Reader Story
Douglas Zegers’ detective work has uncovered a fascinating array of paternal kin – and an unlikely romance between a South American naval officer and a Londoner. By Gail Dixon
“My great grandfather was a hero in Chile’s navy” reveals WDYTYA? Magazine reader Douglas Zegers
When I was growing up, people frequently asked me where my surname came from,” says Douglas Zegers. “After decades of family history research, I now know the answer to that question and so many more.”
Douglas has discovered links to the Chilean navy, Portuguese Jews and a world-famous diarist. “However, there was a time when I considered giving up on my Zegers research because I couldn’t get further back than my father!”
Douglas’ parents were Leslie Vincent Burdis Zegers and Phylis Frances Wohlfarth, both of whom were born in Britain. “My maternal grandfather Albert Wohlfarth was a pork butcher from Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany. I was able to trace his ancestry back 500 years, but I couldn’t find a trace of my paternal Zegers grandfather.
“My father didn’t speak about his family, or where the Zegers name came from. He passed away in 1971, long before I became interested in family history.”
Douglas made a breakthrough in 2004 when he found his grandparents’ marriage certificate. Vincent Joseph Burdis Zegers and Annie Clarissa Lowe married in Bethnal Green, East London, in 1901.
The marriage certificate held two important clues, which were Vincent’s address (Grayling Road, Stoke Newington, London) and his father’s name. “The 1901 census had just been published online, so I looked up the address.
I was surprised to find a family called ‘Burdis’ rather than Zegers.
“The enumerator’s handwriting was sketchy, but I concluded that the head of the household Esther Burdis had a grandson called Vincent ‘Rogers’ or ‘Gogers’. This had to be Vincent Joseph Zegers, my grandfather. It made perfect sense, because Burdis was one of my father’s middle names.
“I was transfixed by the entry. Not only did it include my grandfather, but it also gave three generations of relatives, including my great great grandmother, Esther.
“I was left with the question, who were my grandfather’s parents? One thing was certain: Vincent’s mother was a Burdis.”
Finding Alice
Douglas searched for a birth record for Vincent Zegers, but this drew a blank. An entry did appear for a Vincent Burdis, born in London in 1878, so Douglas ordered his birth certificate. “The mother’s name was Alice Maude Burdis. Bingo – this lady was listed on the 1901 census as one of Esther Burdis’ daughters. My grandfather Vincent Joseph Zegers must have been born illegitimately and recorded under his mother’s maiden name.
“Vincent’s marriage certificate revealed another exciting clue. He gave his father’s name as Vicente Zegers, a captain in the Chilean navy. So I thought ‘Wow, my great grandfather was from Chile, a country thousands of miles away!’
“This sparked a distant memory of a letter that I had found in my father’s papers after he died. It
‘Vincent must have been recorded under his mother’s maiden name’
was written on headed paper with the name “Vicente Zegers of Valparaíso, Chile” in shiny embossed lettering. I wasn’t interested in genealogy at the time, and the letter was subsequently lost. It would be manna from heaven now.”
Douglas was left pondering a huge question – how did his great grandparents meet? In 1878, the year their son was born, Vicente was a midshipman from Chile while Alice was a shipping clerk’s daughter living in North London. Both were in their late teens when she became pregnant.
Douglas contacted the Chilean Naval Bureau in London, which was very helpful and provided a synopsis of Vicente’s career. “I was astonished to read that he rose through the officer hierarchy to become a vice admiral. I felt proud to be his great grandson.”
National Hero
Vicente, fresh out of naval college, became a hero of the Battle of Iquique, which took place on 21 May 1879. This was part of the Pacific War between Chile on one side and Bolivia and Peru on the other. Iquique is a port in modern-day northern Chile.
The details of the battle were enthralling. Vicente was in charge of munitions aboard the Chilean warship Esmeralda. She was outgunned by the superior firepower of the Peruvian ship Huáscar and began to sink. Instead of surrendering, the captain of the Esmeralda Arturo Prat tried to board the Huáscar
and capture her.
Prat and his officers were all killed in the affray. Vicente and the crew on board the Esmeralda
courageously maintained fire until their ship sank.
