Source Record

# 1 Oliver & Pitman Jones
       Approx. year, 1845                                      Mary b. (born) at Powderham
      W.929.2/cou                                                  26, February 1784
West Country Library (WCL)
Exeter, Devon

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# 2 Visitations of Devon                             Mary bap. 26, February 1784
       by J.L. Vivian                                                             at Powderham

Devon Record Office (DRO)
Castle Street, Exeter, Devon
*(Source Powderham Parish Records)                   *no entry in Powderham Parish
                                                                               Records.
British Library, London

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# 3 Untitled Pedigree from Courtenay                Mary b. 1784
       Collection supplied by Research Clerk
      DRO.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# 4 The Powderham Genealogical                  Mary
      Database (vol. 3) published in                     Fourteenth daughter of 14. Born
      1997 Entry 38                                                Powderham 26 February 1784.
       Powderham Castle Archives                              Baptism (unrecorded) Died
                                                                                  (unrecorded) Buried (unrecorded)
                                                                               * (annotation by HHC 15th Earl that there
                                                                                                        was no daughter of William II Viscount
                                                                                                        Courtenay of this name)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# 5 Church of Latter Day Saints                   Mary Courtenay
      Pedigree Resource Files
       Submitter:                                                     Christening: 26 February 1784
       Stuart Wright, Exeter,                                   Place: Powderham, Devon
       Devon, England

                                                                ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                                            To My “Vane” Family Historian Colleagues:

It is my contention that:

1) William 2nd Viscount Courtenay had a fifteenth child named Mary born
       February 26th, 1784.

2) Mary Ann Chevalier (née) Vane and “Mary” fifteenth child of William 2nd
       Viscount Courtenay …was one and the same person.

Without hard primary evidence, such as a record of birth or baptism there is always a measure of doubt. However, I believe five examples of reputable secondary sources support the contention that Lord Courtenay had a fifteenth child named Mary born two years after the death of his wife Frances Clack in 1782. I would suggest that the origin of the secondary sources came from within the walls of Powderham Castle the home of the Courtenay family.

Five secondary sources say there was a fifteenth child born in 1784 to Lord Courtenay two years after the death of his wife Frances Clack. Clearly without any evidence that Lord Courtenay remarried, this child named “Mary” was a “natural”, or in other words, an illegitimate child. Link this fact with the anecdotal evidence within the article written by Captain Whiteley that appeared in the Newfoundland Quarterly Magazine in 1959. It was entitled, The Story of Mary Ann Vane where her grandson reported that Mary Ann Vane Chevalier claimed she was the “natural” or illegitimate child of the “Earl of Courtenay.” Combining the pedigree sources, with oral tradition then I believe you can conclude there is a strong case for assuming that they were one and the same person.

That conclusion is further strengthened when you examine dates and the oral tradition that claimed Mary Ann said she was fifteen when she left England for Canada, a journey that tragically ended in the sinking of her ship and her rescue from the treacherous rock shelving below the waters of Forteau Bay Labrador. No ships came to save her, then a few months later winter ice forced the shipping season to end. She was trapped.

Over the Christmas Festivities she met a young man, fell in love and married, which sealed her fate forever. Her first child Mary Sophia Chevalier was born in 1800 as evidenced by her death certificate that stated she died in 1866 when she was 66 years old. Allowing a year for Mary Ann’s arrival, marriage and the duration of the pregnancy we can estimate that she arrived in Labrador in 1799. Subtract 15 years for her age that brings you to the year 1784.

I believe I can suggest with a fair amount of certainty that Mary Ann Vane was in fact the natural daughter of William 2nd Viscount Courtenay born/baptized February 26th, 1784.

Carolyn Robertson Grant

                                                                       ~ ~ ~ ~ ~