HomeMy WebLinkAbout444Spiral bound book, 21.5 x 28 cm, 9 pages, prepared by Nancy Vardon Danby,
dated 1993.
"Cover: Robert Vardon's Crest
""Robert Vardon son of Robert who was son of Captain Robert Vardon has in his
possession a coat-of-arms that was borne by his ancestors described as follows:""
""The Vardon crest is a falcon holding a serpent in its beak.""
Reference - page 66 - History of Families — Millingas & Millanges AD 800 -
AD 1907 compiled by Rev. Gideon Tibbetts Ridlon, Sr. Kezar Falls Maine -
Published by Journal Press -- Lewiston Maine 1907.
The original crest has been passed down in Robert's family and is now in the
possession of Christopher Vardon — Toronto, Ontario - 1993.
Prepared 1993 by:
Nancy Vardon Danby - OGS #7091
5 Beech Street
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2A1
"
"Robert Vardon
""Our First Canadian Ancestor""
Background
Robert Vardon, our first Canadian ancestor was born in England to Jonah Vardon
and Mary Child. He was baptised March 31, 1754 at the Royal Hospital Greenwich1
—Kent County, England, in the same chapel where his parents were married April 20,
1751². He had an older sister, Mary, baptised there also, February 16, 1751³.
His parents were both English, but at the time of this writing (June 1993) no proven
information is known of their parentage.
At the time of Jonah's' marriage, (father of Robert) to Mary Child, he is recorded as a
batchelor, of the parish of All Hallows the Great, 4 London. This parish is in Dowgate
Ward, located on the north shore of the river Thames, south of Upper Thames Street
and just west of London Bridge. All Hallows the Great church was pulled down in 1897
to make way for the Cannon Street train station.
We have record, that Jonah lived in this same parish in 1754 5 which is the year of
Robert's birth. Adjacent to All Hallows Stairs leading to the Thames River was at that
time, Doublet's Wharf. In 1918 this site was occupied by the City of London Brewery.
The Chapel of the Royal Hospital where Robert was baptised, is part of the
Greenwich Pensioners' Hospital, founded by William and Mary in 1694,
which was build on the site of the great palace of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I,
incorporating the incomplete palace of Charles II. The original chapel,
designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was destroyed by fire in 1779.
The chapel was rebuild and this magnificent structure is most worthy of a visit.
Naval Service
Robert Vardon entered the Royal Navy in his 18th year (anno 1772). 6 There is little
known about his Naval record till August 22, 1779 when Lieutenant Robert Vardon
reported for duty on board the (14 Gun) War Sloop Albany, by orders of Sir George
Collier.7
"
"The Albany was the flag ship of a three ship squadron protecting General Mclean's
army in the Penabscot. The squadron was under the command of Captain Henry
Mowat and consisted of the Albany, (flag ship of squadron), the North (Captain Selby)
and the Nautilus. (Captain Farnham). This squadron was assigned to protect four
transport ships and soldiers under the command of General McLean,
who was responsible for the building of a fort at Majabagaduce, Penabscot, Maine.
These Three Sloops under Captain Mowat, enabled the King's Forces to hold out a
close siege for 21 days against a fleet and army six times their number until
reinforcements arrived from New York. Reinforcements consisted of a squadron of
six ships under the command of Vice Admiral Sir George Collier who later became
Admiral of the Blue. The flag ship of the reinforcement squadron was the 64 gun man
of war Raisonable accompanied by the Blonde, Greyhound, Galatea, Camailla and
Virginia.
The siege and battle took place during July and August of 1779. This Penabscot
Expedition was the largest American naval fleet assembled during the Revolutional
War. The Americans were defeated and lost their entire fleet.
Lt. Robert Vardon maintained the ship's log on the Albany for the period of August 22,
1779 to December 30, 1780.8
Sometime during 1781 Lt. Robert Vardon was made Commander of the Albany.
When a Lieutenant was placed in command of a war sloop he may be referred to as
""Captain"" or ""Commander"" in the Royal Navy.
In 1782 The Albany was lost in the bay of Penobscot and Robert retired from the
service.9
"
"The American Revolution
During the time of the American Rebellion, The British town of Campbelltown
existed on the site that is now Castine, Maine. The British built a fort here
(Fort George). At this time, Robert Vardon was a lieutenant serving on the Albany,
a sloop of the Royal Navy in Penabscot Bay.10
Benjamin Milliken, a prosperous mill owner and ship builder and the founder of
Ellsworth, on the Union River, was forced to seek protection of the British at Fort
George after his Grist & Saw Mills and Farm in general, were destroyed by rebel
forces. Benjamin had a large family —18 children from 3 wives
(Sarah, Elizabeth and Phebe).
