Welcome to the De La Rue genealogy page! This is the central point of reference for the genealogy of the De La Rue families of Australia. (Alternative spellings: Delarue or de la Rue.) If you are a member of any of the families listed below, this page is for you!
The Caroline Agnes
My main interest is to document the descendants of Thomas and Tabitha (née Edwards) De La Rue, of Leicestershire and Surrey, England, who arrived at Point Henry, Port Phillip District, NSW (now part of Geelong, Victoria), Australia on 28 Jun 1849. They arrived with eight children as assisted migrants on the Caroline Agnes (570t, Master J. Alexander), after departing London, 24 Feb 1849, and settled at Germantown (now Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong), Vic. Two more children were born in Australia after they arrived. Thomas was my great-great-grandfather, and was born in Linghton, Leicestershire on 5 Dec 1808. The children born in England were christened in Camberwell and Walworth in Surrey, so it seems that the family were living there for a few years before they left. I have records of over 2,000 descendants (including spouses) of Thomas and Tabitha.
Other De La Rue families of interest include:
- William de la Rue of Forest, Guernsey (born 15 Nov 1822), who arrived in Melbourne, Victoria in Jun 1854. He arrived with his two younger brothers on the Saldanha, having left Liverpool in Mar 1854, and settled at El Dorado, Victoria. William married Louisa Augusta Borchers of Goslar, Hanover, Germany on 4 Sep 1867 at El Dorado. It seems that most of the De La Rues of any note in Victoria are descendants of William and Louisa; I have records of over 155 descendants (including spouses) of this family.
- Hippolyte Felix Ferdinand De La Rue, of Berck, Normandy, France, who came to Sydney in 1840. This family is documented in the books A Bunyip Close Behind Me and Ladies Didn’t, by Eugenie Crawford. Hippolyte established a jewellery shop in George St, Sydney in 1850.
- Charles Delarue of Colmar, Alsace, France (born 1824), who arrived in NSW between 1824 and 1860. He married Emma Hines (or Hinds) at Murringo, NSW on 31 Oct 1860; they had eight children. This family includes sports presenter Dennis Cometti in its ranks. I have not yet documented all the recent information on this family.
- Thomas de la Rue, of Forest, Guernsey (born 24 Mar 1793), who moved to England and set up as a printer. The company he founded is still in existence – see the history page at delarue.com. This is available in more detail in Lorna Houseman’s book The House that Thomas Built. It is not clear how many descendants of this family are in Australia, but there is at least one in New Zealand. Although Thomas was born in the same village as William, as yet I cannot find any family connection.
- Eliza Anne De La Rue, apparently of Paris, France (born about 1824). Keryn contacted me regarding Eliza, her great-great-great-grandmother, who I was previously unaware of. She lived in Melbourne, but there is a great deal of uncertainty about her. She said that she married John Winbanks in Sydney in 1854.
- Adelina De La Rue, of St Helier, Jersey, UK (born around 1866). Bruce contacted me regarding Adelina, his great-grandmother – another De La Rue in Australia I was unaware of. According to the UK census, she was living at 13 Havre Des Pas in St Helier in 1871 and 1881. Her parents were Francis De La Rue, a Fireman, later “Greenwich pensioner” and Emma (nee Diddins). She migrated from Jersey to Sydney, Australia in the 1890’s, but was originally bound for New Zealand.
A number of members of the families are also engaged in this research. I am also researching my own ‘pedigree’ as much as possible – other family names of interest include Kelly, Westwood and Lamb. There is convict ancestry here – the De La Rue family is linked to the Thorowgood family, and the Kelly family is linked to First Fleet convicts Nathaniel Lucas and Olivia Gascoigne.
The Family
Thomas & Tabitha had 11 children. Their dates of birth were as follows. The first nine of these were born in Surrey, England; the last two were born in Geelong, Australia.
