description of John
Christmas’ “probable decent” beginning with Thomas Christmas
of Waterford (1622-1704) and his wife Elizabeth Gamon, daughter of James
Gamon of Barnstaple, a merchant.
Their son, John Christmas, is also said to be a merchant of Barnstaple
who, with his second wife Margaret Rolle, had a daughter named Jane who marries
an Edward Smith of Westleigh.
Edward and Jane have a son named Edward Smith who is thought to be
the father of John Christmas Smith. This account offers no suggestion as
to the identity of John’s mother.
Supporting evidence for this “Notes and Queries” article
has been found in the form of a marriage record for “Jane Chrismas”
to “Edward Smyth” as well as the above mentioned Christening record
for John Christmas Smith and will of his father, Edward
Smith.
A search of the internet (Google) led to the Medical Archives at the
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore,
Maryland. The H. Hanford Hopkins
IV papers found there include a description of a Captain William Hopkins,
mariner of Bideford, Devonshire England and Chestertown, Maryland where he
died in 1743. According to these
papers, Capt. Hopkins was baptized in 1693 as reported in the Register of
St. Peter’s Parish, in Barnstaple.
According to the IGI, William Hopkins was married to Elizabeth Juliott,
on October 8, 1719, in Bideford.
He later left his daughter, Judith, in Buckland Brewer, North Devon,
England when he sailed with his wife and son to
Chestertown. As already
mentioned, there is evidence in two Hopkin’s wills of a close connection
between that family and Edward Smith and his son, John Christmas
Smith.
It is not clear how or even whether this branch of the Hopkins family
is related to the industrialist Johns Hopkins who funded the establishment
of the John Hopkins medical facility in
Baltimore. This is the very
prominent institution which pioneered the introduction of science into American
medical education. Another remarkable coincidence is the fact that Capt.
Hopkins, the grandfather of John Christmas Smith, died in Chestertown, Maryland
in 1743, prior to the settlement there in 1760 of the Rev. William Barroll
IV, an English ancestor of co-author Lawrence’ mother: Eleanor Barroll
Christmas.
Childhood of John Christmas Smith
Almost nothing is known about John’s
childhood. A great grandson,
Walter Christmas, believed that John was “educated (or became an officer)
in the English Royal Navy but left
early.”
The first documented record of his life after his baptism appears in the
will of his mother’s brother, James Hopkins, recorded in 1770 when John,
then just 17 years old, was already living in Oporto,
Portugal. It can be assumed
that he was employed in some capacity in Oporto’s export business given
that his future wife was a member of an English wine merchant family then
operating out of Oporto.
Charlotte Maria Bearsley, Wife No.
1
The next record of John Christmas Smith pertains to his marriage to Charlotte
Maria Bearsley on February 24, 1778.
The marriage took place in Masarellos near Oporto (or Porto),
Portugal. While living in Portugal,
Charlotte gave birth to four daughters (Charlotte Maria, Sophia, Laura, and
Susan.)
Charlotte Maria Bearsley was a daughter of a prominent English family which, since 1692, had produced and exported wine from Portugal to England and other countries. The successor firm still does business under the name Taylor-Fladgate and Co. That Charlotte Maria’s father was a man of wealth is suggested by Capt. John Christmas in a letter written in 1799 to one of his brothers when he states: “. . . has she not the uncontrolled disposal of the fortune she may have from her father, and surely that is sufficient.”
The couple later moved back to England where, on March 3, 1784, a daughter, Jane Bearsley, was baptized. Edward Smith was baptized on July 14, 1786 while William Christmas was baptized in May of 1788. In July of that year the couple separated. The occasion of this separation was probably the departure of John to India on the Mathilda Maria as supercargo with C.P. Geicken.
A
formal separation agreement was signed in
1796. This agreement was coupled
with a “gift” from John to Charlotte and her children as described
in Articles of Separation,
1796:
“Whereas (John and Charlotte Maria) were married at Oporto in
the Kingdom of Portugal in 1778 and there is issue of the said marriage now
loving, five children, Charlotte Maria, Sophia, Laura, Susanna and Edward
Christmas, all infants under the age of 21. And Whereas some unhappy differences
have arisen between (John and Charlotte Maria) in consequences thereof they
separated in July 1788 and have not seen each other
since. And the said (John and
Charlotte Maria) conceiving that it may be for their mutual comfort to continue
such separation have agreed to live separate and apart from each other during
the remainder of their lives. And in order to make a competent provision
for the said Charlotte Maria his wife and their five children hath deposited
in the hands of (Trustees William Webb, Thomas Smith and James Smith) the
sum of L5,000 sterling and also a Bond or Obligation bearing date at Copenhagen
24 September 1796 entered into by John unto Charlotte Maria in the penal
sum of L 6,000 for the payment of L3,000 with interest at
5% per
annum.
Later correspondence between John and his brothers in England reveal his bitterness toward Charlotte Maria whom he considered a spendthrift. In a letter to a brother, dated June 26, 1801, Christmas states his case:
“Dear Brother,
“From the 4th of May I have been confined to my bed by a complication
of disorders, pleurisy, gout & bile – it is only two days since
I was allowed to open any letter received in my
illness. I shall reply to yours
of the _____ Inst. As well as my
present very weak state will
permit.”
“As this is the only time I mean to write upon this subject,
let me be explicit – I will pay the money when I think proper &
not before. This I am allowed to do and it is well I took such proper predautions
when I resolved to bestow upon Mrs. Smith’s children so large a party
of my prosperity. I was advised
to do it in the only manner which in Denmark would make it lawful. I laid
before the Court of Chancery a schedule of all my effects by which I proved
that the sum I alienated to them of L8,000 or 40,000 ? Kroner was more than
the full moiety of all I possessed, even valuing what I had still outstanding
in Asia. I then (as is usual here) asked his Majesty’s permission to
pay them out L5,000 or 25,000 ? Kroner in cash, and to give a bond for the
remainder – and knowing the vile, base character of the woman I had
to deal with, who I knew would take advantage of the first disastrous moment
to drive me if possible to ruin, I further requested that it might be at
my option to chose my own time for the payment, or even to leave it unpaid
till my death. This was granted, and a King’s Resolution, which is here
law, issued accordingly. And it would have been extremely unjust had it been
otherwise – for the whole L8,000 was a free gift, which I might have
retained, if I had not preferred their comforts to my own and now I receive
their thanks for
it.
“It has cost me much to write this long
letter. I repeat I will pay
the money only when I please and that will depend upon the times, upon the
return of Peace and
Tranquility.
“If you are not satisfied with this, begin to sue me when you will,
but this I must say for the Honor of Denmark, that in Copenhagen you will
not find a lawyer base enough to undertake so infamous a cause – I will
add but one thing more, that if any indirect course of application is taken
in this affair, as in that of the papers sent out by Mr. Van
(
? ), from that moment I will stop the interest of the L3,000
and finish all communication with the family for
ever.
“I am yours sincerely, J.
Christmas
At
least one brother, a trustee of the funds Christmas established for her,
apparently agreed that she was not very
worthy:
“I am sorry to say Mrs. John’s conduct as to her money is
highly blameable – she is in debt I suspect everywhere & ever will
be so – not content with her own house in the best part of the season
last summer she trebles her expenses at Clifton & in the winter at
Bath.”
