de Blier coat-of-arms

What's this site about?

Genealogy. More specifically genealogical data collected about several families, and their descendants, since 1992. The primary focus is on people called "de Blier" in its myriad alternate spellings, such as "De Blier", "Deblier", "De Blir", "Deblir", "De Blire", "Deblire", etc. I also forayed into a possible link with the "Blier" family in France, Canada and the USA. There's even a "Блиер" family from Ukraine.

Why?

Blame my father, Henri Pierre Deblier, who in turn got told tall tales by his grandfather Henri Deblier about a rich family history. You can read my father's story in his book "Genealogie de Blier", which is available in the KBR in Belgium, as well as the Library of Congress in the USA.

What's Blier?

It's a little hamlet in the southern part of Belgium, province of Luxemburg, municipality of Érezée. It even has a castle. It's pronounced as "bleer". For the etymology, I'd like to point to the name of a little creek called Ry de Blaire, which seems indicate a Celtic origin. One of the translations of blair is cleared space. This seems a plausible explanation, given that part of Blier is still referred to as la clairière (the meadow or clearing) on topographical maps.

Can you tell a little bit about the history of Blier?

I'm no historian, but it's safe to say that Blier is one of the birthplaces of the Wallonian metallurgical industry. From the 14th century until the 16th there were iron foundries and forges galore. Iron from Blier was transported to Durbuy, where it was cast into cannons that were exported far and wide. All went well until the iron ore ran out. Plague struck the area in 1636, and almost continuous wars also took their toll. My own ancestors, who lived in the neighboring village of Fisenne, finally left the area as customs officers between the French Revolution and the independence of Belgium, and eventually settled in the province of Limburg.

Any notable figures?

Nicolas de Blier. Somewhat of a go-getter daredevil figure, as you can read from the enumeration of his exploits in his letters patent, granted by Albert and Isabella. He started out as a mercenary soldier for the Spanish, and rose up to general. With modern eyes, at best we can say he was a bit headstrong, at worst somewhat of a tyrant.

Outside of that, there seem to have been a majority of literate and educated people, with a significant number of relatives attending universities:

My great-grandfather's claim of a bishop in the family proved partially true; see Jean Gobbar and maybe Jean Arnold Barrett

Any way I can help?

Sure! Spot any mistakes? I'm sure there must be quite a few, given the size of my database. Please let me know, and I'll correct them. Do you have a piece of missing data? I'd appreciate you passing it my way. There are also tons of partial or missing transcriptions from parish registers that you could help with, if you're into paleography. See the Media tab. You can also take a look at some of the mysteries remaining to be solved on the introduction tab.