- James 19 Aug 1831
- Jane 1834
- William 1836
- Mary Maria 1838
- Jemima 1840
- Tabitha 1842
- Martha 1842 (not listed on shipping register – may have died earlier)
- Thomas 1845 (no records in Victoria after ship arrival)
- Daniel Charles 1848
- Robert William 1849 (approx)
- John 1852
Photos
I do not seem to have any photos of Thomas, but this is a tin-type that we believe is of Tabitha Edwards:
Tabitha Edwards, 1813-1882
My great-grandparents:
James De La Rue Snr (1831-1893) and Sarah Betts (1839-1914)
My grandparents:
James De La Rue Jnr (1860-1917) and Annie Westwood (1869-1944 – photo 1940)
The name “De La Rue”
The name is French in origin (meaning “of the street” or “of the road”). In the original French it is spelled “de la Rue”; today it is also often spelled as one word in English-speaking countries. Other alternative spellings found include “De La Rew”, “De La Roux” and “De La Reu”. Some of these variations may be due to varying levels of literacy. Then there is the question of the relationship to “La Rue” and “Rue”. (In some countries, prefixes like “de la” are sometimes ignored.)
The name appears in France, and has also been on the Channel Islands (particularly Guernsey) for some time. There are suggestions that the name may have either noble or Huguenot associations, and that it arrived in England from France as early as the late 11th century. An alternative version of a De La Rue family tree included in Lorna Houseman’s book The House that Thomas Built states that the first recorded appearance of the name in Guernsey was a land grant from a Danish king in the 12th century.
Richard de la Rue (who has commented below) reported recently that the De La Rue Company presented a family tree at an exhibition a few decades ago which included research into the origins of the name in Guernsey. This research reported that there are two distinct families on Guernsey, the latest of which came to the island as Huguenot exiles in the 16th century from the Limoges area of France. He reports that the earliest known record of the name in Guernsey dates back to a document of 1179. Richard also wrote:
“A few years ago [2001], La Société Guernesiaise assisted University College London (UCL) and the BBC in a project called ‘The Blood of the Vikings’ in which they traced the reach of the Vikings according to the DNA in each long lived family in Guernsey. (It made pretty dull TV.) The Viking gene shows up as a particular type of the male chromosome and they tested this against one representative of each old Guernsey family. I had the privilege of being the representative for the De La Rues and was told that I had a gene commonly found in Norway; thus I think this points to me belonging to the older De La Rue family dating back to 1179 rather than the lot that came from southern-central France. All very tenuous I know, but when people ask me how long I have lived in Guernsey, I like the romance of replying that I’ve been here for 800 years!”
As I can only trace my De La Rue forebears back to Leicestershire, I still cannot connect my family back to any of these origins – nor to any of the other families mentioned here!
Heraldry and nobility
I have seen two distinct Coats of Arms for the De La Rue name. One of these (which is listed formally in Burke’s Peerage) belongs to one branch of the family of Thomas de la Rue, the printer. His grandson Thomas Andros De La Rue was created a Baronet on 17 Jun 1898, and thus the coat of arms strictly only belongs to his descendants. Andrew George Ilay De La Rue of London is the current (fourth) Baronet. Read more on Wikipedia. (If you are not a member of this family, then any heraldry organisation that would like to convince you that you are entitled to it probably only wants your money!)
The formal description of this Coat of Arms is: “Or three bars gu., each charged with as many estoiles of the first, in chief an increscent and a decrescent of the second. Crest – A brazier gu. fired between two branches of laurel, issuant from the flames thereof, a serpent nowed and erect ppr”. The motto with this is: “Cherche la verité” (“Seek the truth”).
The other coat of arms I have only seen rough sketches of, and have no clarity on the origin (or accuracy) of this at all. This one includes forts or castles.
Lamb Family
Jane Lamb (née Burton), about 1909
My mother’s mother was Alice Dale Lamb, born on 16 Jul 1887. Her parents were Peter Lamb and Jane Burton, and they arrived in Australia in Nov 1884 on the Loch Ness (one of the Loch Line ships – made infamous by the sinking of the Loch Ard). Peter was 25, Jane 26, and their eldest daughter Lizzie had her first birthday on the ship on the way out. The Lamb family in Australia stayed in touch with their relatives in Scotland down the generations since, and I have maintained some contact with them myself, visiting Peter’s family home in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, in 1983, which is still owned and occupied by the Lamb family. Of all my pedigree, this is the only family that we still have some contact with in their country of origin.