“I am sorry to add that her daughters idolize & imitate her
very foibles & when Sophia and Susan were going to Portugal they badgered
me for hours to have some money sold out . . . .
“
“It is impossible to give you an idea of the giddy short sightedness
of the whole family- all they think of is the making a shew by debts or any
way & never look even year before
them.” (letter to Tom,
signed James Smith, Bath, February
24th,
1806)
While the first half of Capt. John’s life must remain largely
a mystery, one can make surmises.
We know from his uncle’s will that John was already living in
Porto, Portugal by the age of 17 years. We know that at age 23 he married
a woman from a wine exporting family, and that two years later his father
died leaving a will which forgave a “Bond debt of six hundred pounds
which he (John Christmas Smith) owes
me.” Later we learn that
John sailed to India as “supercargo” 1788 (age
35.)
In retrospect, it would not be surprising to learn that John’s parents decided to send their first son to Porto to apprentice with an English merchant and/or to arrange for him to enlist as a junior officer on a merchant ship trading between Porto and various ports in England and elsewhere. The loan from his father could have been for the purpose of allowing the young man to engage in trade.
John’s Change of
Name
As a part of his apparent “mid-life crisis”, John also seems
to have invented a new identity for
himself. In his petition to
King George for a name change, he claimed
that:
“Whereas John Christmas Smith of Biddeford in our
county of Devon Esquire hath, by his petition, humbly represented unto us
that being maternally descended from the family of Christmas of Waterford
in Our Kingdom of Ireland, he is desirous to take upon him and use the surname
of Christmas only, and bear the Arms of the Family of
Christmas.”
The petition
was granted by this document (See College of Arms MS. I.34, p. 233) on November
24, 1790
While John may have intended to use the term “maternal”
as a reference to his father’s mother, Jane Christmas, it is also possible
that he was falsely suggesting a close relationship to later generations
of the Waterford Christmases when he named his second, Danish born son George
Beresford
Christmas.
The Beresfords were and are a renowned aristocratic Waterford family and,
in fact, a Lady Beresford did marry a Thomas Christmas in
1748. Moreover, the “Waterford
branch” of the Christmas family, was descended from a Thomas Christmas
(1622-1704). Thomas, born
in England, had moved to Waterford where he became a Royalist officer during
the Civil War. He also served
for many years as an alderman in the Waterford Corporation (See paper on
Capt. Thomas Christmas by Lawrence
Christmas.) John Christmas Smith
likely received his middle name “Christmas” from his paternal
grandmother, Jane Christmas, who was a granddaughter of this same Thomas
Christmas. Her father, John
Christmas, had moved to Barnstaple rather than remain in Waterford with his
father.
In addition to changing his surname to that of a prominent English
family living in Ireland, Christmas may also have also taken some years off
of his actual age, perhaps to improve his chances when courting younger
girls. Danish genealogist
Fausboll’s accounts of the date of his birth vary from 1755 to 1759
while his actual baptism record states the year as
1753.
Polly Brown, Girlfriend No.
1
According to Sophie Zinn (see below), “Captain Christmas proposed to ‘the delightful’ Polly Brown but she was already engaged to Count Holck and had turned him down.” According to Fausboll (1941), Polly was the youngest child and very young daughter of John Brown, General War Commissary. Fausboll identifies the Count as Gustav Holck-Winterfeldt.
Sophie Zinn, Girlfriend No.
2
Soon after arriving in Copenhagen from India, Christmas began courting 17 year old Sophie Zinn, the daughter of a wealthy German merchant living in Copenhagen. Her account of their courtship and subsequent breakup after his return from a second trip between Copenhagen and India was later published in her dairy entitled Grandmama’s Confessions. .
FROM GRANDMAMA’S
CONFESSIONS
“During the winter of 1791, I made the acquaintance at “The
Crownprince’s Club” of an Englishman called John Christmas. He
had proposed to the lovely Polly Brown, but she was engaged to be married
to Count Holck and had turned him down. Still, he could not forget her and
appeared very melancholic. As
everyone knew why, this gave to him a certain interest in the eyes of the
women.
“He was also a beautiful man, a pity only that he spoke only
English well, and as the other young women would or could not speak that
language he mostly addressed himself to
me.
“He had business connections with my father and from time to
time dined with us. It pleased my father that he praised my English
pronunciation, and when one day at dinner he asked me if I had read Miss
Marney’s “Evelina”and “Cecilie” and I said no, he
asked my father’s permission to send
them. These novels were written
in quite a new taste which pleased me no
end. Now I didn’t read
anything but English and found nothing but English beautiful and
tasteful. In this way my reckless
and flighty nature has always taken me from one passion to
another.
“Christmas had decided to go to India on his own ship in the
spring. This brought him in
closer business contact with my father, and he visited us more
often. One day he negotiated
with my father about a consignment of wine he wanted to buy from him, but
they were not yet quite agreed on the
price. “I can’t give
you more for the wine,” said Christmas, “but I have brought with
me from India a very beautiful shawl.
Would you accept that instead of the pittance over which we cannot
agree?” I think the sum
was 50 Rigsdaler, and the shawl was worth twice as much, but my father who
always thought it possible to have women’s finery for nothing still
thought it was too much.
“Well,” he said, “as my wife got a shawl yesterday
from captain Kroyer, I will give this to my
daughter.”
“Christmas knew very well that my mother had had a shawl the
day before. He was with us when
the package in which were a shawl and a piece of batiste for my mother had
arrived from captain Kroyer, who commanded a ship for my
father. When my mother had chosen
the shawl and left to put it aside, Christmas said to me: “ I don’t
think you are pleased with your
bastite.” I answered that
I would certainly rather have had the shawl. I really did not know that Christmas
owned that sort of thing or I should not have said it, but the way in which
he fulfilled my wish without actually it being a present pleased
me.
“Little by little he grew less melancholy, and when one day my
father remarked on this, he answered in a merry tone of
voice: “Well, you can’t
grieve forever over a wrecked proposal.
Moreover I am now convinced that beauty alone cannot make such a lasting
impression on my heart as can brains and
wit.” It seemed to me that
he looked at me at the same time, and I think my father thought the same
because he suddenly turned the conversation to other
topics. When Christmas had left,
my father said: ”If Christmas says anything to you, refer him to me.”
I felt he said it in an angry voice and this made me so shy that I dared
hardly speak to Christmas when my father was
present. When my mother and
I were alone when Christmas visited us it was still
worse. My mother did not understand
English, and one day Christmas asked me if he had offended me and why I suddenly
had become such a stranger to him.
Of course, I answered that he was wrong, that I was as usual. He shook
his head ad said” “No, no. Towards me you are not as usual and
you don’t know how unhappy it makes
me.”
“This sounded much too beautiful in English! My thoughts were already
right in the middle of a novel, and this idea made me so merry that I had
one funny idea after the other. Even my father laughed at me at dinner and
said he had never heard so many jokes from me
before.
“Christmas had bought a house (the later Hotel Phoenix) and taken much
trouble in furnishing it after the latest
fashion. When he came to visit
us he always brought samples of silk and batiste and asked my mother and
me what we found most suiting for curtains, chairs, couches
etc. He always chose the samples
I liked, and when his house was finished he gave a ball to inaugurate it.
