View Full Version : Seriously stuck! Update - letter from 1859!
I am trying to work out what happened to Robert Charles Lucas Reay and his mother Marianne.
Robert was baptised 10 July 1839 Whitchurch Shropshire, son of Rev Charles Lucas Reay and Marianne (Draper on the baptism on Family search - middle name or surname?).
There are a number of online family trees that give the marriage of Rev Charles and Marianne as 17th May 1834 Wolvercote, they all have the same date, but her surname varies, Cook, Essex and Draper. I cannot find that marriage at all.
Charles Lucas Reay was vicar of Swanbourne Buckinghamshire 1838-1841 and left for New Zealand later that year. I cannot find them on the 1841 census and they should be there somewhere!
Rev Charles Reay died in New Zealand in 1848 and his wife and son returned to England, and then the son Robert came back here in the mid 1860s and married and died here.
Charles was born 1810 Oxford and he did his degree in Oxford, and was ordained there in 1834, so it fits that they married there. I have no idea what he may have been doing in Shropshire in 1839 though when the son was baptised, because he should have been in Swanbourne. He was curate in Lincolnshire from 1834-1838.
Can anyone see Robert and his mother in 1851 and 1861? And if you can find the marriage so I can get a maiden name that would be fantastic. I suspect that she may have been married before she married Charles which could explain some of the name mix up.
kiterunner
16-06-13, 10:55
The trouble is, not many Oxfordshire parish registers are available online, Chris, so you might not find a marriage at Wolvercote online but you might have to have someone look it up at the record office or on a CD or something.
There is a tree on ancestry which has a Pallot's Marriage Index entry attached - Mary Ann Cook of All Saints Poplar married Jas Henderson Essex at St Dunstan's Stepney in 1824, by licence. So if this is Marianne then her surname was Cook before it was Essex. They are indexed as James Henderson Esser and Mary Anna Cock on the London Marriages and Banns on ancestry, so I will put in a correction. To be fair, it is a pretty poor quality image. Date 30 Dec 1824. Bachelor and spinster.
Looking at the 1841 census for Swanbourne, there is a Kennie Pugh, wife Harriet, clergyman there (clerk has been crossed out)
Googling produces that Rev K M Pugh married Harriet third daughter of the late WS Reay of Liverpool. So presumably he was holding the fort for his brother-in-law.
kiterunner
16-06-13, 11:14
Chris, what info do you have about Marianne and Robert returning to England and then Robert returning to NZ, please?
The will of Kenneth Mackenzie Pugh late of Liverpool who died 1865 was proved by Maria Reay spinster of Ellesmere, Shropshire
This is Kenneth with his second wife in 1861 - no Reays there then.
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8767/LANRG9_2718_2721-0207/23186917?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3duki1861%26so%3d2%26pcat%3dCEN _1860%26rank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26 gss%3dangs-c%26gsfn%3dkeneth%26gsln%3dpughe%26cpxt%3d1%26catB ucket%3drt%26uidh%3d9vh%26cp%3d11&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=LANRG9_2718 _2721-0207
Google book snippet:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3YdKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA418&lpg=PA418&dq=Charles+Lucas+Reay&source=bl&ots=oJFxcCUdMI&sig=ePyXkYso9ANaSb1swR9tmLVbEIU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gKm9UfXgKsTqPKyNgZgK&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Charles%20Lucas%20Reay&f=false
In 1851, Kenneth was in Bute - again no Reays there.
Discussion of the Reay connection with Liverpool from Ancestry message boards:
http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=3511&p=localities.britisles.england.lan.general
Charles Lucas Reay's mother Charlotte was still alive in 1841, with her daughters Maria and Charlotte in Ellesmere, but he wasn't with them. Nor was his widow with his sisters in 1851.
kiterunner
16-06-13, 14:43
Ooh, here's something which says that Marianne's daughter was called Miss Essex!
https://sites.google.com/site/marapito/jollie_03
Also that in 1846 or 1847, Miss Essex married "Doctor Pollen of Auckland, who afterwards became and Member of the Legislative Council and was a member of several New Zealand Governments".
kiterunner
16-06-13, 14:46
Ah, the New Zealand Encyclopaedia says that Dr Daniel Pollen married, on 18 May 1846, Jane Henderson, daughter of Lieut Essex, RN, of Demerara.