Thorowgood family
Joseph Thorowgood was born in Cardington, England in around 1800. He was charged on four counts of sheep stealing on 24 Oct 1828, and transported for life, leaving on the “Bussorah Merchant” on 6 Oct 1829, arriving Hobart, Tasmania 18 Jan 1830. He left his wife and four children in England; Mary Ann was expecting the fifth (Elizabeth). They were later allowed to join him, arriving on 10 Jan 1833. Joseph was my great-great-great-grandfather – his daughter Edith married Robert Betts, and their daughter Sarah married James De La Rue, my great-grandfather.
There are many variations on the spelling of his surname – it was spelt “Thorogood” on ship’s records, but also appears as “Thoroughgood”, “Thurgood”, “Thurrowgood” and others.
His family was documented in the book “The Thurrowgood Story” by the late John F Hill, which had a limited publishing run of 400 numbered copies, in around 1985. Some copies of this book are still available from the Colac & District Family History Group Inc., at PO Box 219, Colac, Vic 3250.
GEDCOM Files
Information on the above families is available on request in two files:
- DeLaRue – The families of Thomas and Tabitha De La Rue and William de la Rue. This also includes all information on my own pedigree.
- DeLaRueX – All other available De La Rue information – the families of Hippolyte Felix Ferdinand De La Rue, Charles Delarue, Thomas de la Rue and some records found that are not yet connected.
Please contact me or use the comment field below if you would like a copy of these files, and I can email them to you.
More info
A public copy of my family’s GEDCOM file has also been uploaded at Ancestry.com; although I have since acquired more information. You can view the database here – but you may need to register with them first (free).
Please contact me for more details. I am happy to load any information on the families here.
My genealogy software of choice is FZip Family Tree.
Shortcut to this page: http://delarue.net/gen/
Margaret –
Thanks for your comments!
We are second cousins once removed – your father Arthur was my second cousin.
I have uploaded the few relevant photos that I do have – see above. For most of these, you can click on the photo for a larger version.
I would be very happy to share other details – and I am more than happy for other family members to share their photos and other details via this site.
– Keith
Thanks Keith!
Kisses
Neyra.
The plant Rue (Ruta) is “a genus of strongly scented evergreen subshrubs 20–60 cm tall, in the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia and southwest Asia” (Wikipedia). It bears yellow flowers.
I haven’t heard of any connection between the name De La Rue and this plant. For this to be the case, then the name of the plant would need to also be “rue” in French; I do not think that this is the case.
There have been suggestions that the name De La Rue has been derived from the name “Rue”, but this is usually in reference to the French meaning of “road”.
Another source refers to an English derivation coming from the word “rewe”, meaning a row of houses (thus inferring a road). I am not convinced that this one has much merit.
As to the nobility of De La Rue – this is another puzzle I do not yet have a complete solution to!
Dear Keith
My great-grandmother said that her ancestors were French nobles and had a coat with a sprig of rue (ramo de arruda in portuguese) and that De La Rue meant “rue.” (arruda).
I resorted to a dictionary and found that rue (arruda) has also been translated as “Rue”.
Have you heard about this?
Thank you for your attention.
Kisses
Neyra.
Neyra –
“De la rue” translates into English as “of the street” or “of the road”. I have no expertise in the Portuguese language, but Google translates it as “da rua” or simply “rua”.
As a surname, I have only ever seen it used in the original French (although the capitalisation changes, and it is often compressed into a single word). There are De La Rues in England, USA, Mexico, Brazil and other countries.
Jenny – Yes, that all checks out. The proximity to the El Dorado de la Rues is apparently purely coincidental. We are third cousins. Details are on the way, in reply to your email message.
Hi Keith,
Please, how can I translate De La Rue into english and portuguese???
Thanks.
Neyra.
Hi Keith – yes I have made the link. My grandfather Charles William de la Rue b.Terang 1878 is the son of Daniel Charles b 1848 (Surrey) – son of Thomas. He was the 1 year old infant when they arrived in Geelong. So there is a whole branch of info that needs to be attached to the Thomas-Tabitha line. If you send me the details that you do have for that line I will check them for accuracy and, of course, there have been a few more additions since we last spoke. Jenny Anastasi
Hi Keith –
I spoke with you a few years ago about a possible connection between our families Delarue. I am now wondering whether there is actaully a link between my branch of the family back to your G-G-grandfather Thomas, through his son Daniel (aged 1 year at the time of arrival in Australia) and my grandfather Charles (whose father was indeed a Daniel and the dates would be about right). If this plays out then the connection with the William / Louisa line at Eldorado may be a geographical coincidence – I wonder!!!. The main link to the Benalla area for my family was though my grandmothers family (Gibbs). If I could have a copy of the Eldorado line as well please – I am pretty sure that you sent it to me once before but that was a couple of computers ago. Thanks Jenny Anastasi (nee Delarue, of course!)
Hi Keith,
It’s Margaret again.
For moderation purposes my lineage is:
James and Sarah De La Rue, nee Betts;
Their 5th child, Jemima, married George Baker;
Their daughter Edith Baker married Thomas Smith;
Their son Arthur, is my father.
Aiming to locate photos or illustrations to acknowledge and record their history. Is it possible to gather together photos of Thomas & Tabitha, each of their children and possibly some or all of their grandchildren? Very difficult but would be great.
Perhaps in this electronic age, descendants could make available whatever they have for sharing purposes.
Regards,
Margaret
Hi Keith & other De La Rues,
I’m George and Jemima Baker’s great -grandchild. I’m compiling family history for uncles and descendants use.
Can anyone email photos of Thomas and Tabitha De La Rue, Sarah Betts and James De La Rue or any of their children, plus Jemima and George Baker and any of their family?
Any info to capture the essence of the De La Rues lives would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Margaret
Mitzi –
I can’t be sure that your comment is genuine, as you have supplied an email address that does not match your name. I have provided an English translation of your post above.
I’m afraid that I can’t tell you anything about the family name “La rue”. Some sources claim that it is related to De La Rue, but I have not yet found any connections.
You also left another comment on the Contact page of this blog, which appears to ask for a copy of a document. As there are no documents on that page, I am not sure what you are asking for here. Accordingly, I am not publishing that comment.
– Keith
hola mi nombre es mitzi solis la rue, y me intereso mucho el ver este articulo…
mi mama se llama sandra la rue. su padre era johny la rue el era de indianapolis y era militar.
por ciertas cosas de la vida mi abuela que era mexicana se trajo a vivir a mi madre y a mi tia para mexico cuando ellas eran apenas unas niñas.
—————
Hello, my name is Mitzi Solis La rue, and I am very interested to see this article … My mother’s name is Sandra La rue. Her father was Johny La rue, who was from Indianapolis and was in the military. Events in life brought my Mexican grandmother to live with my mother and my aunt in Mexico when they were just little girls.
Hi Keith
I have been doing the famly history for some time. I am the great granddaughter of Jemima De La Rue and George Baker. Woudl love to speak with you about your information.
Amanda –
Your father is my second cousin – which makes you (technically) my second cousin once removed. Tabitha’s father (your great-great grandfather) was James De La Rue; my great grandfather. I am descended from Tabitha’s brother, another James.
If you would like to get copies of photos to me, I can see who I can identify. I have some photos, but not a lot of them are scanned in yet.
Susan –
Nice to hear from you again!
I haven’t heard about any family reunions – but if there are any happening, I would love to get involved! If anyone can send me any info, I can also publicise it here.
– Keith.
Gloria –
A belated reply!
Your Delarue ancestors seem to be separate to mine, so far as I can go back – mine came out from England, and although the name is French, I have not yet found our connection back to France.
Your great-grandfather was Charles Andrew Delarue, of Colmar, Alsace, France – see the note on the page above.
Your grandfather William Edward was born in 1877 at Broughton in NSW, and died at Auburn NSW in 1929. He married Josephine Maud Pettit on 16 July 1901. So far as I know, they had 5 children.
You can view your father’s war service record online at the National Archives of Australia. I’m not aware of any relatives of his that served in the forces – you could search for their names as well. Certainly some of my relatives were there!
Regarding the Laminex connection – as above, the De La Rue company in England, currently a secure printing company, was started by Thomas De La Rue from Guernsey. They did dabble in a few other lines of business over the years, one of which was Formica, producing products similar to Laminex. This was in the 1950s. They moved out of that business some time later. You can see a bit about the company history on their web site here (although this summary doesn’t mention the Formica connection).
Hope this helps a little!
Hi Keith,
Think I’ve spoken to you a couple of years ago, My Father is Wayne de la Rue (M Peggy Towle) decended from William (Bill) de la Rue and Eileen Moras. We’re decendents of thomas and tabitha.
I would like to know if you have any info on the de la Rue family reunion mum and I would like to attend if there are any.
Cheers
Susan
Hi Keith,
My Great grandma was Tabitha De La Rue who married James Beattie.
I have been doing my family history for a few years now. I have got a few old photos, which I think were Tabitha’s. Alot of people I do not know.
I hope we are able to help each other out with information.
Regards
Amanda
Hi
I am currently conducting a full research on the De La Rue family from Fontenelles, Forest. I will be happy to share any new information. Please email me.
Thanks.
Susan
Thank you!
Kisses,
Neyra
Neyra –
I did once hear from a De La Rue in Brazil, but I’m sorry that I have no information on the genealogy of any of the families there. The name also appears in the USA and in Mexico, descended from immigrants from either France or Guernsey.
If I collect any info, I’ll post it here.
Hi Keith
Do you know same one of De La Rue family, whose came to Brazil?
The mother’s of my grandfather name was Irene de La Rue, she was born in Brazil and had just one sister.
If you know some thing about it, please tell me. It’s very important to me.
My name is Neyra, i’m from Brazil and i’m so sorry because my english is bad.
Best wishes,
Neyra Bastos Estrázulas
Wendy –
Great to hear from you!
As per the details above, there are two major De La Rue (or de la Rue) families in Victoria; you are descended from William de la Rue of Guernsey. He was your great-grandfather. Your father was the only “Colin De La Rue” in your family that I am aware of. The name appears in our family only twice – my father and my brother.
More details coming to you via email.
– Keith
This is fascinating. My father Colin Jack de la Rue known as John, was born in ? Victoria in 1921. He was in the Australian Navy , and in 1948 ? was in Heidileburg ? spelling having his appendix out. My mother a kiwi nurse Aimee Julia Sexton met him there, they subsequently married and moved to NZ about Christmas 1948. Therefore I was conceived in Oz but born in NZ in 1949. Dad retired from the navy in 1966 and moved north to be an engineer in the freezing works. He had been a “Chief ERA” in the navy. His brother George was in the airforce. He also had a sister Addie.Sadly contact between the family was non existent. I understand one of Georges daughters may have done a family tree. ? Gayle or Glynne. Can anyone help?
Hi Keith,
My great-grandmother is Emma Kent, my grandfather is Thomas Kent. I would love a copy of your De La Rue family gedcom and a chance to exchange information.
Regards,
Melissa
Hi Keith, its been awhile, I was reading through the emails and wow, it is you. I don’t know if you remember me, I’m the daughter of Bruce Robert De La Rue, my grandparents were Oswald and Lorna (Scarlett) De La Rue. Anyway just thought I would touch base and I don’t know if you know dad passed away on 4 Sep 2006. Would be nice to catch up.
Hi Keith,
My grandfather was William Edward Delarue, a saddler who married Josephine Maud Pettit at Narrandera 1901, and my father was William Charles Delarue. We had grown up to believe that our great grandfather was a ship’s captain from France in the 1800’s. Whether that is correct I am not sure but any information would be appreciated. We could be related. My dad served in the Army and the Air Force during WW2 and he did mention that he had a relative in the services in Melbourne and some other one in W.A. who owned a laminex business over there. Any help would be appreciated. Regards, Gloria
Aaron –
Thanks for getting in touch.
James De La Rue was my great-grandfather. On 18 Feb 1858, he marred Sarah Betts at Christ Church, Geelong, Vic, and they lived in Germantown/Grovedale.