My mother had sprained her ankle and could not come but I drove there with
my father. Christmas received us at the carriage and offered me his
arm. My father stayed a little
behind to give orders to the servant.
As we were mounting the steps Christmas said: “I hope you will
find my house to your taste. My
dearest hope while furnishing it has been that perhaps some day you should
deign to share it with me.”
He then kissed my hand most tenderly and led me to the
ballroom.
“Among those dancing were some
Englishmen. He presented them
to me and himself engaged me for the first
dance. He didn’t dance
willingly and did so only moderately well, but as master of the house he
had to open the ball and I was much flattered that he chose me as his lady.
His house was most beautifully planned and I was glad to recognize in curtains,
couches and etc. the materials I had chosen
myself. Furthermore, there were
carpets on almost all the floors which at the time was very unusual in
Copenhagen. Almost only
English was spoken. Even the maid who poured tea, the tea-machine, cups,
porcelain, knives and forks were
English. It seemed to me as
if I were in England.
“Because I was young (17 years) and danced well, I had never been
superfluous at any ball, but this evening Christmas so openly made it clear
that I was “the lady of the ball”, the entire party distinguished
me, and I confess that this evening was a true triumph for my vanity. Even
my father had been conquered by the glory and attention bestowed on his
daughter. As we drove home at
night he said” “If Christmas were to stay in town and didn’t
have to go to India I would not mind your attachment to him, but I am mistrustful
of those long journeys and engagements. Even if I were sure of his fidelity to you I know your
flightiness and inconstancy too well.
I feel convinced that you could not go on loving a person whom you
didn’t see or correspond with for a year and a
half.
“I was a little offended by his words and kept quiet. “Can you
deny” he went on “that you liked Manza (Portuguese merchant) better
than Christmas? It isnot yet a year since he left and you have you not
already forgotten him?”
“Because you forbade me to answer his letter,” I said.
“Because you would have compromised yourself by doing so,” my father
answered. “I shall moreover,
in any case, forbid you all correspondence out of the country with any unmarried
man. I have no faith in the
kind of love that must be held together by
letters.”
“My father answered Christmas with the same words when shortly before
his departure he proposed to me.
As he seemed sorry, my father said “Do not take this as a no,
it is only that I do not want you and my daughter bound by mutual
promises. When you return from
India and are still of the same opinion we can discuss this
further.”
“Christmas found this most cruel and in the afternoon told me that my
father had not even allowed him to write
me. I did not deny that I, too,
found this a little hard, but I had such fear of my father that I certainly
should not have dared act against his
orders.
“At last came the hour of leave
taking. I could not hold back
my tears. Christmas, too, seemed
much affected. He embraced my
father and mother. He also embraced
me and said that he left the happiness of his life in my hands. He would
go, and yet he stayed. My father
had to remind him that the wind was
good. At last he tore himself
away, and a little later we heard a salute from his
ship. I felt as if each shot
pierced my heart and called a last farewell from him. I decided never to
forget him, never to love anybody
else.
“(At this time the French were very much in vogue in Denmark and people
sympathized with the thoughts of the French
Revolution. While Christmas
was away she meets a French merchant from Montpellier, Auguste Garonne, who
fell deeply in love with
her.)
“I considered myself engaged to Christmas whom I really liked. Garonne
meant nothing to me, and yet my vanity was flattered, and in this moment
I forgot my attachment to Christmas … What made me sorry was that for
a long time I had had no word from
Christmas. I knew that Erichsen
(a business-employee of her father) had several times had letters from him.
But since the first letter from which he had read out parts aloud to me,
he had no a single time brought me
greetings. Now Christmas could
daily be expected home, and I looked forward to that with hope and
fear.
“Shortly before he returned it was my 19th
birthday. (She gets several
gifts, among these a rose tree in bloom, but with no letter attached to it.
Erichsen came down from the office to congratulate her. He admired the beautiful
tree and could hardly believe she didn’t know who sent it.} “And
do you want me to believe you haven’t read this
note?” I really had not
noticed any note. It was pushed
between the foliage. Erichsen drew it out and handed it to me. It was
Garonne’s writing. I opened it and read” “I salute you, oh
April 15th, I salute you, oh day who saw the birth of Sophie!
Oh day that created virtue and the goodness of heart, grace, wit,
perfection. Oh, happy day, fulfill
your work, turn the heart of my friend. Were she taken to other latitudes
she should embellish them, and he who shall belong to her, will take the
form of her nature and become like her – twain of nature’s chosen
have you then created instead of one.
On April 15th, thou art holy to
me!”
“This was a sort of declaration which particularly embarrassed me as
Erichsen observed me all the time while I was
reading. When I had finished
he asked: “Do you still not know from whom it
is?” “There is no
signature,” I answered.
“Will you allow me to look at the handwriting, I may perhaps
know it,“ he said. What
could I do? I handed him the
note. When he had read it, he
said: “I have had letters from Montpellier by the same
hand.” I turned
red. “Then you do know from whom it comes, he went, on,
“poor Christmas!”
….
“My mother told me that Garonne had asked her who Christmas
was. My younger brother who
was present answered: “Don’t you know he is my sister’s
fiancée? He is
soon to return from India.”
My mother shamed him and told him not to talk of what he didn’t
know, but Garonne couldn’t hide the confusion in which this news brought
him. . .
“Oh, I was not happy.
Christmas had been in Copenhagen for three days and (he had) not yet
been with us. My father didn’t speak a word about him, but I could
see he was resentful. I could
neither eat nor drink. The fourth
morning I was so exhausted that I suddenly
fainted. My mother was most
anxious and sent for the doctor. I had, however, recovered and he advised her to take me
for a drive as the weather was
beautiful.
“I heard a carriage draw up in front of the
gate. I feared it might
be visitors and would go to my room so as not to have to receive
them. As I was leaving the room,
Christmas’ black servant comes towards me and announces his master.
I could hardly say he was welcome. I returned to the sitting room, and my
heart beat so violently that I had to sit down at a chair from which I could
hardly rise when Christmas entered.
His cold, earnest looks suddenly gave me back my
composure. I wished him welcome to Denmark and offered him a
seat.
He spoke of the weather, about his voyage and of a sudden said: “And
you are to leave us?” I
looked at him in wonder and didn’t know what to
answer. “You shall live
in a lovely country,” he went on “but among detestable
people. I hate the French
Republicans from the bottom of my
heart”
“I don’t understand,”
I said.
“I don’t believe you’ll deny”, he went on, “that
you are engaged to be married to citizen Garonne” (he put rather a malicious
accent on the word citizen), “that you wear the French national colors
and that at the French ball (which didn’t come off) you were to have
represented the Goddess of Reason, that you sing the Republic slaughter-hymns
and that these damned murderers are almost daily visitors to this
house.”
All my self-esteem arose: “Who, Sir, gives you the right to address
me in this way? I must ask you
to leave this room at once or I shall be forced to let call my father to
avoid your
insults.”
“So you show me the door”, said
Christmas. “Very well,
but may some day you will think of me when your new friends in France reward
your affection for them with the guillotine.” He
left.
“I didn’t know if I should laugh or
cry. Here, at the very place
where he threatened me with the guillotine, 18 months ago he had sworn me
his love. It seemed to me both
tragic and comic, and I laughed out
loud.