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/pollen-daniel
kiterunner
16-06-13, 14:48
Jane Henderson Essex was baptised 7 Nov 1827 at St Clement Danes, Westminster, parents James Henderson Essex and Marianne. (from FamilySearch.)
Here is Charles in 1839, solemnising the marriage of his cousin Lucinda: http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/2197/engl56170_283-gev-3-2_m_00035/2431533?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk %2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dliverpoolcoemarriages%26so%3d 2%26pcat%3d34%26rank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26ms T%3d1%26gss%3dangs-c%26gsfn%3dcharles%26gsfn_x%3dXO%26gsln%3deyes%26c pxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drt%26uidh%3d9vh%26cp%3d11&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults
When his sister Maria made her will, she named Nicholas Duckworth her executor. In 1851, his eldest daughter was a pupil of hers.
kiterunner
16-06-13, 15:14
Looking on Papers Past, the Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle 23 May 1846 says "MARRIED. On the 18th instant, by the Rev C L Reay, D Pollen, Esq, MD, to Jane Henderson Essex, daughter of the late Lieutenant Essex, RN."
(by the way, there are lots of long-winded letters that Charles wrote to the papers on there.)
kiterunner
16-06-13, 15:16
And this also from Papers Past:
New Zealand Herald 30 Nov 1903
DEATHS. On November 28, at Grange Road, Mount Roskill, Jane Henderson, relict of the late Hon. Dr. Pollen, aged 75 years. Private interment.
This is a seriously wealthy family.
Charles's sister Julia married Thomas Ripley and after he died, built Ripley's Hospital, which apparently cost over £100k.
The Ripleys were in Bangor in 1841 - no Reays with them.
This is where you can find details of the marriage licence:
License date:22 Dec 1824
License date year:1824
Bride's last name:COOK
Bride's first name:Mary A
Dual date:22 Dec 1824
Groom's last name:ESSEX
Groom's first name:James H
Record source:Faculty Office Marriage Licence Allegations 1701-1850
Data provider:Society of Genealogists
I note in one of the items Kate found that Charles Lucas Reay's dates were 1780 - 1848. Was that a misreading of his gravestone?
kiterunner
16-06-13, 19:03
I think this is Marianne in 1851, given the birthplace of her youngest servant:
28 Walpole St, Chelsea, Middlesex
Marian Reay Head W 47 N K Cambridge
Sarah Bouton Visitor W 49 N K Middx London
Sarah Do Do U 20 Essex Coggeshall
Jane French Servt W 55 Servt London
Mary Land Do U 21 do Norfolk Norwich
Helen Dillon Do 9 Do New Zealand Nelson.
kiterunner
16-06-13, 19:13
But in 1861 there is a family called Gordon at 28 Walpole St.
Thank you, the bit Kate found about Miss Essex certainly confirms that connection and I see it says the late Lieut Essex. I had been playing with the possibility that her first marriage was to James Henderson Essex but has not found the confirmed link, and the reports I found had not indicated James had died. Good to know that she was widowed before she married again!
I did find Marianne, Robert and Jane arriving here in 1843 but they all travelled as Reay.
I have no confirmed information that Marianne and Robert returned to the UK, or when they went, just reports in various church papers that they had returned. Robert reappears here some time in the mid 1860s and certainly married and died here. He was a surveyor.
For all the money in the extended Reay family, this lot had money troubles. Charles left the UK owing over 100 pound, and there were complaints about Marianne's handling of the widows grant she was given.
There are some interesting stories about Charles' headstone which seems to have been quite elaborate and was sent out from England. It was discovered in a yard in Auckland in the early 1900s, no one knows how it got there or if it have ever been delivered to his grave site. It is now next to the church and he is buried somewhere in the church grounds.
