THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



CHAPTER I 



BOARDMAN FAMILY ANCESTRY 



THE family name of Boardman is one of much 

 antiquity. Early forms of the name as found in 

 records of both England and America are Boreman, 

 Borman, Boarman, Burman, Burdman, Bodman, Boord- 

 man and Bordman. The family originated in Oxford- 

 shire, England, where the first of the name, William 

 Boreman, was living as early as 1525, in Banbury, in 

 that county. He had a son Thomas, called "the elder," 

 who was living at Claydon, near Banbury, in 1546, 

 whose wife's name was Isabelle. He died at Claydon in 

 1579. Thomas had a son William who was married, 

 but whose wife died about five years before her husband 

 — her death having occurred in 1608 and that of her 

 husband in 1613. Their son Thomas — called in the 

 records "the younger" — was baptized at Claydon, 

 October 18, 1601. He was the first of the name in New 

 England. The earliest tax list of the Colony of New 

 Plymouth that has ever been found, bearing date January 

 2, 1632-33, contains his name. 



