Mixbury before 1844
In the years Mary Blinco was growing up, Mixbury in Oxfordshire, was a small, strictly agricultural parish.
The population was about 400 people. It was not a growing town; it was a static village where almost every male head of household was an “Agricultural Labourer.”
Most families lived in stone-and-thatch cottages owned by the landed gentry. Social life revolved entirely around the Church of All Saints and the seasonal cycles of the farm. “The parish continued poor and neglected and in 1854 the children were still leaving school at eight or nine years of age to work in the fields or to make lace” William Wilberforce visit.
The Reverend William Jocelyn Palmer dominated life in Mixbury and nearby Finmere, he was compassionate but stern and did not tolerate any bad behaviour especially amongst his tenants for he owned 18 cottages (in either Finmere or Mixbury) and was then rector and landlord at the same time. He was generous with his tenants that paid on time. Its telling, that he had knowledge of Canada, his son died coming back from Quebec on a trip there. The next quote from him may indicate, he was instrumental in convincing John Blinco, to take his family to Canada. “The rector, W. J. Palmer, also complained that although the squire owned the whole village and half the parish he never did anything for it. Palmer could only remedy the effects of the landlord’s neglect and the continued agricultural depression by encouraging emigration. “ Blomfield, History of Mixbury, page 39
Mixbury was largely owned by a single landlord, the Duke of Buckingham. If there was no work on the local farms, there was no place for a growing family to go. The continued migration from that part of Oxfordshire, would have been not only a fascination but stimulated actual movement for families willing to ‘take a chance’. The Blinco’s were not the only ones to go at this time. Thomas Beal and his wife Mary Hannah Clifford and children from Mixbury travelled out to Pilkington in 1848 and in fact his family took land adjacent to George and William Blinco in 1851.
George’s father John Blinco obviously weighed all this all up and at 50 years of age in those times was an old man, so he thought of a way to make the move and reduce some risk. John possibly decided his three older children led by George age 24 years should first emigrate and report back as to how they found things. Communications would be by mail post and it was going to be a long wait before he and his wife Ann knew how the children were faring. A letter had a long transit time in the 1840s (about 3-4 weeks from America).
A letter from America was expensive, that typically the receiver paid. So, a letter from George to his father would have cost 1/- (shilling) a day’s wages for a labourer like John.
As with all emigrants to America the fare to USA had to paid by the Blinco’s and ongoing costs until they were in work, John must have been saving hard for a few years to fund this.
In retrospect, the idea to send the older children on first was very smart they were able to be flexible and get by in circumstances, that the older John and Ann Blinco would not.
The Voyage 1844 – Arriving 16 May 1844 New York
The passengers included several family groups from Oxfordshire, and their shared backgrounds — as well as the closeness of their home villages — meant they spent much of the voyage reflecting on where they had come from and what lay ahead. The Stockfords of Stoke Lyne lived only a few miles from the Blinco siblings of Mixbury, and the similarity in ages quickly drew the two families together on board. From that proximity came two shipboard romances: George Blinco with Elizabeth Stockford, and Mary Blinco with Richard Stockford.
The two travelling parties are shown below.
| Name | Birth Year |
|---|---|
| Wm Stockford | abt 1789 |
| Mary Stockford | abt 1790 |
| Richard Stockford | abt 1819 |
| Joseph Stockford | abt 1823 |
| Elizabeth Stockford | abt 1825 |
| Jonathan Stockford | abt 1827 |
| David Stockford | abt 1829 |
| Thomas Stockforth | abt 1824 |
| George Blinco | abt 1819 |
| Henry Blinco | abt 1825 |
| Mary Blinco | abt 1822 |
Buffalo-Erie USA
We can judge by the location that the Blinco.s and for that matter the Stockford’s made their way to the natural transit point to Wellington County, Ontario via Lake Erie.
Arriving there in the summer of 1844, they stayed in the area for the balance of the year and the winter of 1845.
The move into Canada had to be prepared for and Buffalo-Erie was the staging for the last leg of the trip., But plans were to be changed.