“When my father returned, he was quite surprised to see me so
cheerful. I told him that Christmas
had paid a visit and only spoken of trivial
matters. “So everything
is over between us”, I added “and I am free again, praise
God.” I dared not tell
my father what Christmas had said as I knew his temper. For a moment he looked
serious, then he said more mildly than I had expected” “There,
you see, it was a good thing I didn’t allow you to correspond with
him.”
“The next day the merry mood had
passed. I was
annoyed. I wished I had never
set eyes on any Frenchman. My pride and vanity were offended, my love for
Christmas had turned to hate. I felt that the best revenge would be to show
him how little I cared about him and his warnings . .
.
“I had scarcely seen Christmas the whole
summer. He never came to
Erichsen’s when the “commisaires” and the French Minister
were invited, and they always were invited together with us. At our home
he had only been once at a party for gentlemen only, and I didn’t converse
with him save for a single moment at the tea-table about trivialities which
were uttered and answered in cold politeness. . .
.
“At a ball: While the last dance before dinner was danced I saw Christmas
enter. He went straight to miss
Heinrich who was sitting this dance out and sat down at her side. I saw him
offer her his arm for the table and either by chance or malice he seated
himself opposite to Garonne and me. He seemed to court miss Heinrich. She
didn’t speak English and Christmas had to address her in French which
language he spoke indifferently.
We were dining at a narrow gala-table and therefore couldn’t
avoid hearing every word spoken by our opposite neighbors.
I sometimes had to bite my lip
not to laugh at the bad French Christmas
talked.
“As we left the table, Christmas in the throng happened to walk right
beside me. He said in an
undertone: “Oh, frailty,
thy name is woman.” This
annoyed me and I answered quite loudly: “and pray, Sir, have you no
name for your own sex? Garonne laughed and Christmas who had not imagined that
he understood English hurried into the ballroom with his
partner.
“(At this time – 1795-1807, Denmark was at war with
England. In 1801 and 1807 Copenhagen
was bombarded and the Danish fleet was
eliminated. Sophie is now married
to a Danish merchant in Helsinore called Thalbitzer (1767-1818) and the son
of Heinrich Thalbitzer and Rebecca Pinsum which indicates that he was of
German origin. She is expecting
her first child while her husband is on a journey to
Stockholm. During his absence,
Sophie’s father celebrates her 22nd birthday in Copenhagen.
A couple of days later she is invited to Erichsen’s with her parents.
Christmas took her into dinner. She was very sad over the absence of her
husband, “and although I didn’t at all feel angry towards him
(Christmas) as now he didn’t mean a thing to me, his courtesy was a
nuisance.”)
“When her child was three years old she learned that Christmas had married
Hanne Heinrich. Several years
later she writes: “I heard in Copenhagen that Mrs. Christmas had crowned
her scandalous behavior by running away from husband and
children. Some years later Hanne
Heinrich married the young doctor Lorenzen with whom she set off for the
West Indies. He died there a year ago and she has returned to Copenhagen
where now she lives on a pension given her by
Christmas”
Johanne Marie Heinrich,
Wife No.
2
There appears to have been yet another romance in Christmas’
life just prior to this second marriage.
The dairy of August Hennings, in an entry written during his stay
in Denmark in 1802, claims that Christmas had to pay another girl in Copenhagen
5000 rix-dollar in order to then marry
Johanne Marie Heinrich,
(1771-1808), daughter of a wealthy
merchant living in the Danish West
Indies. That marriage took place
in 1797 when she was 21 years of age.
She eventually bore him three children: Birthe, John, and George
Beresford.
In a
letter to Lucile Christmas Brewster (March, 1985), Vibeke
Ronje, descended from the Eskildsen
side of the Christmas-Eskildsen family in Denmark, offered a sympathetic
view of Captain John Christmas’ domestic
problems.
“He seems to have been a charming
man. When he arrived in Denmark
he had an unhappy marriage behind him where he had to give up three children
and he had to try to form a new
life.”
“The woman he married instead in 1799 (actually 1797) was an acquaintance
of Sophie’s - it was a narrow circle of people in a small town and she
was rather more interested in men than was thought proper for a girl of good
family as she was - and after a few years and three children she ran off
with the medical doctor Lorenzen(?) to St.
Croix. He died there within
a year and at the same time she had a baby by
him. The governor paid for her
return to Copenhagen and the Negro woman who accompanied
her. She was deserted by her family and very
poor. Christmas took pity and
paid her an
allowance.
According to co-author Susanne Christmas, Johanne did not “run off “ with Johannes Lorenzen. Rather she and John Christmas were separated in 1803. This seems to have been triggered by her alleged infidelity. According to August Hennings, Johanne had an affair with Captain Christmas’ groom. One can suppose this took place during one of Captain John’s sea voyages to India. Thereafter she left her three children with him and, in 1806, she married a garrison surgeon, Johannes Lorenzen, of St. Croix.
Was John A
Bigamist?
According to a letter from Thomas Smith to his brother John Christmas (August
1814), John technically committed bigamy under English law when he married
Johanne in Copenhagen while still married to, though legally separated from,
Charlotte Maria Smith, nee
Bearsley:
“The other Estate _______will
I conceive on your death go to your surviving daughters by ___ Smith –
for I consider your second marriage although it may be valid in Denmark would
not be legal by the Laws of England which do not allow a second marriage
to be good during the lifetime of the first wife unless the parties had been
divorced _____________________ by act of
Parliament.”
Anne Christine Lynge, Girlfriend No.
3;
In the 1801 Danish census, a 22 year old maid named Ane Christ Lynge
is listed as a member of the Joachim Top household located at Voldgade 69,
just a block from Ny Kongensgade no. 1 where John Christmas was living at
that time. He would then have
been 48 years old
Vibeke Ronje’s letter to Lucile Brewster
continues:
“Meanwhile he had to have someone to look after their children (John
and Johanne’s) and here Anna Cathrine Lynge comes into the
picture. Most likely she has
been governess to the children and perhaps housekeeper, and indeed acted
as his wife because your ancestor Frederik was their
child. He saw to it that their
children were baptized Christmas and that they learned good
craftsmanship. Before he married
his last wife he settled an amount of money for them which at the time must
have been generous.”
In the Captain’s defense, it can be said that John was not the
only prominent Dane to become involved with a peasant
housekeeper. See end note
“2” for further
examples.
Danish Genealogist Hauch Fausboll,
1919
For many years the ancestry of John Christmas Smith was clouded as a result of alternative theories reported as “family tradition” by a Danish genealogist, Th. Hauch Fausboll, in two narrative accounts dated 1919 and 1941. The 1919 version included the following passages:
“He was a gentleman who made great impression on the weak sex and he
himself was not immune to its favors.
After his 2 first divorces he began an affair with Anne Cathrine Lynge
who bore him 3 children. At
least the elder of these, Frederik Christmas is definitely said to have been
born in Copenhagen, both when in 1825 a trustee was appointed for him and
in a census paper of 1850. In
the first instance, his certificate of baptism has been available, in the
second he has given Copenhagen as his place of
birth.”
