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The name Vickears was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the country in 1066. The ancestors of the Vickears family lived in Cornwall. Their name, however, is a reference to St. Vigore Des Montes, Normandy, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Now known as Saint-Vigor, the Eure department is approximately 120 square miles.
The surname Vickears was first found in Cornwall. They were originally from St. Vigore Des Montes in the arrondisement of St. Lo in the canton of Tessy, in Normandy. They were neighbors of the Traceys who also settled in the west country at Barnstaple in Devon.
Not all of the family left Normandy for England as Simon Vigor (c.1515-1575) from Evreux, Normandy was a French Catholic bishop and controversialist.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Vickears research. Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Vickears History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Vickears are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Vickears include Vigors, Viggars, Vigars, Viggors, Viggers, Vigures, Vigours and many more.
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Vickears Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Another 44 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Vickears, or a variant listed above: James Vigures settled in New England in 1771; John, Lewis, George, and Robert Vigours sustained losses when St. Pierre surrendered to the French in 1763..