The Vyvyans : from Cornwall to Wisconsin: From Cornwall to Wisconsin

By James R. . Vyvyan Sr.

The story of the Vyvyans and what they have accomplished and endured is incredible. When my great, great Grandfather left Cornwall at the age of 18, he had nothing. His family was poor and the economy of Cornwall was in decline and yet ten years later he owned over a hundred acres of land. (He eventually owned over 300 acres of land.) This is a story of accomplishment, persistence, resourcefulness, and the people who lived it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453548448

James R. . Vyvyan Sr.

When I was a child my Grandfather, Robert Vy vyan Sr., told me a few details of the Vyvyan family history, and as time went by my desire to learn more grew and grew. To the best of my knowledge, none of my ancestors have returned to Cornwall since 1845 when my great, great, Grandfather left there for America. I derive great satisfaction from visiting Cornwall and gathering the information presented in this book.

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Table of Contents

THE VYVYANS

WILLIAM (VIVIAN) VYVYAN

THE HOME FARM

ROBERT VYVYAN SR.

HAZEL GLADYS (PIERCE)VYVYAN

RUBY (STEPHENSON) VYVYAN

ROBERT VYVYAN JR.

WILLARD PIERCE VYVYAN

BETTE WILLIAMS VYVYAN

JAMES ROBERT VYVYAN SR.

VERNELL (VYVYAN) NIESS

JOHN VYVYAN

WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR RELATIVES WHO STAYED IN ENGLAND?

WHAT I LEARNED ON VISITING CORNWALL

This work is dedicated to my grandchildren:

Claire, James Robert, Luke, Nicholas, Ben, Mitch and Aidan

With Thanks to:

Barbara (Felix) Vyvyan

Mel (Vyvyan) Niess

John Vyvyan

Kathy (Vyvyan) Larsen

THE VYVYANS

From Cornwall to Wisconsin

By James R. Vyvyan Sr.

The Vyvyan family motto is Vive Ut Vivas; While we live let us live! As future generations read this text, may they keep that motto in mind and live each day fully and happily!

Many spellings of the name have occurred including Vivian, Vivien, Viviano, Vey, Vye, Vyse, and other variances. However, among our ancestors the name originally was Vivian and eventually became Vyvyan.

According to my Grandfather, Robert Vyvyan Sr. the following is true:

The Vivians with the ‘i’s

Would give their eyes

To have the ‘y’s

Of the Vyvyans with the ‘y’s!

It is almost certain that the surname Vivian preceded the surname Vyvyan. The first mention of the Vivian name can be traced to the 5th century French martyr, St. Vivien, Bishop of Saintes in Western France.[1] St. Vivien was said to have powers of healing and defended his people against the invasion of the Visigoths. His tomb lies in Saintes, formerly the Roman capital of western France. There still exist a number of Viviens in the Gironde, France phonebook.

The second mention of the Vivian name in historical records occurred in the 7th century. The particular Vivian was an Abbot of the monastery in St. Marten at Tours from 843 to 851. Vivian was a Count and court official for the grandson of the emperor Charlemagne. Vivian’s monks produced magnificently illustrated manuscripts of great artistic and monetary value. They created the First Bible of Charles the Bald,[2] sometimes known as the Vivian Bible.

One can find the Vivian name in lists of those entitled to bear arms. This evidence exists in Brittany, Normandy, Paris and in some parts of Belgium. Today there are dozens of Vivian families in the Paris telephone directory.

Having existed in France for 500 years, the Vivian family name found a home in Venice and Tuscany from about the 11th century onwards. The most common form of the name there was Viviani, but Viviano and Vivian were also common. The most famous of these Vivians was Vincenco Vivian, secretary and disciple of Gallileo. Even today there are dozens of Vivians in the Venice telephone directory.

The emergence of the Vivian name in Britain seems to have occurred in the 100 or so years after the Norman Conquest.[3] It wasn’t until the 18th century that Sir Richard Vyvyan decided that the main line of the family should adopt the Vyvyan spelling.

Cornwall, in the southwest corner of England, is a place known for mining and seafaring. From all that I’ve read, the Cornish were tough and known throughout the world as excellent miners. It has been said that wherever there is a mine you’ll find a Cornish man at the bottom. My grandfather told me that the Vyvyans had a castle and diamond studded hog troughs back in England; as you’ll see, there remains a castle in Cornwall, but the diamond studded hog troughs may have been a stretch of the imagination. Generation after generation of our English relatives were tin miners and tin dressers. (Tin dressers separate the tin ore from the waste rock) They lived in and around Camborne, Cornwall. This is near Land’s End, which is at the very tip of the peninsula. The family crest is a lion dancing on the water.

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Many families have to invent a legend, but the Vivians didn’t need to. They have had a very romantic and splendid story. It is the legend of the lost land of Lyonesse. Even today at Mount Bay in Cornwall there is evidence of an ancient submerged forest. The story is told that the governor of Lyonesse, Vivian, always kept a white horse saddled and ready to ride. One day the peninsula began to sink and our ancestor jumped on this white horse and rode to safety. Vivian found safety at a small rocky cove where now exists the ruins of an ancient chapel, St. Loy, and walked a mile up the coast and made his home at Trevedran. Trevedran is the earliest known Vivian residence that can still be visited today. The sign reads Lower Trevedran Farm. Believe it or not, until the beginning of the 20th century a white horse was kept saddled in case the seas should ever rise again. The manor of Trevedran was in the Vivian family for 200 years until our family moved to Trelowarren in 1427. In the 18th century, the saddled horse was of no help when the current owner was arrested and taken to the Tower of London!

The legend of Lyonesse gained popularity in Mallory’s story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The legend gained even more credence when the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about it.

The 14th century was a time of lawless and unruly behavior by some of the Vivian clan. There was a bitter dispute over control of the St. Buryan church. Apparently Richard Vyvian and his sons, William and Hugh, beat up a representative of the church. Eventually the clergy of the church gathered with candles in hand. The candles were suddenly extinguished with these words, as these lights are extinguished in our eyes so may your souls be put out in the presence of God, the Blessed Mary and All Saints and be handed over to the Devil and his angels and be punished with fire, world without end, unless ye repent. Amen. Can you imagine being condemned to eternal damnation? The next day 16 of the parishioners came forward to repent, but NONE OF THE VYVIANS! Richard Vyvian died three years later without repenting. Seven years later his sons were absolved of the excommunication. So ended a troubling century for the Vyvians, but better and more prosperous times were to come.

As we move into the 15th century Trelowarren became the center of activity for the Vyvyan family.

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The Trelowarren Castle

• John Vivian inherited from his wife’s family the Trelowarren Estate

• In 1454, John was indicted for stealing merchandise from a grounded ship

• John was succeeded by his son Richard

• Richard was succeeded by his son Michael

• Michael was succeeded by his son John

• John was succeeded by his son John

• John was succeeded by his son Hannibal

It was Hannibal’s decision that established the Vivians in Camborne (location of our ancestors). Hannibal, in 1597, purchased Talkarne, Camborne for 100 pounds. Talkarne was an established tin mine.

Hannibal’s oldest son John went to school at Exeter College. His son Michael was a barrister (lawyer). His son Roger (our ancestor) in 1620 married a girl from Camborne and initiated a significant place in Cornish history. Unfortunately for us, the branch of the family that stayed connected to Trelowarren had most of the money.

Roger was a merchant and one of the King’s Tin Farmers for Cornwall. This meant that he collected the taxes on the tin mines. Unfortunately he collected the money but didn’t necessarily turn it over to the government. Roger found himself in Colchester prison and died in 1652.

Roger’s son John described himself as a ‘yeoman’. John was moderately well off and left a considerable estate to his children. His sons Francis and Johnson signed his will but John could only make his mark.

This brings us up to the 1700s; unfortunately, there is a gap in our family history. During this time period there were 97 Vivian marriages and over 300 Vivian baptisms in the Camborne area. If only my great, great, great grandfather had a less common name than William!

The first direct connections to our family that I have been able to find are William and Elizabeth Vivian. He was born in 1797 and she in 1801. They were married on March 3rd, 1821, and lived in the Camborne area with their six children: Eliza, Elizabeth, William[4], John, Henry and Ann. (William was my great, great, great grandfather.) William was a husbandman. According to the dictionary, husbandman means farmer; he probably struggled to support his six children. It is very unlikely that he owned his own land, since his descendants were not farmers. They lived in New Burns, Little Petherick. (The next two generations that stayed in Cornwall were tin miners, tin dressers or blacksmiths.)

WILLIAM (VIVIAN) VYVYAN

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William’s son, also named William, was my great, great grandfather. He was born in 1825, when his dad and mom were in their twenties. He was baptized on August 27th in the Parish of Little Petherick in the county of Cornwall. In Cornwall the mid 1840s were known as the hungry 40s and many people came close to starvation. This was largely due to a potato crop failure. At least partially due to the potato crop failure a large number of Cornish emigrated to the new world and Australia. Many of them relocated near mines because that is all they knew. Of all the Cornish settlements in America, those in Wisconsin are the earliest and the most enduring . . .[5]

You’ll find a great many Cornish in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, because of the lead mining in the area. In fact, Wisconsin is known as the Badger state because the miners looked