The closeness of the Stockford’s and the three Blinco siblings was becoming more evident with the romantic attachment of George Blinco and Elizabeth Stockford. There was also a romantic attachment beginning between Richard Stockford and Mary Blinco. Elizabeth Stockford became pregnant and perhaps the baby and a urgent need to marry was the reason for the longer than planned stay in Buffalo-Erie area for the two families.
However, we do know that this area was booming at the time, with lots of labouring work. All three siblings would have found some short-term work and an opportunity to save American dollars. George being the oldest and more experienced, probably had more opportunity than his two younger siblings to earn and save money, that could be used for Land purchase when then eventually travelled.
The marriage took place in October 1844 in Buffalo-Erie and the Stockford’s and Blinco’s were now officially joined as family.
By November winter arrives in force in that part of the world, and they couldn’t travel anyway as the Lake would begin freezing over, very soon and would not free up for ships until spring of 1845.
They did travel to Canada in spring 1845. it is evidenced by Mary Blinco and Richard Stockford marrying in Elora Ontario in July 1845.
Harry had yet to meet his future wife and so he travelled alone When Father and Mother and family joined the 3 siblings, is not known exactly they arrived in 1845 in New York but it was probably sometime in 1845.
Mary Blinco at a glance timeline
| Event | Date/Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Mary Blinco | |
| Birth Date | 1820 | |
| Birth Place | Mixbury, Oxfordshire | |
| Census UK 1841 (6 Jun) | 6 Jun 1841, Rectory House, Mixbury | John Blencowe 50 Ann Blencowe 50 Mary Blencowe 20 William Blencowe 17 Eliza Blencowe 13 Emma Blencowe 9 John Blencowe 7 |
| Emigration | 16 May 1844, New York, New York | Three siblings travelling together. Passenger list (New York, 16 May 1844): Ship: George Departure: Liverpool, England Arrival: New York, USA George 25 Farmer Henry 19 Mary 22 |
| Marriage | Jul 1845, Elora, Ontario | Richard Stockford who had emigrated on the same ship |
| Birth of Daughter Mary Ann Stockford | 6 Jul 1845, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Birth of Daughter Eliza Elizabeth Stockford | 21 Feb 1847, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Census Canada 1851 (12 January 1852) | 12 Jan 1852, Nichol Township, Wellington County, Ontario | Richard Stockford 30 Labourer Mary Stockford 32 |
| Birth of Son William Lister Stockford | 16 Aug 1852, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario | |
| Birth of Daughter Sarah Ann Stockford | 16 Jan 1855, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Death of Husband Richard Stockford | Jan 1855, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Marriage to Robert Cook b. 1807 | 29 Nov. 1860 Elora, Wellington, Ontario | Robert Cook 1807 Thornbury Gloucs die 31 Oct 1869 Wellington Had emigrated to Canada via NY in 1837 single man |
| Sarah Ann Stockford renamed | Abt 1860 | Sarah Ann Cook 1855-1929 |
| Birth of Son George Cook | 15 Oct 1862, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Birth of Son Walter Cook | Feb 1864, Nichol, Wellington, Ontario, | |
| Census Canada 1871 Apr 2 | 2 Apr 1871, Nichol Township, Wellington County, Ontario | Mary Cook 50 widowed Sarah Cook 16 note Sarah Stockford adopted name George Cook 9 Walter Cook 7 John Holloway 24 Son-in-law Elizabeth Holloway 23 Daug. John Holloway 1 Wm Stockford 18 Son Sussanah Stockford 12 Daug. |
| Census Canada 1891 | 1891, Nichol Township, Wellington County, Ontario | Mary Cook Widowed Mary Cook 71 Dau Alina Cook 44 George Cook 27 James Hallaway 17 |
| Death | 21 Mar 1898, Canada |
Descendants
Sources
- The Millennium History. Text by Andy Boddington -Rev WJ Palmer
- The Blencowe Book Chapter 18 written by Fern Gibbard and Lynne Blinco Earle
- The Ancestry Tree of Ed Blinco of South Carolina descendant has been helpful to corroborate family connections and it ample use of sources makes it dependable
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