Vickars History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Vickars surname is was a patronymic name meaning "son of the vicar;" or, perhaps, an occupational name for a servant of the vicar.

Early Origins of the Vickars family

The surname Vickars was first found in Durham, where they had been seated as Lords of the manor in that shire. Although there is a tradition in the family that they were descended from a Spanish Don Vicaro who entered England in the train of Queen Catharine of Aragon, this source should be seriously questioned since the family held a family seat in Durham almost 300 years before when Nickolas Vigrus (Vickers) was Steward or Governor of Tynemouth in 1295. 1

Early History of the Vickars family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Vickars research. Another 253 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1215, 1296, 1310, 1338, 1340, 1361, 1396, 1399, 1503, 1580, 1581, 1590, 1591, 1604, 1607, 1611, 1618, 1636, 1641, 1646, 1648, 1652, 1655, 1656, 1660 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Vickars History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vickars Spelling Variations

During the era when a person's name, tribe and posterity was one of his most important possessions, many different spellings were found in the archives examined. Vickars occurred in many references, and spelling variations of the name found included Vickers, Vickars, Viccars, Vicars, Vigours, Vicax and many more.

Early Notables of the Vickars family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was John Vicars (1580?-1652), English schoolmaster, poetaster, and polemic, descended from a Cumberland stock, was born in London of poor parents about 1580. Thomas Vicars (fl. 1607-1641), was an English theologian, born in 1590 or 1591, a native of Carlisle. John Viccars (1604-1660), was an English biblical scholar, elder son of Gregory Viccars of Treswell in Nottinghamshire. "His sister Helen was the wife of the dramatist William Sampson (1590?-1636?) " 2 Richard Vickris (d. 1700), was an "English Quaker writer, the son...
Another 89 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Vickars Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Vickars family to Ireland

Some of the Vickars family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vickars migration to the United States +

Gradually becoming disenchanted with life in Ireland many of these uprooted families sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships often arrived with only 60 to 70% of their original passenger list, many dying of illness and the elements, were buried at sea. In North America, early immigrants bearing the family name Vickars, or a spelling variation of the surname include:

Vickars Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Dorothy Vickars, who landed in Virginia in 1665 3

Vickars migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Vickars Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

James Vickars, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1749-1752

Vickars migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4

Vickars Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

James Vickars, who arrived in Barbados in 1680, with his wife and servants

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies