Dave Matthews
Matthews in 2012, photo by Starfrenzy/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: David John Matthews
Place of Birth: Johannesburg, South Africa
Date of Birth: January 9, 1967
Ethnicity: Irish, English, Afrikaner [Dutch, French Huguenot, German], at least 1/64th African, including remote Angolan
Dave Matthews is a South African-American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record label owner. He is the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of rock band Dave Matthews Band/DMB. He has also been a member of Dave Matthews & Friends and musical act Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.
Dave was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of Val and John Wauchope Matthews, a physicist. During his early childhood, his family moved to Yorktown Heights, Westchester County, New York, U.S., where his father worked for IBM. They also spent time in Cambridge, England. Dave settled in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1986. He has South African and American citizenship, having become a U.S. citizen in 1980.
He is married to Jennifer Harper, with whom he has three children. He was raised a Quaker.
Dave’s paternal grandfather was Armour Hamilton Matthews (the son of Samuel Matthews and Annie Maude/Matilda Quarry). Armour was born in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, Ireland. Samuel was born in Newton, County Roscommon. Annie was born in Portadown, Lurgan, County Antrim.
Dave’s paternal grandmother was Margaret Constance Hatherly (the daughter of Frank Henry Hatherly and Jessie Mary Griffiths). Margaret was born in Whanganui, New Zealand. Frank was English, from Lenton, Nottinghamshire, the son of Dr. Henry Reginald Hatherly and Elizabeth Ellen Haworth. Dave’s great-grandmother Jessie was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the daughter of Samuel Saynor Griffiths and Margaret Frances Anderson, whose own parents were Irish.
Dave’s maternal grandfather was named Rupert Borchers.
Dave’s maternal grandmother was Muriel Rachel Angela Ward (the daughter of David Robert Ward and Wilhelmina Johanna Davidse). Muriel was born in Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa. David was born in Cape Town, the son of David Robert Ward, whose father was English; and of Rachel Charlotte Kemp, whose paternal grandfather was English. Dave’s great-grandmother Wilhelmina was born in Stellenbosch, Cape Colony, the daughter of Jacob Johannes Daniel Davidse and Anna Sabina Susanna Pool. Anna’s paternal grandmother, Sabina Elizabeth, was African.
Sources: Genealogy of Dave Matthews – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Dave Matthews (through his sister) – https://www.familysearch.org
Wait a minute
“at least 1/64th African, remote Angolan”
Isn’t Angolan African/Black as well? LMAO
Dave’s paternal grandmother was Margaret Constance Hatherly, the daughter of Frank Henry Hatherly and Jessie Mary Griffiths. Margaret was born in Whanganui, New Zealand. Frank was English, from Lenton, Nottinghamshire, England, and was the son of Dr. Henry Reginald Hatherly and Elizabeth Ellen Haworth. Jessie was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the daughter of Samuel Saynor Griffiths and Margaret Frances Anderson, whose parents were Irish.
According to Familysearch he is at least 1/64th African through his maternal grandmother’s ancestor Sabina Elizabeth, who was a former slave. Many of his grandmother’s ancestors had the last name “van der Kaap” which was given to a lot of native South African slaves during early colonization, and also she had a distant ancestor from Angola.
Brilliant research.
That’s not something unusual, If you check any profile here tagged as “South African” or “Afrikaner”,of very famous people, you will find “van der Kaap” ancestors, though in this case it seems at abnormal level.
“Van der kaap” actually do not necessarily imply African ancestry, because the Dutch East India Company imported a lot of people from India, Asia and Indonesia who mixed into the European population.
He looks perfectly british&irish, dont think there’s too much to find out. Sure, he can also have some dutch, german, and french since he’s afrikaner, but it’s problably quite distant.
His mother’s surname is quite intriguing. It sounds kinda French but it’s not a typical Afrikaner surname of Huguenot origin. Most likely it traces back to either British Isles or Germany:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZY-1PPV
I
In fact it’s misspelled.
It’s Borchers, that is German. He has also Dutch and English ancestry on his mother’s side.
https://www.geni.com/people/private/6000000053445412067?through=6000000053445660002
https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Davidse-Family-Tree-51
Boyce lurking around but I guess a Davidse family member edits assures reliability.