My name is Robert Vines, a farmer from Gloucestershire in the South/West of England.

The Vines family name seems to be particularly prevalent in the counties of Gloucestershire and the neighbouring Wiltshire.

Research seems to suggest that the family started out in France, possibly Hugenots and came to England to avoid persecution in mediaeval times.

We have a little knowledge about our Vines ancestors from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire who moved to Australia several hundred years ago, but very little information about those who may have gone to America.

However, an early link is Richard Vines who landed in the States before even the Pilgrim Fathers and proved to be an intrepid pioneer, settling first in Maine and later in Barbados.

A later Vines was Henry Ellsworth Vines who was the Wimbledon tennis champion in 1932.

If anyone has any information about their Vines ancestors in England, or how and when they arrived in another country anywhere in the world, it would be fascinating to hear from you on my email address or the Vines surname message board.