Category: Wisker

Matthias Wisker & The Golden Spectacles

250 years ago, our 5th Great Grandfather, Matthias WISKER (1742-1829), purchased a glass grinding and scientific instrument manufacturer in Spurriergate, York. The retail business was called The Golden Spectacles! It passed to the eldest Wisker son for three more generations of the family, each son qualifying as an optician. Spurriergate is built on top of a Roman road aligned with...

WiskerComments: 2

Prison Ship In Portsmouth Harbour Convicts Going AboardEdward William Cooke 500x250

Henry Loftus Wisker & Penal Transportation

Today, a convict ancestor is a matter of pride for Australians. It provides a connection to the earliest pioneer (and prison colony) days of a nascent Australia! Between 1788-1868, 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia. In 1841 our 1st cousin 5x removed, Henry Loftus Wisker (1805-?), became our first ancestor to be sentenced to transportation for seven years! Penal transportation...

WiskerComments: 2

The Other Bainbridge Family

Complicating matters, there are at least two Bainbridge families in Oulston in the 18th & 19th century. Our family and the family of William Bainbridge (1752-1816), gamekeeper for Newburgh Estate, and father of nine children Most of his children shared names with our ancestors, including John, William, Jane, Charles, Henry, etc. Furthermore many remained in Oulston, Easingwold, or York, muddying...

Bainbridge/WiskerComments: 2