The story goes "" that Robert fell in love with young Phebe Milliken,
the daughter of Benjamin and his third wife Phebe Jordan. Apparently while
Robert was visiting Phebe (Phoebe) ashore, when he should have been on duty
aboard his vessel, he was cashiered12. He hired a vessel from Colin Campbell and
took Phebe to Halifax and/or New York and then to England. At this time Phebe was
not yet 16. They remained in England a year or so where their first child Harriet
(Harriot) was born. She was baptised in the same chapel as her father -
The Royal Hospital Greenwich, September 5, 1784.
Soon after this the young family returned to British North America to settle at Bocebec,
in the newly formed Charotte County of New Brunswick.
Phebe Milliken
Robert's wife Phebe Milliken, was born August 30, 1767 in Scarboro (Maine)
13 to Benjamin Milliken and Phebe Jordan. Her ancestry includes many of the early
settlers of the American seaboard, dating back to the early 1600's.
She brings into the Vardon ancestral chart such families as Jordan, Gray, Norman,
Alger, Deering, Bray, Palmer, Pettigrew, Milliken, Wilmot, Mulberry, Tristram, Winter,
Lacy and Bowden.14
The marriage of Robert and Phebe (Miligan) is recorded in the parish records of
All Saints Church, St. Andrews, October 4, 1792. As this is after the birth of their first
five children, this produces much speculation as to the delay in their marriage.
"
"Penobscot Loyalist Association
The inhabitants of Penobscot, who wished to remain loyal to the British Crown,
following the many years of American conflict, formed what was known as the
Penobscot Loyalist Association. These persons, along with their agents migrated
into Canada to St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
St. Andrews was an orderly settlement with land granted by a systematic process of
township selection, land distribution and town lot assignment.15 Robert Vardon by a
formal land-grant to the Penobscot Association Loyalists, dated 21 July 1784 was
granted St. Andrews town lot BH4 (Charotte County Book ""A"" pp 165-175.)
He was also granted 3 August 1784 farm lot number 176 (Book ""A"" pp. 176-186).
"
FAMILY CROUP RECORD
FAMILY BMW,: VARDOW
FAMTLY CHART
NO.:
ARDITIONALIIpDDITIONP
: CHART RBF.
(CHART REI
H9NP
I NAME:
ROBERT
IIPHEBE MILLIKEN
Occupation:
: OccupaLlnn:
Lieutenant Royal Navy
Merchant 111
- New Mrunevle ha[lo[[e
Gown[
Do y BORER
Year
I
Do
MOnLF
Ysar
Dare
I Date
Born:
Born:
30
8
1767
Place
:Placa
res
Barn: Greenwich Rent England
Il Union River,
Malde•
USA
Barn:
Day Monrh
Year
iDa
Manrh
Yee
Christened/ 31 03
1754
Christened/
Bapclzed• 1
Greenwich
:I Ba elzed•
e of Meich 9,1038
AGB
Date
2eatM1: St, PaLricke Charlotte
Co NE
(83 )
oP
ii Death:nate
pCB
)
Date
Burled/ Vardon Pb. (Bolt's Pi)
Bossier N.B.
I Buried/
Cremated/Othat:
d/ h
Plaee:
n Placa
Burled, Family Property (Vardan PL.) Burled Home N.D. Vardon PC. - Booebec
etc. History of Milllkens
etc. Be Month Yeer
Ma:
0 10 Euchre
of 11
Cnhabl[a[ed: All Saints
St. Andrews NB Phoebe Mll liken CM111d[en:
Divorced:
Marriages:
Marriages:
B70 ]mE3ce
Father: .Jonah Vardon 'i Rather; Benjamin Milliken Edward Milliken
Mo[M1¢r: MotM1ec:
Mary Child II ' Phebe Jordan D/0 Dominlas
N Jordon and Phoebe Cray
CBlLDRrN (See other aide of ¢Leet)
I'F HARRIET CHILD
Z'F FRANCIS M (FANCY)
3'F FRERES
'F ELIZABETH H
5'F MARY
6'F SUSAN
].F EMMA
B'F ANNE
9'H ROBERT BUFFINGTON
TOM NEORIAS WYRB
'IF NANCY MIIJ.INGTCN
12.
U.
Id.
I5.
SEPT 5/1784
I eenwicili[al
bimlNllCemrge w, B. Nov 20/1805
NOV
2]/1]85
harlotte Cry
N.B. BNA
}—
JOSEPH MUNRO Hay 25/1306
Jan
3/1]8]
'r
Jun
20/17891"
JACOB EARTH April 29/1811
APr20/1]9
Jan 22, 1854
THOMAS TURNER Jan 7/1813
Jan
30/1]9]
"
'r
I ABNER WOMBS 1827
JOHN CARSICK Dee 25/1817
Jul
30/1]99,
y 18/1889
ickeving. Out
r ISSAC IN EVER Sale. 1818
Feb
10/18 02
or 12/1856
i ckering, Got.
