Wickwar

Wickwar One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Wickwar

Variants: Wickward, Wickware, Wickwarr, Wickwarre, Wicwar

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Contact: Mrs Sue Ritchie

About the study

When the 1881 Census index was first published on CD by the LDS Church, I checked all the surnames relating to my family history research. Having discovered that my 2x great grandmother's surname, WICKWAR, was relatively rare - there were only 56 WICKWARs recorded in England and Wales on that census - I decided to start collecting all known references to the name. This one-name study was registered with the GOONS in 1998.

Variant names

GOONS-registered variants: Wickward, Wickware, Wickwarr, Wickwarre, Wicwar

Other spellings found: Wichwar, Wickwor, Wickword, Wykwar, Wykeware, Wykewarre

Name origin

Believed to be locative - from the village of Wickwar in Gloucestershire. The earliest parish register entries seen are in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire - five miles from Wickwar, and in Calne, Wiltshire - twenty-five miles from Wickwar.

Historical occurrences of the name

Example references found:

1207: the manor of Wick (mentioned in the Domesday book) was granted to John La Warre.
1349: in the Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Petitions to the Pope â Richard de Wykwar, clerk, of the diocese of Worcester, M.A. is mentioned.
1349: in Inquisitions Post Mortem at Gloucester Record Office - Laurence de Wykewarre is listed.
1608: on the Gloucestershire Muster Roll in 'Men and Armour for Gloucestershire' - John Wickwarre, wever, of Packenhill was listed.
Many of the Gloucestershire Wickwars appear to have been Catholics.

Name frequency

WICKWAR, WICKWARD + WICHWAR - approximate numbers

1841 Census: 28
1851 Census: 44
1861 Census: 37
1871 Census: 63
1881 Census: 63
1891 Census: 65
1901 Census: 72
1911 Census: 107

Distribution of the name

Although, almost certainly all originating in Gloucestershire, in the 1800s there were two definite branches of WICKWARs in England. Up to about 1881 they were in the following two areas:

Berkshire, Essex and London
Leicestershire and Warwickshire

WICKWARs have travelled to and settled at various times in Australia, Canada, Ceylon, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and the USA

Data

Census - all names from England, Wales and Scotland 1841 - 1911 indices plus detailed information for many entries.

Civil Registration Indices plus copy certificates for a number of entries

261 births (1837 - 1952)
142 marriages (1837 - 1951)
159 deaths (1837 - 1952)

IGI - baptism, marriage and (some) death entries

Parish Registers - many baptism, marriage and burial records from original PRs or Record Office indices, etc *Wills*

copies and transcriptions of 8 WICKWAR wills to 1858
copies of 40 WICKWAR wills 1869 to 1992

Details from

National Burial Index
Newspaper articles
Obituary notices
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Historic directories Apprenticeship records
Poll books
Passenger lists
USA - census records, newspaper notices, etc

Many other sundry records and detailed information has been obtained from Record Offices in the UK - details to be added here gradually. TO BE UPDATED!

DNA

Contact Details

Mrs Sue Ritchie

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Wickwar in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages 2

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