“Nevertheless it has not been possible to find a reference to his baptism
nor to that of his brother in any Copenhagen parish
register. This must be due either
to the mysterious circumstances of their births or that they were baptized
at the “English Embassy Hotel” whose parish register does not exist
any more.”
“Certificates of baptism they have in any case had as these were presented
both in 1825 when trustees were assigned them and 10/6 1829 when Ferdinand
Christmas received official license to establish himself as master saddler
in the city of Schwerin (Germany) where he had bought a house from a certain
constable
____Hunger.”
“If his descendants still live in Schwerin or if descendants of Laura
Linde who in 1865 notifies the death of her father Tanner Frederik Christmas
are still to be found, it is possible that one of these certificates can
be procured. That Frederik and
Ferdinand Christmas were sons of merchant John Christmas is explicitly stated
at their confirmation in 1820 in the Church of Our
Lady.”
“Nor in this relationship has merchant John Christmas shown himself
steady as in 1811 he had a son by Wilhelmine
B. The boy was baptized in the church of
Trinitatis. However in a certain
way he seems to have felt bound to Anna Cathrine
Lynge. When grocer H. Egholm
in 1825 was appointed trustee for Frederik Christmas and master saddler A.
Schmidt for Ferdinand Christmas it is stated that to Frederik, Ferdinand
and Albert Christmas each is deposited 3.000 Rdl. Silver in the public trustee
office. The capital is granted
on condition that their mother Anna Cathrine Staer, born Lynge, benefits
from the full interests as long as the children stay with her, on the other
hand only half the interest as they cease to receive care by her.
“
“I remember that captain Charles de Coninck who was a cousin to Chamberlain
Christmas-Dirckinck-Holmfeld
(their mothers were sisters) has told me that the tradition was that
John Christmas was a bigamist. I
imagine that this tradition stems from his relations with Anna Cathrine Lynge
which must have been of a partly public character since the children were
baptized by the name Christmas.
Possibly he has really passed her off as his wife, but that they were
not married appears sufficiently clearly from the parish register of Our
Lady. There in 1820 at her wedding
she is titled miss (Virgin!) Had
a secret wedding taken place Christmas should certainly not have drawn back
from seeking divorce a third time, rather than risk the results of a step
as illegal as
that.”
Signed, Hauch Fausboll, June 24, 1919 (See end note “1” for additional excerpts)
Fausboll Again in
1941
A second narrative written by Fausboll in 1941 adds some details to the above
account while also deviating in two important
ways. Both deviations appear
to be in error. First, the 1941 Fausboll report reasons that John was the
grandson of Catherine Christmas of Waterford and Lt. Col.
Gorges. But given that
Catherine’s older sister was born in 1723 and that John Christmas Smith
was born in1753, there would not have been sufficient time for a daughter
of Catharine Christmas to enter the picture in time to give birth to
J.C.S. There are also statements
made by Fausboll (1919) and Henry Christmas to the effect that the marriage
of Lt. Col. Gorges and Catharine produced no children.
Subsequently, the 1952 edition
of Burke’s Landed Gentry contained an article on the Gorges family,
including a reference to Lt. Colonel Richard Gorges who died in
1765. He and his wife Catharine
Christmas are reported as having one son, unnamed, who died before his
father.
The second deviation appears in the absence, in Fausboll’s 1941 narrative, of any mention of Anna Cathrine Lynge. Instead it shows Frederik Christmas as a first child of Christine Wilhelmine Boldt. The 1919 narrative and family tree clearly state that Frederik Christmas was the first of three children resulting from the union of J.C. and Miss Lynge although they were never married. Further evidence that Anna Lynge was the mother of Frederik Christmas is seen in the above mentioned “grant” in which the three children of Anne Lynge, all with the surname Christmas, are provided with trust funds by John Christmas.
Capt. John Christmas and “India Trade under the Danish Flag
(1772 to 1808)”
Ole Feldbaek’s 239 page book identifies John Christmas as a ship captain
and owner who made at least three round trips to India and at least one trip
to the Danish West Indies. The
book explains the circumstances of trade between India and Denmark from 1772
to 1808 as a means by which certain British traders could circumvent the
monopoly established by the British Asiatic
Company. John Christmas, with
his English background and training, serves as a useful agent for Danish
and English trading interests as well as his
own. (See Chronology of Life
of John Christmas below for approximate dates of his sailing
trips.)
“In
principle, the policy of the Danish Government aimed at supporting all the
Copenhagen merchant houses that wished to take part in the India
trade. In fact, the fruits of
the Government’s commercial policy were garnered by two of the largest
merchant houses in the capital, Blacks Enke & Co. and Fabritius &
Wever, who here made use of their English
connexions.
“The
head of C.S. Blacks Enke & Co., Erich Erichsen , had close connexions
with firms in London, with which, in
1790, he negotiated the charter
of several ships under the Danish flag for India expeditions. One of these
expeditions was carried out in 1791 with the
Flora, Captain Homstrom, whose voyage started from Ostend, and
who at no time during his voyage under the Danish flag ever saw a Danish
port. The expedition was dissolved
on arrival in Bengal, which did not surprise the
Kommercekollegium, which was well
aware from the beginning, with the procurement of various dispensations,
that “this expedition is mainly
on foreign
account.”
“The
Kommercekollegium had very early
defined the Danish Government’s policy towards the India expeditions
under the Danish flag that started from a foreign European
port.
“This, like several previous expeditions, is mainly on English account:
since now in the co-operation established between the Danish and English
traders for this purpose, it must be taken to have been a main condition
made by the English, that some ship or other of theirs was to be used for
carrying out the expedition, it must be necessary, in this case, to grant
the interested Danish traders this dispensation from the regulation, when
it is desired not to deny them access to resources that the Danish East Indian
trade can find in the English traders’ fortunes and connexions in the
East Indies. To require that the ship should come here from England and hence
be sent to the East Indies, in order to naturalise the ship first, so to
speak, cannot be considered to by anything else than, by observing the
formalities, to increase the owners’ risks and impede the enterprise
from which it is desired that the country should gather the
fruits”. Thus the Danish
Government was not specially interested in formally maintaining a veneer
of Danish property over the foreign expeditions under the Danish flag, and
firms such as Blacks Enke & Col could always count on the support of
the Government for enterprises wherein the firm functioned as agents and
lent its name to the illicit English trade. In these years, the firm was
the formal Danish owner of expeditions with
the Mathilda Maria,
the Serapis,
the Bellona and the Kronprinsesse
Maria, all of which realy shipped their European cargo at
Ostend. The
Kronprinsesse Maria left Copenhagen with the smallest cargo in
the history of the India trade, and the other three took on board, on average
86.1% of their outward cargo at
Ostend.
