THE VICARY MANSION, Freedom, Pennsylvania

Two brothers living in a big family in Wolborough, Devon in the 1750's. One, Moses goes on to found the Vicary mill and tannery in Newton Bushell, Devon.  The other, John, goes to sea and eventually becomes captain of his own ship.  During the War of American Independence he sailed two different privateers probably breaking the blockade the British Navy placed on the East Coast ports.  His last voyage was to the West Indies in 1783 in the ship 'Diligent' during which he dies in a place called Paimbouef, in Western France most likely.  John's son William also became a merchant sea captain and made several trips to China and the East Indies. After his sea days he settles down on land in Columbia PA and then along the Ohio river near Ambridge and Freedom.  It is in Freedom, Pennsylvania that he builds his mansion in 1826. 
It  is now a living museum for the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation .

The Captain William Vicary Mansion, Freedom, Pennsylvania

It's been a long time since my last blog.  My only excuse is that I have been really busy sorting and entering loads and loads of Vickery data from both UK and Australia.  This is an ongoing exercise, having completed the 1851 UK census I am now half way through the 1861 UK census.

Last weekend I attended the Guild of One-Name Studies annual conference and seeing what other One-Namers achieve with their blogs and web sites,  I have been spurred on to do better myself.

TYNTESFIELD
Some of you may have visited this magnificent house near Bristol, now a National Trust property but once the grand home of the Gibbs family who made their fortune importing guano from South America in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1747 George Abraham Gibbs, an Exeter surgeon, married Anne VICARY (1722 - 1803) and it was their grandson William who bought Tyntesfield and greatly enlarged it.  I have not yet managed to trace Anne's own family tree but I hope to one day.

ANOTHER MILESTONE

With the addition of the VICKERY/VICKARY spelling I have been adding names to my index very quickly and have just reached the 15,000 mark.

Most recently I have been entering all the VICKERY/VICKARY details from the UK 1851 census. This has certainly highlighted the growth of this spelling in Somerset and the rest of UK compared with the 1841 records, and compared with the almost static numbers of VICARYs in Devon.

Devon  Vicary          1841 census 424  1851 census 508  increase 84
Devon Vickery         1841 census 418  1851 census 400 decrease 18

Somerset Vicary       1841 census 146  1851 census 50   decrease 96
Somerset Vickery     1841 census 418  1851 census 512  increase 94  

Rest of UK Vicary    1841 census 122  1851 census 134  increase 12
Rest of UK Vickery  1841 census 514  1851 census 643  increase 129

Total UK  Vicary      1841 census 692    1851 census   692 increase zero
Total UK Vickery     1841 census 1350  1851 census 1555 increase 205

Note the large number of Vickerys outside Devon & Somerset in both 1841 and 1851
         the  total Vicary UK population was identical in 1841 and 1851 ie no overall increase
         the Devon and Somerset Vickery  population in 1841 was identical at 418

Vickery spelling added

I have finally bitten the bullet and decided to include the Vickery spelling in my One-Name study. The further back in time I went the more mixed up the spellings were. This will add considerable extra individuals to my records as I estimate that there are three times as many with the Vickery spelling. Last September I reported that I had gone through the 10,000 person mark. Now I am already up to 11,100.

SEPTEMBER 2011

September 2011 saw a new milestone in the VICARY one-name study, I reached the 10,000 name mark on my  database. I estimate I have another 10,000 individuals still to identify and place on a tree or a branch but now I am halfway maybe I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

If you have not already contacted me then please do so. With your help I can get the next 10,000 added in less than the twenty years it has so far taken me.

In October I am off to Brighton to search out my own family and try and get back before Joseph Vicary who lived there from 1799 to 1833. He was born in 1763 and married in St Nicholas Church in Brighton in 1799 to Mary Russell and in 1824 to Mary Cripps. Where he was born is still a mystery.

C N Vicary Co., Jewellers of Canton Ohio

A few weeks ago I sucessfully bid on ebay for a pair of onyx cufflinks in their original box with the jewellers name 'C N Vicary Co.' of Canton Ohio, to add to my collection of VICARY memorabelia.
Does anybody have a connection to this VICARY jeweller and/or can give me any family tree details.

1881 CENSUS

Over the course of the past month I have been updating my 1881 census records to ensure that every entry is on my records. There are 839 Vicarys (including varients and obvious mis-spellings but excluding Vickery and Vickary). Of these I am pretty sure that 76 should have been recorded as Vickery and there are 173 which I have not yet been able to place on trees. Therefore 590 or 70% of the 839 are on one of my many family trees and I will have mapped out at least two generations, most likely three or more.

I am keeping all the Vickery/Vickary data I receive but I am not putting this onto my records at the present time. There are 2,156 Vickerys and 113 Vickarys on this census which explains why I am at this time concentrating on the Vicary spelling only.
Currently I have over 9,500 individuals on my database.
Please contact me if you have a Vicary enquiry or if you have any Vicary data to add to my records. I look forward to hearing from you.

and finally ...... HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND REWARDING 2011