Holland to Ireland via Devon

[Richiev]

Does anyone know of the Vanston families in Devon. Although my family can be traced back to Ireland an aged aunt was said to have traced the family back to Holland and it is believed they came over with the army of William of Orange and landed in the Plymouth area of Devon and from there travelled  through the Welsh borders to North Wales and across to Ireland where they fought with the Cromwellian army. Can anyone help with the Devon connection?

[cemetery friends]

The Vanston name appears in some South Devon parish registers.

William of Orange and supporters hovered off Plymouth for a day or so but as Plymouth had supported Oliver Cromwell in the Civil War, William decided that his royalist supporters would possibly meet some resistence if they disembarked in that town. However it is probably that villages on the approach to Plymouth Sound such as Wembury / Plymstock / Hooe had some form of contact eg supplying bread/ fish or water etc from local craft and one cannot rule out some of the Orange supporters [soldiers/sailors] being left ashore as the prevailing winds changed suddenly and the small fleet was driven by the wind [and as mentioned, politically Plymouth was probably not the best choice in any case] headed along the coast to Brixham. Here William landed and with troops and supporters headed to London where he was recognised as king. Once established by parliament, King William headed to Ireland for the famous Battle of the Boyne. After his victory many  of the king's troops were based in Ireland and Plymouth garrison regularly supplied more troops, weapons and supplies to the Irish ports so it is equally possible that sailors engaged on these regular voyages chose at some stage to jump ship and stay in the Plymouth area.

As the Roundhead [Cromwell] troops were active many years before William landed in 1689, it would be interesting to learn how your ancestor if he arrived c1689 fought in any Cromwellian army.

[Richiev]

Thanks Cemetery Friends
Most ties with what is known the difference between Royalist and Cromwellian armies was perhaps an oversight as the Orange supporters would have been for the Royalist cause, but I got carried away simply because another branch leads back to the Roundhead side.  John Vanston b.1771 (3rd gt.grandfather) is the earliest I can find of that name and he was born I believe in Ireland so am looking to find earlier members of the Vanston family.  My oversight was because another branch of my ancestry which divides via John Vanston's wife Rose Maurice leads back to Nicholas Kempston . 1648, who was a Colonel in Cromwells army and he was my 7th gt.grandfather. (this line incidently leads back to Edward I )  hope you can see the slight confusion however I'm still very much interested in linking the Vanston name back through earlier generations.

[KGarrad]

I have extensive knowledge of the Vanstone family!
Absolutely nothing to do with Holland whatsoever!!

The family name is purported to come from the village of Fonson in Cornwall, or Fauntestone in Devon.

You should take a look at the Vanstone Web www.vanstoneweb.co.uk

Apparently our Canadian cousins spell the name van Stone, and insist it is Dutch.
But, having lived in the Netherlands for 16 years, I can tell you that is bunkum!!


The majority of the Vanstones come from the Winkleigh area of North Devon.

[trish1120]

This is the earliset with the spelling Vanston I can find on FreeREG;
www.freereg.org.uk
John VANSTON married Ann LEA of High Bickingham Parish, 21 March 1707/08, All Saints,    Alverdiscott, Devon

Using the Soundex Option we find under VANSTONE the earliest are;
BAPTISMS;
01 Jun 1620, VANSTONE,Henry, Great Torrington, Parents JAMES/AGNES

12 Jul 1573, VANNSTONE, Thomasyn,   North Tawton
11 Jul 1582, VANSTONE, Rychard   , North Tawton
10 Apr 1584, VANNSTONE, Alson, North Tawton
All have Father GEORGE

There are Marriages in 1628/1670 which seem to be the earliest on there + Burials 1636/1644/1650.

So looks like they were around in Devon for a long time

[KGarrad]

The Vanstone Web has documented trees going back to Stephen Vanstone and Mary Piper, who married in 1626.

And mentions of a Vanstone family at Testcott in 1524.
In the 1st half of the 16C the Vanstones were almost entirely confined to the Black Torrington Hundred(relatively near their origin in Warbstow?) By 1600 there were Vanstone families in many more parishes & by the 1641 Protestation Return there were families in at least 12 parishes in 8 different Hundreds.

As I said The Vanstone Web contains a wealth of information (very little of it mine!), and also has a forum.
EDIT: I see you found it RichieV, as you've posted a message there, too!

[Richiev]

Thanks to KGarrad & Trish,

Yes I found the Vanstone Web which doesn't seem to align with any of the families I have perhaps it's the spelling again? As mentioned before I'm looking for a continuation of the Vanston line going back from John Vanston (b.1771) of Maryborough, Queen's County, Ireland, who were his parents and siblings and where did they come from? Did they in fact ever come from Devon?

[KGarrad]

I wouldn't worry too much about the spelling!
The further back you go, the less important the spelling is
Most people were only semi-literate at best, and names tended to be written down by other people (priests etc).

Where did you find the information about Ireland?

What is your link to the Devon Vanston/Vanstones?

[Richiev]

I appreciate the spelling was down to priests etc. but all the family has always thought the Vanstone name was a totally different ancestry, I'm just trying explore different avenues to try and find an earlier link as to how the family arrived in Maryborough. So I don't know if there is a link to Devon at all.

As for Ireland my father, and all the way back to my 3rd gt grandfather were born in Maryborough, Queen's County, as were other members of the Vanston line which include such names as Turpin, Metcalfe, Maurice, Ince, Switzer etc.

The family in Ireland held respectable positions within the community, such as chairman of the town commissioners and were farmers with several farms each they were also stalwarts of the local Methodist church and were instrumental in it's building.