“In
these years, Blacks Enke & Co. worked closely with an Englishman, John
Christmas, who was apparently the representative of the English interests
behind what in form were Danish
expeditions. John Christmas
went out as supercargo on the Mathilda Maria, which after her arrival in Bengal was sold to
the English, and he returned to Copenhagen in the Serapis, which had arrived
soon after. The ship sailed for home with a very modest cargo in freight
on poor conditions, in spite of the fact that one of the most considerable
houses on the Coromandel Coast took part in the expedition. None the less,
the result was satisfactory to John Christmas, who, after arriving home in
Copenhagen, wished to continue this traffic under cover of Danish
citizenship,. Blacks Enke &
Co. applied for naturalization for him, to enable him to continue in the
India trade from Copenhagen, “for
which his good connexions in India give him the best opportunities”,
and emphasized with good effect that they had had some trouble to persuade
him to choose Copenhagen instead of
Ostend. This attempt to press
the Kommerce kollegium, however, was quite
unnecessary. The Kollegum knew
beforehand, that John Christmas’ planned expedition with the
Kronprinsesse Maria, which he had
just bought, was “for his own
and several foreign co-interests’
account”. The
Kollegium also clearly realized
that “it is for several reasons
desirable and profitable, that the trade between Denmark and the East Indies
should be carried on on foreign account,
so that the advantage of both the
enterprise and of the realization of the cargoes should fall to the country
without own risk of the funds necessary for carrying on this
trade”. The Danish
Government and the Copenhagen merchant houses therefore rolled out the red
carpet together. The Government
granted citizenship; and commissioned John Christmas in the Danish Navy,
to help him to maintain the appearance of Danish trade and Blacks Enke &
Co. stood guarantors with 10,000 rdl. That the passports would not be misused,
and that the expedition would return to
Copenhagen. With all the formalities
in order, therefore, this English expedition with the
Kronprinsesse Marie could set sail
for India in November 1791. (Feldbaek, Ole, India Trade Under the Danish
Flag 1772-1808 (1969)
pp.138-139.
Feldbaek describes a particular expedition as
follows:
“Both
the Kronprinsesse Maria and the Bellona were in contact with merchant houses
in Calcutta in the sale of their European cargoes and through these houses
they also sought to get freight to Copenhagen, but in those years, none of
the ships obtained a complete cargo of
cloths. Like other expeditions
under the Danish flag, the holds were filled up with gods in bulk, especially
with sugar; and Captain Christmas, who was one of the first to bring sugar
to the Copenhagen market, could sell his Indian sugar at “enormous
prices.” (p.
140.)
As for
the time it took to complete such an expedition, Feldbaek reports the
following:
“Similar solid Anglo-Indian connexions helped Captain John Christmas,
who himself sailed his ship, the Kronprinsesse Maria on an expedition to
India that was completed in only thirteen months.” (p.
173)
John’s fourth girlfriend, Christine Bohl, Bolt, Boldt, or Bahl,
was said to be the daughter of a sea captain, Johan Christian Boldt, from
Arendal, Norway (Fausboll 1941) or Flensburg,
Germany. Her mother was Thomine
Knudsdatter from Norway.
Christine was born in
1783 in Mandre, Norway and died in 1860 In
Denmark.
There are a number of descendents of one of her sons, Wilhelm Julius
Boldt-Christmas, now living in Sweden.
According to their family tradition, there is a possibility that
Boldt’s son, Wilhelm Julius, was actually a bastard son of Denmark’s
King Frederik VI. Wilhelm, as a young man, was allegedly forced to move
to Sweden but was also given a sum of money sufficient to allow him to start
a successful business there.
Official Danish records pertaining to the King of Denmark during this
period are to be made public in the year
2021.
Various sources record Ms. Boldt as bearing him as many as four children: Carnette Wilhelmine (later changed name to Johanne Wilhelmine) (1807), Juliane Thomine (1809), John Hermann (1811), and Wilhelm Julius (1815). It is likely that the birth of Albert Christmas to Ms. Lynge in 1810, with John Christmas the acknowledged father, added stress to everyone’s lives. It may also explain the subsequent pledge Christmas gave to Ms. Lynge in 1811 to leave a sum of money to each of her three children after which he resumed his relationship with Ms. Boldt. It was not the first time that Christmas saw fit to buy his way out of his difficulties with the opposite sex.
Eliza Ferrall, Wife No.
3
According to Fausboll (1941), Captain Christmas was married on the 14th of December 1820 in Birkerod to Eliza Ferrall who was born on March 19, 1778 in St. Croix and who died on November 12, 1846 in Copenhagen. She had first been married to Philip Ryan, merchant. A genealogical paper belonging to Per and Ragnas (Tille) Moller (an aunt of Emile Christmas) states that Eliza, daughter of Peter Steven Ferrall, was born in Ireland. It goes on to say that she was married to John in 1816, and that she died on December 11, 1845.
By changing his own last name to Christmas, naming one of his sons George
Beresford Christmas, and by while failing to pass on the names “
Smith” or “Hopkins” to any of his Danish born children, one
gets the impression that John Christmas was deliberately trying to hide his
true ancestry while wrongly suggesting a close connection between himself
and the aristocratic Beresfords of
Waterford. If John Christmas
used his own change of name plus the Beresford name to boost his own image,
it certainly worked. Capt. Walter
F. Christmas told his son, Lawrence, that his family was descended from Irish
kings. Vibeke Ronje’s letter
(see above) expresses a similar
notion:
“Now to your questions.
. . . John Christmas Smith was what he was
baptized. I presume he had to
get permission to use Christmas as his family name and discard the Smith
- probably because the Christmas family were noblemen and the circumstances
of his birth may even then have been
obscure.”
Co-author Susanne Christmas says her uncle told her that John Christmas was
descended from English nobility. She also quotes another Danish genealogist,
Arne Knudby, to the effect that Fausboll had a reputation for “arranging
his results convenient to his clients’
taste.”
A letter to Walter F. Christmas, from Johnna Christmas Sandberg, dated August
7, 1972, hints at a possible reason for the “disappearance” of
Anna Cathrine Lynge from Fausboll’s later
narrative. The letter states
that: “In all ways and
by all means Walter Edmund Christmas has tried to hide his kinship with our
part of the family, but I know the one (1919 Fausboll tree) gives it
correctly.” Even though Walter Edmond had died many years before,
perhaps he somehow managed to influence the content of the tree passed down
to co-author Susanne Christmas.
Co-author
Susanne Christmas goes on to suggest other
possibilities. She notes that
Edward Christmas D-H, son of Walter Edmund Christmas D-H, wrote in 1908 that
“My grandfather’s brother, Captain of
Artillery (George Beresford)
Christmas told my father that HIS father’s mother was born Gorges!!
But he did not say that John Christmas had said
so!” Susanne believes this
to be wishful thinking because the family wanted to believe they had descended
from a Smith who had prominent brothers rather than from a Barnstaple
merchant. (See “Danish
Patrician Families, Vol. 1,
1891”)
Susanne
also speculates that John Christmas could have given the middle name
“Beresford” to his son George because he “knew and liked a
person of that name”, i.e. a vice admiral Sir John Beresford (1766-1844),
son of a George Beresford, whom he could have
known.
Meanwhile, Capt. John Christmas revealed his own perceived rank in society
in a letter written to one of his brothers in 1799 in which he complains
about how was addressed in a certain legal
document:
“I must likewise declare that I find myself hurt at the manner in which
this deed is drawn up – it is a paper that must descend to posterity,
and I am described in it in the same manner as a felon condemned to be
hanged. Every other person in
it is described by their titles as Esquires or Gents. But I am called plain
John Christmas, though for five years past Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber
to her Britanic Majesty, for a much longer period Captain in the Royal Navy
of Denmark. I hope I am as free
from pride or vain ostentation as any person upon Earth, in this particular
instance I am however, anxious that my descendents shall know that I have
a right to be put upon a footing with any Esquire or Gentlemen of Great
Britain.”
Real estate belonging to John
Christmas
Four properties are mentioned as belonging to John
Christmas: “Rolighed”
in Vedbaek, Hoveltegaard, a home at the site of the Phoenix Hotel in Copenhagen
and a property in St. Croix.
Rolighed was an attractive country manor house (see illustration.)
The house that replaced it is currently being used as a retreat or conference
center. A pamphlet describing
the property’s history
mentions Capt. Christmas as an owner as of 1813 while also stating that the
home had been occupied in 1807 by General Wellesley, later the Duke of
Wellington, after the British had defeated Denmark after a siege of
Copenhagen.
Letters written to Lucile Brewster by Danish relations include the following
passages regarding Hoveltegaard:
“I think both houses (Hoveltegard and Rolighed) still exist,
but as far as I know they are on the East Coast about 25 KM north of
Copenhagen.”(Lise)
“Hoveltegaard today is used by the
military. There are still huge areas belonging to it.”
(Vibeke).
The property now occupied by the luxury Phoenix Hotel at 37 Bregade was, according to Sophie Zinn’s memoirs, the site of a manor home bought by Christmas in 1790. According to a booklet describing the history of the current Hotel Phoenix, the property was first developed in the 1680’s. “The Bregade area was clearly the most distinguished part of Copenhagen, frequented by officers and gentlemen of the Court.”
The original house on the site of the Phoenix Hotel was described as “a
12 window, two story house with a basement, a low 4-window brickwork attic,
and a 3 window gable facing the Dronningens
Tvaergade. In 1749 it was expanded
by the addition of a 7-window wing facing Dronningens Tvaergade built as
an independent mansion in the rococo
style.”
The National Museum of Denmark, Ny Vestergade 10, Copenhagen, contains a
painting of Dronningens Tvaergade 1-3 (Count Gyldensteens Palae) dated to
1749 by I. Rach and
H.H.Eegberg.
In a letter to one of his brothers, John also mentions the loss of “our
property” in the Virgin Islands to
England. In a letter to his
brother, James Smith, he is more specific: “I have already declared
to you that by the capture of St. Croix by the English my house is kept out
of property there to the amount of L3,000.” (Copenhagen, Nov. 24,
1801.)
Last
Will???
No will has yet been found for Capt.
John. However, on November 28,
1816 he did make an application to the king of Denmark (Frederick VI) asking
that his three daughters: Sophie Protheroe, Laura Sothebey, and Bertha
Duntzfeldt, each be allowed to inherit the same portion of his belongings
as his sons John Christmas and George Beresford
Christmas. At that time in Danish
history, daughters were normally allowed to inherit only half of a
share. His application was granted
in December of
1818.
The Ghost of Christmas
Past
Mr. Beresford Christmas in 1885 reports that his father, cavalry officer
George Beresford Christmas and his elder brother, likewise in Danish service,
Admiral John Christmas, both had told him the
following:
“Around 1825 they were on their way to St. Thomas, leaving their father
in Copenhagen in good health. The
two brothers slept in the same cabin.
One night with quiet weather, a few day’s sailing from the islands,
with open port holes and in bright moonlight which lighted up the whole cabin,
both brothers awoke simultaneously and saw their father’s figure standing
between their bunks within arm’s length from
them. They perceived a chilling
feeling rather than fear. The
figure stood unmoving and silent for a moment which seemed to them an
eternity. Then he moved his
hand to the eyes which were closed.
Not until now did they realize that the vision was
ominous. One of the jumped out
of his bunk and the figure
disappeared.”
“The naval officer was so strongly impressed by the experience that
he at once entered it in the log with date and hour, which later turned out
to be the exact time of his father’s
death.”
“Though this event was topic of conversation both on board and in
Copenhagen, neither the narrator’s father nor his uncle like to talk
about it.”
The John Christmas who we presume is the ghost in the above story died, according to Hauch Fausboll, on January 6, 1822. The reason for believing this John Christmas is the subject of the story is that he had two sons who named above. Also, Admiral John Christmas, son of Captain John Christmas, did in fact sail to the Virgin Islands 1821-22 on board the corvette Diana.
Place of
burial
John Christmas is buried in Assistensens Kirkegard, Copenhagen, in a family plot no longer containing his grave marker. The plot is evidently that which now contains the remains of William and Bertha Duntzfelt. William was the son-in-law of J.C. An adjacent plot was later occupied by George Beresford Christmas and other family members.
Overview
The life of Capt. John Christmas as told here emphasizes his complex
relationships with various women.
This emphasis was simply the product of the available
records. The authors would have
preferred to give greater attention to the captain’s adventures at sea
or as a merchant – but records of that type, including ships logs, could
not be found. Available records
did, of course, reveal the captain’s substantial success as a merchant
and trader during a period of major conflict between his two
countries.
In regard to Christmas’ extensive record of broken relationships
with women, it can at least be said that third party witnesses supported
his claims of serious shortcomings in the behavior of his first two
wives. His decision not to marry Anne C. Lynge, a much younger
woman of the peasant class, was at least consistent with his widely shared
belief in the importance of class distinctions in both England and
Denmark. It was this belief
which caused him to stress his rank as a gentleman, to hint at an aristocratic
ancestry, and to marry three women from merchant
families.
Sea captains of that, or any, period had a difficult time maintaining
a marriage and one cannot but sympathize with their wives during the many
months they found themselves living alone or with just their
children.
In hindsight we might wish that John and Sophie had found happiness
together. She was an attractive
young woman of high intelligence. But had they made a successful match, where
would we, the descendents of John’s subsequent wives and girlfriends,
be today?
CHRONOLOGY OF LIFE OF JOHN CHRISTMAS
(SMITH)
1753
John Christmas Smith christened
in Bideford, England (July 14), son of Edward Smith and Judith Rebecca
Hopkins.
1771
James Hopkins refers
to John Christmas Smith, his nephew, in his will as living in
Portugal
1776
On February 24, John Smith marries Charlotte Maria Bearsley in Masarellos
(near Oporto) Portugal. She
is related to Bearsley family, founders in 1692 of wine export company in
Oporto, now known as Taylor, Fladgate &
Co. John and Charlotte have
four daughters born in Portugal (Charlotte Maria, Sophia, Laura, and
Susan).
1779
Charlotte Maria baptized in
Oporto.
1784
Jane Bearsley baptized in St. Andrew Holborn parish,
London
1786
On July 14, Edward Christmas Smith is baptized at St. Andrew, Holborn,
London.
1788
William Christmas
baptized in London in May, last child of
Christmas-Bearsley
John and Charlotte
Maria separate in July “and have not seen each other
since.”
Smith sails to India
as supercargo (in charge of the cargo) on “Mathilde Maria” with
C.P.
Geicken
1789
French peasants
storm Bastille, ignite French
Revolution
1790
Smith is granted
name change to John Christmas Christmas.
Christmas returns
from India to Copenhagen on “Serapis” with Captain H. Kroyer;
Christmas is granted
Danish citizenship and commissioned as an officer in the Danish navy.
1791
Christmas is engaged to Sophie Zinn.