Sarah was the second child of Robert Betts and Edith Thoroughgood – they had 13 in total. Mary Ann Elizabeth was their eighth child.
I am sending you more info via email.
– Keith.
G’day,
I was going thru my family tree and the name James De La Rue popped up but I wanted to check some info on him to see if the following is true…….did he marry a Mary Ann Elizabeth Betts in the 1800’s in Germantown ( now Grovedale ), in Geelong, Victoria? Could you please send me some information on him if the above is true ( I would say this is where the Thorogood connection comes into your family as Mary Ann’s Mother, Edith, was the wife of Roberts Betts but her maiden name was Thorogood ).
Many thanks for the help with this, it’s very much appreciated,
Cheers
Aaron
Gwenda –
Nice to hear from you! We are third cousins – that is, we have the same great-great-grandparents, Thomas & Tabitha.
Your great-grandfather was Robert William De La Rue, who was the tenth child of Thomas & Tabitha, and born in Geelong in about 1849. My great-grandfather was James De La Rue, who was the first child of Thomas & Tabitha. He was born in London in 1831, and came out to Australia with Thomas & Tabitha. Eight older children came out on the boat, the two younger children were born here. One of the older children apparently died before the family travelled.
– Keith.
Gwendoline Yvonne De La Rue was my Mother. She married Arthur George Thomas on 13 Jan 1940. She passed away on 7 Oct 2000. My Dad Arthur passed away 3 Aug 1987.
Richard –
Good to hear from you. OK, so this is another de la Rue that I have not found yet. I only know of very few in Queensland. One descendent of Thomas (the printer) did find his way there some years ago, but later moved to New Zealand.
From what I have found, it seems that there have been many de la Rues in Forest (La Forêt) over the years, but I have not been able to find connections between them all – or any connection to my family (yet). The family of William de la Rue who came here from Guernsey in 1854 may well be connected to your family.
– Keith
Hi Keith
Do you have a record of John de la Rue, currently living in Tugan, Queensland? John was in the Royal Navy and volunteered to join the Australian Navy soon after WWll, I think. John must be approaching 90 I reckon and is quite frail. He is my first cousin. I have three sons, Mark, Simon and James. I am the son of Hedley (b.1901), who was the son of William John of Favonius in the Forest parish, Guernsey.
I see my namesake has already been in touch with you and wonder if he has Guernsey connections, despite his Russian origins. ‘The House that Thomas Built’ has a chapter about the De La Rue company establishing a card printing business for the Tsar.
Cheers
Richard de la Rue
(B.1940)
St Andrew’s, Guernsey
Keryn –
I’m sorry to say that I have completely struck out on this one! I thought that I had pretty much picked up on all the De La Rue families in Australia, but this Eliza /Elizabeth doesn’t seem to appear at all. I have no Winbanks, and no Veourvances.
She appears online (along with the Winbanks family) on a Family Tree for The Planner Family at http://www.tribalpages.com/family-tree/plannerclan.
If I do find out anything, I will post it here.
– Keith.
Hi Keith,
My ggggrandmother has always been a mystery; she has claimed her name to be: Eliza/Elizabeth Delarue/De La Rue/Veourvance/White/Smith … she claims to have married my ggggrandfather, John Winbanks, in Sydney in 1854; this marriage can’t be found – neither can any trace of these two people since they spontaneously popped up having my gggrandfather, John Norman Winbanks, in 1859 in Victoria. Eliza also claimed to have been born in London and Paris on various certificates. It’s a long shot, but have you any imformation that might help me? It seems they were probably convicts hiding their pasts and, so far, have done very well at it!
cheers,
Keryn.
Hi Keith,
My great-grandmother is Emma Kent, my grandfather if Thomas Kent. I would love a copy of your De La Rue family gedcom and a chance to exchange information.
Regards,
Melissa
Hi Keith
I am currently building my database of Guernsey De La Rues.
I would be interested in receiving a gedcom of the William De La Rue of Guernsey Australian descendants.
I use the Mormon software (PAF)
I would also be happy to try and help anyone with any Guernsey De La Rue research.
