Our Family History
John "James" Edward Despard[1]
Abt 1780 - -
Name John "James" Edward Despard Born Abt 1780 Belize? 
Gender Male Person ID P124 Despard Only Last Modified 26 Sep 2020
Father Edward Marcus Despard, b. 6 March 1751, Coolrain, Queen's Co. (Laois), Ireland , d. 21 Feb 1803, Horsemonger Lane Jail, Surrey, England (Age 51 years) Relationship natural Mother Catherine Gordon, b. Abt 1758, Jamaica ? , d. Abt. Sep 1815, Somers Town, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA (Age ~ 57 years) Relationship natural Married Abt 1785 The Caribbean Family ID F16 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Unknown Despard Last Modified 26 Sep 2020 Family ID F22 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Notes - Despard’s family on the other hand clearly never accepted the marriage. They referred to Catharine as Despard’s “black housekeeper” and after Despard’s death they offered no assistance to her or to their son (his uncle, General Despard, said that James had “not even an illegitimate claim upon him.”) What we do know is that Despard’s friends took care of them after Despard was executed (they were reportedly given a pension by Sir Francis Burdett and Lord Cloncurry’s memoirs state that they lived with his family in Lyon for some years).
Their son, James Despard, went on to join the military (as an officer, which I think is worth noting). There are various reports of him (usually referred to as a “creole”) that scatter across the first decades of the nineteenth century. He was appointed a captain the London Milita in 1814 after serving in France and supposedly refusing an offer of a high position from Bonaparte (this I find doubtful given Bonaparte’s treatment of the Chevalier Saint-Georges). There are further anecdotes from his spiteful Aunt Jane suggesting that he ran away with an heiress.
In Peter LIneaugh's book he is referred to as John Edward Despard?
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Round-Globe-Hot-Burning/dp/0520299469
James Despard served as an ensign in the French army. Mike Jay
- Despard’s family on the other hand clearly never accepted the marriage. They referred to Catharine as Despard’s “black housekeeper” and after Despard’s death they offered no assistance to her or to their son (his uncle, General Despard, said that James had “not even an illegitimate claim upon him.”) What we do know is that Despard’s friends took care of them after Despard was executed (they were reportedly given a pension by Sir Francis Burdett and Lord Cloncurry’s memoirs state that they lived with his family in Lyon for some years).
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Sources - [S1202603248] Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree.
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=102554215&pid=381
- [S1202603248] Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree.