My wife's ancestors - Icard - Contents

Jacques Icard

Jacques Icard,
of La Ciotat, near Marseille, France.
Catholic family.
Possibly born 1683.
He was a "tailleur d'habits" (a tailor).

He went probably pre-1725, certainly pre-1737, to Smyrna in the Levant (in what is now W Turkey).
In Smyrna there developed a population of western European merchants and traders. See historical background.
At this time Smyrna was the largest and wealthiest port of the Ottoman Empire, carrying on an extensive trade with Marseille. So it is obvious how someone from near Marseille could end up there.

He mar pre-1725 to Anne Vassal [of Syros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea].
Both fl 1748.
Jacques and Anne had issue:

1. François Icard,
   born 1725, tailor.
   He mar 1753, Smyrna, to Marianne Raimondi.
   Listed as age 56 in [1781 document].
   He died 1812.

   
   

2. Jacques Icard,
   born 1729, tailor.
   He mar 1757, Smyrna, to Anne Glicofridi.
   [1776 document] lists the French in Smyrna in 1776 as including: "Artisans ... Icard père et fils tailleur". This seems too late to refer to Jacques the elder. It may refer to Jacques the younger and his son Joseph.
   Jacques is listed as age 52 in [1781 document].
   Jacques and Anne had issue:

   
   

   1. Joseph Icard.
      He was a tailor.

   
   

3. Fr. Joseph Icard,
   Monsignor,
   died 1789.

   
   

4. Jeanne Icard.

   
   

5. Marguerite Icard,
   or Margaret.
   [Goulburn, 1892] has her as "Margoton Ickhard, or Icard".
   "Margoton" is a French version of "Marguerite".
   She was born in Smyrna, 30 Dec 1737 [register of French Consular Chapel at Smyrna].
   Some writers thought Icard might be "Greek", but this may be just because all the Europeans in Smyrna (the Greek part of Turkey) were sometimes called "Greeks".
   [1748 document] says she and her sisters are "filles qui gagnent leur vie en travaillant à la cantine" ("daughters who make their living working in the canteen").
   She mar at Smyrna, pre-1763, to William Maltass and had issue.

   
   

6. Marie Icard.

Smyrna in a book of 1735.
From Levantine Heritage. Used with permission.

Extract from [Maltass letter, 1892].

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Sources yet to be consulted

• Archives Nationales
  • AE. Affaires etrangeres
    • AE/B/III. Affaires etrangeres; consulats: memoires et documents
      • AE/B/III/290 et AE/B/III/291. Francais et proteges residant en Levant et Barbarie. Depots d'argent et d'objets dans les chancelleries. 1756-1832.
        • 1776 document: "Etat des Francais de Smyrne en 1776." In AE/B/III/290.
        • 1781 document: "Joint a la lettre de Monsieur Amoreux a Smyrne le 18 septembre 1781." Listed as in "AE B / OOO / 290" but think this should be AE/B/III/290.