“Vicente was one of the lucky ones who were picked up and imprisoned by the Peruvians. Half of the crew of the Esmeralda
perished in the waves.
“Many of the streets in Iquique are named after Chilean heroes, and I was proud to see that one is named ‘Vicente Zegers’ after my great grandfather.
Vicente’s career proved to be the reason he encountered Alice. “The Chilean navy modelled itself on the British navy, and bought many of its ships from our shores. Incoming passenger lists revealed that Vicente came to Britain on a number of occasions.”
The Chilean Naval Bureau confirmed that Vicente Zegers arrived in England in 1877 on board the Cochrane, returning to Chile in 1878. This left ample time for a relationship to develop between him and Alice Burdis.
Clearly, Vicente knew that his romance with Alice had resulted in a love child, because of the letter that Douglas found. However, they didn’t marry, and their son Vincent grew up thousands of miles away from his father.
Marital Breakdown
As Douglas began to delve deeper into the life of his grandfather Vincent Zegers, the reason why Leslie didn’t mention his father became apparent. Vincent married Annie Clarissa Lowe in 1901 and they had two children, Leslie and Gladys. After about 20 years of marriage, Vincent left Annie Clarissa and moved in with a woman called Jessie Hunter. In 1923, they had a daughter Beryl Patricia Zegers (known as Tricia).
“The marital breakdown explains why my father didn’t have much to do with his father. Also, I never knew that he had a half-sister, Tricia.”
Douglas made this discovery when he found his Aunt Gladys’ will, which mentioned Tricia and
‘Vicente rose through the officer hierarchy to become a vice admiral’
her family. “I thought it would be impossible to trace my halfaunt, but I found an address for one of her daughters on the electoral rolls at Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk).
“I wrote to the address and received a reply and a call from Tricia, a cheerful and vivacious woman of 97. We have met a few times now, and keep in touch by phone. This has been one of the highlights of the journey.
“Tricia was able to share intriguing facts about my grandfather. Vincent met his father in Paris when he was a young bachelor. Vicente asked him if he wanted to go back to Chile with him, but Vincent chose to stay in London with his mother Alice.”
Jewish Heritage
Douglas was also amazed to discover that Alice Burdis was descended from a long line of Sephardic Jews. Their life stories are full of drama and tragedy.
Alice’s mother Esther was born in London in 1831 to a Dutch gynaecologist called Jonathan Messeena. Tragically, he committed suicide in 1867 following the “disadvantageous sale of his practice”.
Jonathan’s wife Rachel Gomes Soares was descended from the Lopes Pereira family, who emigrated to Britain to escape persecution in Portugal. They were merchants and left wills, which Douglas used with a 19thcentury pedigree written by a distant cousin to trace the family back to his 7x great grandfather Manuel Lopes Pereira who fled to Britain in 1656.
Douglas researched the family at the British Library, and was shocked to discovered that Manuel’s mother Margarita de Lucena was imprisoned in Portugal by the Inquisition.
A Connection To Pepys
The Lopes Pereiras settled in London, and encountered some fascinating characters. While reading a paper from RD Barnett published by the Jewish Historical Society of England, Douglas was thrilled to discover a link between the Lopes Pereiras and Samuel Pepys. The diarist socialised with Sephardic Jews in London, and observed in his diary that “Mrs Manuel sings very finely and is a mighty discreet sober-carriaged woman that both my wife and
I are mightily taken with”.
“There are many other mentions of Mrs Manuel in Pepys’ diary,” Douglas explains. “RD Barnett surmises that Mrs Manuel could only be Leah Fernandes, the wife of Manuel Lopes Pereira.”
As well as making such remarkable discoveries, Douglas eventually solved the mystery behind his surname. “I finally traced the origin of the Zegers family via a book in the British Library. La Familia Zegers de Chile by Silvia Fernández de Naveillán (University of Santiago, 1981) traces our line back to Count Manuel Zegers de Wassenberg, born in Brussels in 1735, whose son emigrated to Chile and was the grandfather of Vicente Zegers.”
Douglas has overcome a huge brick wall to uncover a family history that spans continents. “It has been a rollercoaster ride with some unforgettable moments. My ancestry continues to surprise me as I make more discoveries.”