updated April 2022
For many years, I have been researching the history of the D'Silva family from India. Three main lines of ancestors came together to create the 20th century family of William D'Silva and his wife, Florence Simmonds, these are:
I have manged to trace the D'Silva family back to John D'Silva, probably born around 1800.
John's name appears in the British Library marriage record of his son Jacob Nicholas D'Silva to Ann Caroline Raban.
The D'Silva name suggests that the family originated in Portugal, probably before the British colonial period.
William D'Silva's wife, Florence Simmonds, was a descendant of an English soldier in the Honourable East India Company Madras European Regiment and his "Special Friend" Elizabeth Wheatley or Page who was the daughter of another British Soldier and either an Indian or Anglo Indian lady.
The early Simmonds family line in Colonial India followed the common pattern of British soldiers having Indian or Anglo Indian wives / partners. The Anglo Indian girls being the daughters of other British soldiers in the same regiment and their local wives / partners. After the late 1800's the marriages tended to be with other Anglo Indians.
William D'Silva's mother was Christina Shedden who was the daughter of Alexander Hall Shedden and Margaret Graham.
It is thought that Alexander Shedden probably had Scottish, or at least British, origins, although I can find no documentry proof of this. I know that in 1845 Alexander was promoted from sub-assistant revenue surveyor to assistant surveyor, this occupation was typical of that held by an Anglo Indian. It follows that either his father or grandfather could have been from Britain.
Alexander's wife Margaret Graham, was the daughter of a Scottish soldier, William Graham, in the H.E.I.C. Madras European Regiment and his Anglo Indian Wife.
Recent DNA research seems to support the family theory that the Shedden family roots may have been in Ayrshire, Scotland.