A Companion Map for Balbirnie's Book

If you're descended from Irish Vances, you should know of William Balbirnie's book; a genealogy of Vances in Ireland in 1860 and listed on our Online Books of Interest page.    While it certainly contains errors (and it's not really a primary source, so you need to take it with a little skepticism), his book is still the best available source of detail about Irish Vances in Ulster from 150 years ago and so has been referenced for decades by Vance researchers looking to tie their family trees back to Ireland.

Balbirnie lists dozens of places in Ireland where Vance families lived or were known to have lived in the past.  Many of these placenames were Gaelic in origin and their written names in English have changed over the years, even from Balbirnie's day to modern times.   But because of these and other changes across the landscape of Northern Ireland, many of these places are hard to find on a map today.

I made the map below for a book on the older Vance lines and I thought it might be useful to anyone else researching Vance lines in Ireland (credit for the map image, by the way, goes to JPL/Caltech, and the mapping tool was Google Earth (TM) - both of whom require attribution!).

You'll find a table of details for each location, with Google Earth(TM) lat/long references and comments where appropriate ("WB" in the table means "William Balbirnie").   You'll see a confidence assessment too - for example Balbirnie mentions the will of Patrick of "Lifficulty" in 1697, but that place appears nowhere in modern or old books about Ireland.  However, the modern transcription of the Index to Raphoe Wills lists the same will for Patrick of "Lissacully", and there IS a modern "Lissacholly" in Donegal.  Is it the same place?  It seems the best fit, but I listed it with lower confidence and I'm happy to be corrected if anyone has a better answer.

There are two more detailed views where the larger map gets densely crowded and hard to see.  Click on these pictures below for larger versions.

Hope this helps anyone looking to find the path of their Vances in Ireland!

2013 Summer Vance Reunions (in the US)

That's right - "reunions" plural!  I would like to point out that there are two Vance surname-related reunions this summer in the US.   Social media and connecting over email are great in their own way, but after all, genealogy is in its heart a study of human connections and there is no substitute for getting out there and seeing people face to face!

The first Vance reunion is from July 5-7, 2013, at Beaver Lake near Rogers, Arkansas.  Kim Richardson Adams Emery and her relatives have organized several local Vance reunions in past years; most of their family is I believe descended from the Vances of Calhoun County, MS (themselves descended from James Alexander Vance who died in 1821 in South Carolina, and part of Group 8 of the Vance DNA Project).  You can bet this will be a festival of true Southern hospitality overrun by very active and energetic Vance family researchers!  Details, directions, hotel suggestions, and more are on their website at http://adventureswithvances.shutterfly.com/reunion2009.

The second is the Vance Family Association (VFA)'s own bi-annual reunion, from August 19-20, 2013, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The VFA has coordinated their reunion with the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Conference (which takes place Aug 21-24 also in Fort Wayne, and VFA members may participate in any of the FGS conferences as well).  Most of the VFA's own meetings will be conducted before the FGS Conference at the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Library which includes a tour and research time taking advantage of the library's facilities and helpful staff.  A great way both to connect with VFA staff and members and further your own research at the same time!  This reunion is for VFA members, so details are in the May newsletter, or visit http://vancefamilyassociation.org/join-today/ to sign up for membership and get a quick note off to membership@vancefamilyassociation.org to request more details about the reunion.

Any other Vance or Vance-related (Vaux, Vans, Wentz, etc) reunions going on out there around the world? Let us know in the comments!

Map of the earliest US Vances

I don't know if anyone has a list of the various mapping sites out there that help you show locations and migration paths on a world map.  I don't have a full list, but I've seen some of them in action and they work pretty well.

Me, I'm a visual guy.  I don't get the sense of where my ancestors lived or how far they traveled unless I see it on a map.  For instance, when I read all the Vance DNA group reports (available under "Vance/Vans/Wentz Y-DNA Project" on the right hand side of this blog or else here) I can see how the research connects the early Vances in the US, but I don't get a good sense of how many or how widespread they were.  So I mapped them.

I picked the Community Walk website mostly because it was easy and free, and it has pretty good options.  The picture shows the results - you can access and play with them using this link:

http://www.communitywalk.com/earliest_us_vances_by_dna_group/earliest_us_vances_by_dna_group/map/1602712 

Each pin is a county where genealogists have found their earliest Vance ancestor in the US.  The colors show what DNA Group (from 1 to 8) that ancestor belonged to based on the y-DNA tests of their descendants.  Using the Legend, you can turn on or off certain Groups, and using the "Show Marker Titles" option, you can see the ancestor's name and the record and year that first showed them in the US (warning:  it gets pretty crowded if you turn on titles when ALL Groups are shown on the map!).

Please note not ALL of these Vances were the first immigrants into the US - many are known to be born in the US, and some have been confirmed through DNA analysis to be related to each other.  They're just the different lines we all have found connections to (that still have male descendants available to be DNA tested).

Interesting?  I thought it was.  Do you have a better site for mapping your ancestors?

The new Facebook Page is here!

For the Facebookaholics among us, there is a new Facebook page about Vance History Online, designed to bridge those who enjoy social networking on Facebook with our blog here.

You can find the Vance History Online Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vance-History-Online/158912884276896.

"Like" us on Facebook, and spread the word to others you know on Facebook that are interested in Vance history!

The Vaux Manuscripts

An alert reader noted that a couple of medieval illuminated manuscripts have survived the centuries which had links to the Vaux family of England, thought to be the original family surname that started at least some branches of modern Vances of Irish origin.  We can add the libraries where these manuscripts are housed to the next edition of the Vance Travel Guide; they are occasionally on display and anyone visiting might feel a closer connection to medieval history through a richly decorated manuscript that might have once been carried by a possible relative many centuries ago!   

Illustration from the Vaux-Bardolf Psalter

The Vaux-Bardolf Psalter

Housed at the Lambeth Palace Library in London, this psalter (a collection of psalms and other texts from the Bible) is thought to have been written about 1310-1320 and woven throughout its many illustrations are heraldic arms for the Vaux, Bardolf, and other medieval noble families.  It is believed to have been written specifically for a noble lady of the Vaux family from the county of York for her devotional use.  This psalter has apparently not been digitized (or at least is not apparently available on the Internet) but according to several more modern books, its complex illustrations are major sources for what we know today of medieval religious beliefs and practices.

The Vaux Passional

Illustration from the Vaux Passional

Housed at the National Library of Wales, this manuscript IS digitized and available on their site.   Written in French around 1503, it contains the Passion of Christ and religious poetry and was owned by Lady Jane Guildford (née Vaux), who was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and married to King Henry VII's comptroller.   This book holds rich examples of late 14th and early 15th century court practices and also some of the few surviving illustrations of noble figures of that age, including what is believed to be the future King Henry VIII as a child of 11, weeping on his mother's deathbed.   A good review of the importance of this manuscript with a close-up of the figure of Henry VIII is given here.

So were these books actually carried by medieval relatives of Vances living today?  I don't think anyone knows for sure - I don't know of any Vances who have reliably traced their ancestry far enough to show these exact Vaux connections on their family tree.  But with 500-700 year old manuscripts, it's very likely many people living today are related to these Vaux somehow, whether or not we inherited our last name from them!  And if you have reason to think that your own Vance ancestry includes the Vaux (or de Vaux) of England from the 14th and 16th centuries, then you might possibly be looking here at pages from books that your own ancestors once held in their hands and used every day.  

Vance Family Association Corporate Tartan

Posted by Ron Vance

During my tenure as VFA president, I have received a few requests for help in purchasing an article of clothing made using the Vance tartan.  Individuals have either seen the tartan while surfing the Scottish websites that manufacture and sell these articles or by scanning the 'Gallery' tab on the Vance Family Association website. Yes, it is possible to make such a purchase and the VFA may be able to help.

VFA Member James Brady Melton showing off the Vance tartan

at the 2012 Highland Games!

The History

In 1994, an idea was put forth by Mark W. Vance, a VFA member and the tartan designer, to develop our own Vance Family Association tartan.  The idea was approved, the tartan was designed by Mark, and the registration purchased by the VFA.   

Please be aware that the approval of a VFA tartan was not unanimous.  Some researchers linked their family history to Vance's that did not go through Scotland on their way to the USA and saw no need for a tartan.  Also, as you will read, we have yet to prove that the ancestral Vance clan of Scotland had a tartan.

In 1995, VFA members made a coordinated order of the Vance Corporate Tartan material from a mill we believe to be:

  D.C. Dalgliesh Ltd.

  Tartan specialists

  Dunsdale Mill

  Selkirk, TD7 5EB

  Scotland

We have no knowledge of any later VFA group orders being made to this or any other mill.

As previously mentioned, the best we can determine, the ancestral Vance clan in Scotland did not have a specific tartan. This tartan was made specifically for the VFA and is not a product of our genealogy research into the history of  the Vance family.  Given all the spellings of our surname (Vance, Vass, Vans, Vanse, Vause, Vaus, Vaux, de Vallibus, Wass, Waus, Wentz, there's more) researching tartans and their history can get complicated.

