"When American-born Harry MANICOM retired
from his painting and decorating business
to live in Monrovia near Los Angeles,
he believed that his son would be the last of the Manicoms.
His own father had died in 1915 in a Pittsburgh train accident
and the only grandson has a daughter but no son.

A few years ago, a stranger from South Africa knocked on Harry's door.
The stranger's name was Brian MANICOM.
He told enthralling stories about members of the Manicom family
in Canada, Australia, South Africa, England and other parts of the United States.
Harry was astounded at the news and was soon reassured
that the MANICOM name was far from dying out.

Both Harry and Brian are descended from an old Devon family stemming from
Richard MANICOM
who lived in Lympstone in the early 1700s.

It is to another descendant, David MANICOM of Kenilworth in Warwickshire,
that I am indebted for the information in this article.
I am also grateful to Mrs. Lilian MANICOM of Paignton who married into the family
and put me in touch with David.

ANCESTRY

David tells me that he has been researching the family ancestry for 12 years
and has traced the tree of all known "born" Manicoms
-- some 350 are alive today (as of thee writing of this article in 1984).
As far back as the late 1600s there are scattered references to Manicoms in records from
East Budleigh, Clyst Honiton and Lympstone.

A grandson of Richard of Lympstone was John MANICOM, a Devonport shoemaker.
He became one of the first members of Devonport Council in 1838
and lived to the ripe old age of 91 years.
This "Grand Old Manicom" was a forefather to most of those mentioned in this article.

In 1862 John's 16 year old grandson, John Thomas MANICOM, ran away from home,
planning to emigrate to Australia.
For 3 months he suffered the hardships prevalent in the emigrant ships of the day
-- limited food of poor quality and cramped and dirty accomodations.
The sailing vessel ploughed its way through all kinds of weather
and after a 3 month long harrowing voyage,
was finally wrecked off the coast of Natal.

Not surprisingly, John Thomas decided to go no further and settled there
to start the South African branch of the family.
He trained as an engineer and drove some of the first trains to operate in South Africa.
His grave in Durban is purported to be next to that of Queen Victoria's gardener --
upon whom some claim, D. H. Lawrence based "Lady Chatterley's Lover".

A cousin of John Thomas, William Henry MANICOM,
who was born at Stoke Damerel in 1834,
was a Telegraph Examiner aboard the Brunel-designed steamship Great Eastern
when it was engaged in laying the first transatlantic cable
from Valentia Ireland to Newfoundland in 1866.
(see IEEE History Center-Landing of the Transatlantic Cable for photo/story)

His mother was a Devon lass, Sarah DORWARD,
and another of her sons, Thomas David MANICOM,
provides the most exciting family link overseas.

While supporters of the anti-slavery movement were voicing opposition to
the continuing enslavement of cotton workers in the southern states of America,
Thomas David was determined to do something constructive for the cause.
It is thought that he sailed to New York before he was 20 years old.
He joined the Union side and fought with the Northerners in the American Civil War.

In 1873 he married a Prussian girl (Margaretha MEIXNER) in San Antonio Texas
and was stationed at the Army depot there for many years.
Two of the letters he wrote home,
dated 1880 and 1885,
refer to "having a rough time".

Both letters are in the possession of David MANICOM of Kenilworth
whose uncle received them through the post one day
"because you are the only Manicom I can find in the telephone directory"!

Through these letters
David was able to trace a great-grandson, Roy MANICOM, of Houston Texas.
Roy's wife Georgia, a 5th generation Texan,
is proud of her own ancestry and was somewhat concerned to discover
that her husband is descended from a member of "the other side" -- the Unionist Army!

One of the sons of Thomas David,
William Thomas MANICOM,
born in San Antonio in 1875, grew up as a "soldier of fortune".
He became a driver to the notorious Pancho Villa.
Pancho's robberies were daring and the Mexican President Diaz offered a large reward for his capture.
Later he gained fame as a guerrilla general during the decade of Mexican revolutions from 1910.
Pancho Villa died violently in 1923 with 60 bullets in his body --
thought to be the work of the early CIA.

William Thomas MANICOM must have been involved in the revolts and
closely associated with all Pancho's activities as he frequently went to Mexico with him.
William died mysteriously in El Paso in 1921.
A diamond brooch he had given to his wife
was confiscated as stolen property when she went to have it valued.

His two sons, Bill and Tracy, are now retired after serving in the US Air Force.
Tracy's house in San Antonio -- believe it or not -- is Dartmoor Lane!
But he tells me that he cannot discover how it received its Devon name.

A nephew of William Thomas, Roy T MANICOM (Senior),
started work as an errand boy with the Houston National Bank
and later became its Senior Vice President.
One of his sons is now a neuro-surgeon in Houston.

Quite a number of Manicoms emigrated to Canada.
The first was William Henry MANICOM,
the youngest son of James MANICOM
who had moved from Lympstone to work as a tailor in Cornwall.
William left England in 1872, settled in Cobourg Ontario and became a dairy farmer.
Some of his family are still in Ontario and others went to Pittsburgh --
with whom Henry MANICOM in Los Angeles is directly related.

William Geake MANICOM, a nephew of William Henry, joined his uncle in Canada in 1911,
followed 2 years later by his wife (Elizabeth Ann HOOPER) and 8 children.
A grandson of one of those children is now a leading trade unionist in Eastern Canada.
(This is my husband's uncle / his dad's elder brother!)
He lives in Sarnia Ontario and works at a large petro-chemical refinery there.

Yet another descendant of the Lympstone lineage, though NOT through James the tailor,
is Richard MANICOM of Montreal.
Richard works for IBM, has a McGill University degree in pure mathematics,
has high qualifications in music and is a keen cross-country skier.

If you were to visit the opposite end of the world
and inspect the foundation stone of the Emulation Hall in Canterbury, Victoria, Australia,
you would discover the name of Henry MANICOM inscribed upon it.
This provides a clue to one of the two branches of the family in Australia.

Henry was a baker and sailed from England to Australia in about 1890.
He no doubt learned his trade in his grandfather's bakery in South Molton Street, London.
Grandfather Charles MANICOM left Devon to start the London business
which operated successfully for many years.

This leads me to conclude the MANICOM narrative on a happy note.
One of the present-day Australian MANICOMs also a direct descendant of Charles the London baker,
but part of that family remained in England.
His father married twice and when he died,
his second wife, an Australian, returned to her birthplace with her child.
There were also 2 children of the first marriage,
one of whom survived and now lives in Portsmouth.

The two half-brothers, one in England and one in Australia,
were completely unaware of each other's existence until recently,
when my informant, David MANICOM of Kenilworth, was able to put them in touch.
What a pleasureable reward to patient research into one's family history!

~ Written by ERIC GOULD for a Devon UK magazine circa 1984 ~

~ Country Hearts SEARCHABLE Genealogy DATABASE ~

LINKS

MANICOM Surname Forum @ Genforum.com

Manicom Surname Variations

Manicom Early History

Cornwall Connections

Devon Connections

Manicom Direct Ancestor Line

FRENCH WEST INDIES

CLICK on any highlighted name in this article and it will take you to various applicable documents.

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