The Bordaberry family originated in the French Basque Country region, France.[2] The Uruguayan family branch is descended from Jacques Santiago Bordaberry Oyhamburu, who migrated from the commune of Pagolle to the rural area of the Durazno Department in 1865.[3] There he began to work as a shepherd of flocks of sheep until he managed to acquire a plot of land northwest of the village of Carlos Reyles, which belonged to descendants of Fructuoso Rivera.[4] He founded the "Santa María" ranch and became a stockgrower. In 1900 he began importing Hereford cattle from England.[5]
In 1879, Bordaberry married Isabel Elissondo, who was also of French-Basque descent. They had five children: Santiago, Isabel, Maclovia, María and Domingo. In 1916 the family acquired the "El Paraíso" ranch, and in 1937 the first artificial insemination of sheep in South America was carried out there.[6]
Domingo Bordaberry managed the family ranch as a stockgrower, as well as a lawyer and politician.[7] A member of the Colorado Party, he belonged to the ruralist faction, which initiated the Bordaberry family's long association with rural affairs.[8] He was married to Elisa Arocena Folle, with whom he had four children between 1927 and 1931, Domingo, Juan María, Luis Ignacio and Elisa.[9]