He sails to India on “Kronprinsesse Maria” with Captain
F. Peterson;
1792
Christmas returns from India, breaks engagement with Sophie after learning
she has been socializing with a
Frenchman
1793-1794
Christmas, serving as captain, sails to India and back on “Kronprinsesse
Maria.”
1795
In June of 1795, a large fire in Copenhagen destroyed 900 houses and displaced
6,000 people (Susanne Christmas).
John Christmas describes his losses and philosophizes about them in
a letter to a brother dated September 29,
1795:
“In so dreadfull a calamity as the Fire of Copenhagen, no person in the City would expect to escape without bearing the loss- mine is not less than two thousand poiunds, and maybe three if I include the damage sustained in my own house in March last. This, however, I can very well bear - It is the only loss of Copenhagen I have to complain of for these seven years part, and it is hardly an object of consideration when compared to such a tide of sums as has surpassed my most sanguine expectations. The great point is to wince up in time which I am determined to do and to realize one by one as my different returns arrive from India – the whole I expect will arrive in Europe by beginning of June next year, and if I may judge from appearances my fortune will then be considerable.”
1796
John Christmas and Charlotte Maria become legally separated (but not
divorced.)
1797
Christmas marries Johanne Marie Heinrich; daughter Birthe is
born.
1799
John Christmas is born to Johanne, he later becomes an admiral in Danish
navy and a plantation owner in the Danish West Indies (the Virgin
Islands.)
1800
George Beresford Christmas is born to
Johanne. Beresford name is
apparently taken from sister-in-law of Catherine Christmas of
Waterford. The Beresfords are
a famous aristocratic family. John’s use of the name Beresford for his
son caused some to believe that John Christmas Smith was actually the son
or grandson of
Catherine.
Christmas sails to Danish West Indies on “Anna” owned by Christmas
and Kerr. Christmas is a business
partner with Terboch, his brother in
law.
1803
Great Britain declares war on Napoleon’s
France;
Christmas and Johanne separate after she has affair with servant (groom). She leaves children with Christmas.
1805
Admiral Nelson defeats French/Spanish fleet at Battle of Trafalgar;
Hans Christian Anderson is born in
Denmark;
1806
Ferdinand Christmas born to
Christmas and Lynge
1807
Johanne marries Dr. Lorentzen and leaves for Danish West Indies;
Carnette Wilhelmine is born to Christmas and Wilhelmine Boldt on October
20.
Both France and Great Britain seek to bring Denmark, or at least its fleet,
to their side. The British attack
Copenhagen. The British fleet
included 21 ships of the line, 9 frigates and 37 other men-of-war. Land force
included 30,000 men, 3,000 horses and a large contingent of heavy artillery
made up of guns, howitzers, mortars and the new Congreve
rockets. Copenhagen is bombarded
for 3 days. General Wellesley
commands British ground forces while occupying estate called
“Rolighed” near
Vedbaek.
The English confiscated all Danish and Norwegian ships in British ports and
arrested most of the merchant ships on their way to or from Danish overseas
possessions and trading partners. More than 7,000 Danish and Norwegian seamen from all over
the world were captured and most had to suffer a year aboard prison
ships. Denmark thereupon joins
its army to Napoleon’s forces.
The Danes also build a fleet of gunboats to harass the
British.
1809
Juliane Thomine born (June 26) to Christmas and
Boldt
1810
Albert is born to Christmas and Lynge
1811
John Herman Christmas, born August 3, to Christmas and Boldt.
On September 27, Christmas pledges the sum of 9000 Rigsbank silver to Ms.
Lynge and her 3
children.
1813
The war ruins Danish
economy. The Danish government
becomes bankrupt. In final peace treaty signed in 1814 Denmark cedes Norway
to Sweden, ending 450 years of Danish-Norwegian kingdom;
Soren Kierkegaard
is born in Copenhagen;
John Christmas buys
Rolighed . Meanwhile General
Wellesley has become the Duke of Wellington
1814
1815
Wilhelm Julius Boldt Christmas born June 14 to Christmas and
Boldt.
The Battle of Waterloo (June 18) . It is described by Thomas Smith to his brother John Christmas
in a letter dated June 29 as
follows:
“The new war is likely to be of short
duration. Bonaparte at the head
of an immense army attacked the British and Belgians commanded by Lord Wellington
and the Prussians under Blucher on the 15th, 16th,
and 18th. The two first days were indecisive but on the
18th, after a most severe and sanguinary conflict, the French
were completely routed with a prodigious slaughter - upwards of 250 pieces
of cannon and nearly all their material
taken. Bonaparte fled to Paris
where he has been dethroned by the French nation who have formed a provisionary
government to treat with the allies whose armies are in full march toward
Paris – World may now hope for some
repose.”
1820
John Christmas marries Eliza Ryan (nee Ferrall) on December 14 at home
in
Hoveltegaard.
1822
John Christmas dies; is buried at Assistensens Cemetery in
Copenhagen
John Christmas’ Ancestors in
England: Henry and Brian
Christmas
A family tree prepared by Henry and Brian Christmas of the Christmas
“one name club” in England, traces the Christmas family back to
a Henry Christmas (1493-1550) from Worplesdon England, near
Guildford:
Henry Christmas (1493-1550) m.
1514 to Julia
2. Thomas Christmas
(1520-1587) m. 1540 to Joan
or Joanne Inwood ( -1592)
Clothier in Perryhill
Surry
3. Thomas Christmas
(1543-
) m. 1564 to Joan
Purs
4. Thomas Christmas (1580
-
) m. 1603 to
Elizabeth
Guildford
5. Thomas Christmas
(1622-1704) m. Elizabeth
Gamon
( -1677)
Barnstaple/Waterford
Children of Edward and Judith
Smith
Baptism records provided by the Devon Record
Office:
Elizabeth Christmas Smith, 27 September
1751
John Christmas Smith, 21 December,
1753
Thomas, 13 June
1756
James, 24 December
1758
William, 11 October,
1761
Daniel, 15 September
1762
End
Notes
1)
Additional excerpts from Fausboll 1919
genealogy:
“John Christmas (Smith), born October 13, 1755 (or 57) in Biddeford
in Devonshire, got permission for himself and his descendants from King George
III of England to bear the name Christmas and the coat of arms of this family,
according to a document which rests at Herald’s College, London E.C.
in “The Crown Book”, I, 34, page 232-234, dated 24/11
1790. The requisite letter of
arms was made out November 27 (or July 11),
1793. It is also to be found
in Herald’s College under Patents, Vol. XVII, Page
270. According to these documents
he has established his descent on the maternal side from the Irish lineage
Christmas of Waterford.”
(Fausboll goes on to speculate, wrongly, that John Christmas Smith
was the illegitimate son of a Captain in the Royal Guard named John Smith
and Catherine Christmas of
Waterford.)
“John Christmas settled in 1790 in Denmark as a ship owner and
captain, was according to letter by the Danish Chancellery of 8/11 1790 merchant
in Copenhagen and obtained by Royal Resolutions 1f ½ 1793, 29/5
- 1795 and 23/4 1811 “to
keep a citizen that wealthy and profitable in this community”
captain’s rank and a naval officer’s uniform on some voyages in
foreign countries.
2) A book entitled Kierkegaard: In the Golden Age by Bruce H. Kirmmse, offers a historical context for considering John Christmas’