Terry
Michelle –
Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, I only really have records of De La Rues in Guernsey up to the point they migrated; I don’t have any for 1914. There may be a connection to the Australian or English migrants, but not one that I have found yet. If you can get a connection back a bit further and we find a connection to one of these, then hopefully I can help.
Apparently there is a library in Guernsey that is quite helpful on the relevant records.
– Keith.
Hi Keith
I am just starting out with this family tree business I only know as far back as my grandfather at the moment. His name Elmer De La Rue born in Guernsey Channel Islands about 1914, not sure if he had any siblings? but he married Doris and had 3 children
would you happen to know of him in your tree?
Michelle
Lynda –
We did correspond some time ago, and I do owe you an email! Irene was my father’s first cousin.
– Keith.
dear keith
where are you connected in the de la rue family? i am connected to william robert ballagh and irene de la rue if you need any more info do email me.
from lynda watson
Richard –
Nice to hear from you. I have not previously struck any De La Rue connection to Russia! We certainly seem to be a cosmopolitan lot…
The Sarah that commented here previously is based in the USA – does that help?
– Keith.
Hello there
This is mainly a ‘what’s in a name’ sort of hello message. My daughter’s name is Sarah – but I don’t know whether it’s her featuring in your blog. I am a professor in electronic engineering in the University of Glasgow in the U.K.
I know of one other person in the U.K. who is called Richard De La Rue. I have no known U.K born ancestors, since my father was born in Russia – and our ancestry connects back to someone who is believed to have gone from France to Russia in the late 18th Century. Before that, who knows? The way that my surname is written is the result of a choice by my father and/or grandfather. In Russian it was written as a single word.
best wishes,
Richard De La Rue
Carol –
Thanks for the info. Yes, we are in the same family. I will drop you an email. Look forward to filling in those gaps!
– Keith
Hi
My grandma is 92 soon and she is Grace De La Rue in Gembrook, Vic. My mother is her eldest daughter and she then had seven sons. There is a very large family and I noticed there is very little information on the ancestry website about this part of the De la rue family. Hope I can help to fill in the gaps with my mother’s help.
Regards, Carol
Jennifer –
Thanks for your comment. I can’t find a direct connection to my family, but given the place names, it is likely that you may be connected to the family of Charles Delarue of Colmar, Alsace, France. A number of other people have done work on this family.
You may find that the variations in the name are due to varying levels of literacy. I have observed this a number of times. There are a number of alternatives for spelling the name. Apart from the choice of case and number of words (Delarue, De La Rue and de la Rue are all common), there are a number of alternatives that make life even more difficult. Some of these we know are related, others are not certain: De La Rew, De La Roux, De La Reu and more. Then there is the question of the relationship to La Rue and Rue. In some cases in Europe, prefixes like “de la” are just sometines ignored.
As my family came out to Australia via England, I assume that the capitalised spelling that we use is an Anglicisation. One branch of my family deliberately adopted the single-word spelling about three or four generations ago as a further simplification. The other families, having come out directly from France or the Channel Islands, tend to have retained the original lower case for the “de la”.
– Keith.
Hi
I was researching my family tree when I found the name “Rue” in it. When I looked further I discovered their name was Delarue, De La Rue, La Rue, Rew etc.
I was really interested in the reason why they varied their name? I also found because of the name variations some of them are hard to trace. The Rues in my tree come from around Carcoar, Molong, Canowindra, Orange etc. Is there a connection to your mob?
Robert Edward married Phoebe Lucinda Plunkett in 1875 at Carcoar. The line then works back into the Rayners then into the Nelsons etc.
Well, that’s all for now.
Regards, Jennifer
Matthew –
Thanks for your note, and for your patience! Yes, we are definitely related. I haven’t previously had any details on the descendants of Mary Jane, your great great grandmother. Would love to compare notes on your branch of the family!
– Keith
Hello,
After reading your Family History site, I believe we are related.
My great great great grandmother was Mary Maria Delarue who married John Wilson. I come in through their daughter Mary Jane, and in turn Daniel Gordon and then my grandfather Stanley Gordon Wilson.
Cheers