The Family of George Vancouver

George Vancouver had two brothers. Short biographies for them are reproduced below. He also had three sisters but little or nothing is known about them. Their names were Bridget, Mary and Sarah. One of the sisters married as a nephew and a neice with the surname Dixon are mentioned in the will of Charles Vancouver.

George Vancouver, himself, did not marry and therefore left no offspring.

A family tree for George Vancouver

 

Charles Vancouver.

Charles Vancouver was baptised on 11 November 1756 at King's Lynn, the son of John Jasper and his wife, Bridget (née Berners). Charles' father was Deputy Collector of Customs at King's Lynn in Norfolk. His brother, John, was baptised at the same time so they may have been twins. They were older brothers of George Vancouver.

At an early age, Charles was apprenticed to a farmer in Norfolk, before, in about 1776, Arthur Young secured for him a post in Ireland as bailiff to Lord Shelburne. By 1785, he had moved to the United States. Vancouver established the first settlement in 1789 at a fork in the Big Sandy River, the current site of Louisa in Lawrence County, Kentucky (Grant No. 18). He also had the first part of a projected multi-volume work entitled "A general compendium of chemical, experimental and natural philosophy" published in Philadelphia but other parts never followed. On 05 November 1791, a letter was sent on behalf of President George Washington thanking Charles Vancouver for the gift of "a curiously invented plough".

Vancouver returned to Britain by 1793 where he was asked by the Board of Agriculture to write the volumes in the board's series of General Views of agriculture of counties. Vancouver contributed volumes on Cambridgeshire (1794) and Essex (1795). In 1796, he was with George and wrote a letter to the paper supporting his brother. He was also present when they suffered the infamous meeting with Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, which was lampooned by Gilray.

After George's death, Charles went to the Netherlands to visit his cousins. He married his cousin, Louisa Josephina van Coeverden in 1799 at Vollenhove. Charles and Louisa visited John Vancouver in Warwick before proceeding to the United States where they stayed in Philadelphia and Kentucky. In late 1803, they were back in Britain and visited John again in Warwick.

For some unknown reason (it may have had something to do with their niece, Sarah Dixon) and at an unknown time, Charles and his brother, John, had a huge disagreement that caused them to stop having any contact. In his will in 1811, Charles makes specific mention about what he considered the sinful behaviour of John.

Charles resumed work for the Board of Agriculture and wrote two more volumes in the series of General Views of agriculture of counties. This time, he produced Devon (1808) and Hampshire (1810).

Charles Vancouver died in 1811, leaving his widow, Louisa Josephina but no children. He had not been reconciled with his brother John. His will lists him as residing in Mitcham, Surrey. It was proven on 21 August 1811, 11/1525.

 

John Vancouver.

John Vancouver was baptised on 11 November 1756 at King's Lynn, the son of John Jasper Vancouver and his wife, Bridget (née Berners). His brother, Charles, was baptised at the same time so they may have been wins. It is believed John took over the position of Deputy Collector of Customs in King's Lynn after the death of his father in 1773. In 1786, he married for the first time. This was to Martha Partridge, a member of a local family.

In 1796, Vancouver had published in London his "An enquiry into the causes and production of poverty and the state of the poor, etc.". He had moved to be in London with George. A letter written by George from Monterrey in 1794 to John shows that the brothers were very close. After George's death in 1798, John took over the editing of the voyage narrative and saw the work through to publication.

The Vancouvers had moved to live in Sutton in Suffolk in 1798. John then secured a position as agent for the Earl of Warwick and moved to live at Tachbrook House outside Warwick in 1801. However, he appears to have managed affairs very poorly and he left the Earl's employment in 1804. Vancouver felt he had been unfairly treated and he wrote a memoir that was published 21 years later in 1825.

For some unknown reason (it may have had something to do with their niece, Sarah Dixon) and at an unknown time, John and his brother, Charles, had a huge disagreement that caused them to stop having any contact. In his will in 1811, Charles makes specific mention about what he considered the sinful behaviour of John.

Martha died in 1807. There do not appear to have been any children. John Vancouver married for a second time on 24 March 1810, on this occasion to Elizabeth Elliott. At some point, the Vancouvers moved to live in London. At different times they lived at George Street off Edgware Road, Brewers St., in Woolwich, and Temple St., Prospect Place and Melton Terrace, the last two in Southwark. A company, J.G. Vancouver and B. Stow, Merchants of Caper's Bridge Surrey operated about this period.

John Vancouver died on 12 January 1829, leaving a widow, Elizabeth, and four children, Martha, Eliza, George and Christopher Charles. A will for John Vancouver of Southwark Saint George the Martyr , Surrey was proven on 03 February 1829, 11/1752.

 

Part of the will of Charles Vancouver 1811

The following is part of the will of Charles Vancouver in which he wrties about his own brother John.

...& bequeath the whole residue of my estate real & personal to my beloved friend and nephew Christopher Dixon with strong recommendation to him that should his sister Sarah hereafter prove deserving of his friendship and affection that he would make such a provision for here as he knows that I should have done had I lived to see her out of the hands of my brothet to whom I have nothing to bequeath but my cordial forgiveness and earnest prayer that he may see his errors before that it becomes too late and that his creator will receive him into that favour in which it will be my happiness to meet with him hereafter free from that opposition of principle which has so painfully embittered a very large portion of our past lives ...

Christopher and Sarah are the children of, I think, one of their sisters, who had married a man called Dixon.