According to our researchers, Vances, possibly listed as Vass, Vaus, Wass, and Vaus, may have fought with the Ross and Munro clans and presumably wore their tartans.  However from one of researchers:

" In my clan maps etc., the Vass family is always listed as a sept of the Ross and Munro families.  The strange thing about this is the Ross and Munro lands are adjacent to one another in the far north of Scotland along the west of the Moray Firth and across the firth from Colloden while the Vance lands were in the far southwest along Solway Firth.  That is a long way to communicate for battle."

[Then again, the Scots fought the English all over Scotland so it is hard to tell.] 

Some references that may be of interest:

•  The Clan Almanac by Charles MacLean (Eric Dobby Publishing)
• Clan Ross compiled by Alan McNie (Cascade Publishing Co, Jedburgh, Scotland)

Purchasing a Tartan

We contacted the Scottish Register of Tartans, http://www.tartans.scotland.net/, who confirmed our tartan and stated that a purchaser would need to obtain an authorization letter from the VFA to sent to the supplier with the order.  Since this tartan is a VFA registered tartan, the VFA requires the purchaser to be a member.  Authorization from the VFA can be obtained by writing, or emailing, the VFA President and requesting this letter.

The Scottish tartan business has gained participants since 1994 and our tartan may not be shown on all supplier websites. Examples of three suppliers who currently display our tartan are:

• http://www.scotweb.co.uk/
• http://www.tartans.scotland.net/
• http://houseoftartan.co.uk/

If you decide to purchase a garment, please let us know which supplier you choose and this specific supplier will be designated in the authorization letter.

Any more information you can find on an ancestral Vance tartan would be appreciated.  Please reply to this blog with your input.

Closeup of VFA Tartan pattern from VFA website

George Vance the Vicequicentenarian

While compiling his book in 1860 on the Irish Vances, William Balbirnie interviewed several members of the family of John Vance (a Dublin politician and Member of Parliament at that time) who all said that the first Vance in their family who came to Ireland

…was named George, that in 1662 he fled from Wigtonshire [in Cumberland in northern England near the border with Scotland] to the North of Ireland, in consequence of having married his cousin Grace, a rich heiress, and settled near Dungannon in County Tyrone…Further, that this George was born in Scotland about 1637…and died about 1757, aged about 120 years [Balbirnie, p. 57].

Balbirnie dismisses the whole story partly because he couldn’t quite believe someone would live to be 120:

The great age to which it is stated that this refugee lived…seems an incredible statement. ..after the most diligent enquiry…we have not been able to receive any confirmation of this astounding statement…We do think this story is incredible [Balbirnie, p. 58].

It’s a shame Balbirnie didn’t have Internet.  It turns out that George Vance’s advanced age actually WAS remembered starting all the way back in 1758 when the Scots Magazine in that year even gave a little extra personal health information in his obituary under Deaths:

Another publication from 1758, the Gentlemen’s Monthly Intelligencer, also gave an obituary for George.   Then in 1799 he was included in a book about supercentenarians (those over 100 years old) called Human Longevity.  In 1820, he was one of Kirby Magazine’s Remarkable Characters.  John O’Hart also mentions George Vance in his famous 1881 book Irish Pedigrees – and O’Hart even mentions his new set of teeth (except he says at the age of 90)!  George has even made it in modern times into Wikipedia on a list of reported supercentenarians.   In fact, although he’s not much remembered in genealogy circles, the George Vance who died in 1758 in Tyrone, Ireland has had some of the longest-running media coverage of any Vance in history.

Was George really a vicequicentenarian (literally, “20 and 100 years old”)?  Who knows?  But it does seem incredible if he lived almost three and a half times as long as the average human lifespan at that time.  John O’Hart claims to have found George’s baptism record from 1640, which would certainly support the story if it were the same George Vance.  

George Vance’s real age (and the health of his teeth) may never be known for sure.  But his story also raises a very possible second immigrant ancestor to Ireland for the Vances.  John O’Hart says George’s father was named Joseph Vans, probably born around 1590 and from either Cumberland or Scotland, and he also documents some of George’s descendants in Ireland and England up to about 1877, several of whom became prominent Vances in Dublin or London.   The origin of this Vance family could certainly be from another de Vaux/Vans family line, since both the English Vaux and the Scottish Vans families lived in areas close to Wigton for centuries.  Or they could be from a completely different origin of the Vance surname.

No modern Vances have connected their family trees to George yet, but it is certainly a possible ancestry for any of the Irish Vance DNA groups.   It would be interesting if we could find a male descendant of George’s to test and see what DNA Group he was from.   Or maybe we should just check if any of our older relatives have noticed any new teeth…