1 1. Rachel Turner 1325
r 2. Mary (Williams) Gilbert
May
6/1805
p t 14/1870
Pickering, Ont
8tlqq
mAworH2+,imgpenflald N B
Jul
17/18091
o....v"
.,,.r..�
SOURCES E ADDITIONAL IN.PoRMATION:
# ] ISSUE EMERIC HAS BROUGHT UP BY ROBERT urriNOTON FUSION N 9
9 2 6 B 11 1851 CENSUS CNARLMTS COUNTY NEW BRUNSWICK
010 HAWKINS GENEALOGY NEW BRUNSWICK ARCHIVES
HISTORY OF THE FAMILIES MLIADAA 4 MILLANCES "MILLIKEN" page 65 (Rldlon 190])
All Saints An^,lican - Sr. Andrew's H.S. - pariah record
"Life in New Brunswick
Robert Vardon, after his naval service, was referred to in land transactions as
""gentlemen"" or ""merchant"" but his obituary says he ""devoted most of his time to
agriculture.""
He settled at Bocebec on 230 acres (more or less), on the western side of the
Boquebeck River, on part of a parcel of 1000 acres granted to James Boyd in 1780.
On this property was a point of land referred to on old maps as ""Vardon Point.""
Today this is known as Holt's Point.
Here with his wife Phebe they raised their 11 children (2 sons and 9 daughters).
He died here in March 1838 at the age of 83 and is buried on the family property.
His obituary states:
""The high character of this deceased gentleman sustained through the course of his
long life of intelligence, benevolence, uprightness of conduct and pleasing manners,
accured the respect and esteem of persons of all classes who had the favour of his
acquaintance. Mr. Vardon was to the last, zealously attached to the religion of his
forefathers and country. ""
It is not known where or when his wife Phebe died.
After their father's death, the two Vardon sons, Robert Buffington and Thomas Wyre,
along with their two sisters Mary and Anne, who had both married Turners,
(Thomas and Issac) emigrated to Pickering Township, Ontario, close to where
their mother's brother, Norman Milliken, was already well established in nearby
Markham Township. Thus begins the story of the Vardon's of Ontario which will be
written soon.
Robert Vardon's Sons
Robert Buffington Vardon (1802-1856) married Rachel Turner (1801-1845) of Bocobec,
New Brunswick. They had six children. 5 sons and 1 daughter, all born in New Brunswick
and all moved with them to Ontario.
Thomas Wyer Vardon (1805-1870) married in 1827 Hannah Hawkins of Pen-field.
New Brunswick. They also had six children. 3 sons and 3 daughters who also all
moved to Ontario.
These two brothers settled on lots 29 and 30 in the 5th and 6th concessions of
Pickering.
"
"References
1...Parish Register - Greenwich Royal Hospital, Kent County, England
2...Parish Register - Greenwich Royal Hospital. Kent County, England
3...Parish Register - Greenwich Royal Hospital, Kent County, England
4...Parish Register - Greenwich Royal Hospital, Kent County, England
5...Inscription on an old Morocco wallet bearing in gilt letters the inscription
""Jonah Vardon. At the Doublet, Thames Street, 1754"" History of the
Families Millingas & Millanges (Milliken) G.T. Ridlon 1907.
6 … Obituary - St. Andrews Standard - March 24, 1838
7… Ship Musters P.R.0 Kew, England A.D.M. 36 #267
8...National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England. A.D.M. L/A 252 Part 1.
Log Page 106-148
9...Obituary –
10...Elinor Mawson, Archivist Charlotte County Historical Society
11...Elinor Mawson, Archivist Charlotte County Historical Society
12 … Public Record Office Kew, England A.D.M. 12 27B
13… G.T. Ridlon 1907 as in # 5
14... Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire
15... 1781-1821 Thesis by Roger Paul Nason, Charlotte Co. Historical Society, Inc.
"
"Bibliography
""Downeast Ancestry"" 1984 Volume VII
P.O. Box 398 Machias, Maine 04654
""The Penobscot Expedition"" - John E. Cayford
C.H. Publishing Co. Orrington, Maine 04474
The Royal Naval College Greenwich –Woodmansterne
The Chapel - Royal Naval College, Greenwich – Woodmansterne
Meritorious But Distressed Individuals:
The Penobscot Loyalist Association and the Settlement of the Township of St. Andrews
N.B.
1783-1821 thesis by Roger Paul Nason
Charlotte Co. Historical Society, Inc.
"