Charles was certainly much loved by the local Maori, and there is a story that they said they were not sure where he was buried because they were afraid that his family would come and dig him up and take him away from them.
OO Kate, I think you have found Marianne in 1851. * does a little dance* :D:D
Had a look to see if I could find out anything useful about Sarah Bouton.
She was born Sarah Gardner in Coggeshall, Essex and married Charles Bonton there. Sarah & her children Sarah, Charles & William all left wills, but nothing to link them to Marianne.
I have a relative, Daniel Butler who was sent out to Demerara in South America by the Missionary Society. He drowned there after the boat overturned as they returned from visiting prisoners on an island. It was so sad, his first child had been born just two weeks earlier.
He was from Berkshire and connected with St Johns in Reading. (He died in 1847).
I would think that if British Missionaries were there, then the military was there too.
I found an article about Daniel Butler's death in the newspapers on FMP (reading mercury).
Di
kiterunner
16-06-13, 22:24
The Post Office London Directory for 1852 lists Mrs Reay at 28 Walpole Street, Chelsea (on Historical Directories.)
She does seem to vanish after that last sighting in 1852 in Chelsea. Now that we have a more accurate birth year I have tried looking for Marianne/Marian any surname b 1804 Oxfordshire, I have also looked for Helen born New Zealand in 1842 and nether of them seem to be around.
No sign of marriages or deaths here in NZ and nothing in the Australian newspapers either.
kiterunner
17-06-13, 07:01
Now that we have a more accurate birth year I have tried looking for Marianne/Marian any surname b 1804 Oxfordshire
It says she was born in Cambridge on that 1851 census.
tenterfieldjulie
17-06-13, 07:07
I would query the age of Helen ... possibly should be 19 not 9.
I would query the age of Helen ... possibly should be 19 not 9.
If Helen was 9 and b c1842, that was about the time the Reays arrived in Nelson, if Helen was 10 years older there would not be many Europeans around that area then, it is possible and worth a look, but I am wondering if Helen was more of a ward of some kind.
Oops to Oxfordshire Kate, but Cambridgeshire does not help either!
Found this...
ARRIVAL OF THE UNION
The Auckland Chronicle March 25th 1843
The "Union" barque, Mark Todd, commander, arrived here on Thursday evening, direct from London, with emigrants. Cabin passengers --- Mr and Mrs Bolland, Mr Philip Wright, Mr Henry Govett [became Archdeacon of Taranaki in 1858], Marianne Reay, Charles Reay, and Jane Reay. - Intermediate, --- Mr and Mrs Hardy and child, Mr Wilkinson, Mr Lewis Williams, and Mr Christopher Wiltshire. Twenty-six bounty emigrants, and twenty-two steerage passengers. The vessel left Gravesend on the 18th October, and by stress of weather was compelled to put up in Cowes, where she left on the 29th October.
We have London papers to the date of the "Union" leaving Cowes, but later intelligence has been received by the "Glenverbie", at Sydney, and the "King William", at Hobart Town.
There were a couple of other clergy on that sailing, Philip Wright and Bolland were also priests. CMS must have made a bulk booking!
Is the Charles mentioned in the Auckland Chronicle Marianne's husband, Charles, or her son, Robert Charles?
The Times, 2 Nov 1840 says 'The Rev. C.L. Reay of Queen's College, has been appointed a chaplain to the Right Hon. Baron Keane of Ghuznee (ref to this peer here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keane,_1st_Baron_Keane
Brill find, Bev. If the family are all in Ireland that will explain why they have been so elusive. The Keane family owned Cappoquin House in Co Waterford.
Perhaps Shona....that Wiki article says Baron Keane died in Hampshire in 1844.
General Sir John Keane retired to England to become Lord Keane of Ghunzee and Cappoquin on a pension of £2,000 a year.
BlueSavannah
17-06-13, 14:07
Hi,
From a parish record disk I have.......Marriage at St Peter's, Wolvercote on the 17th May 1834: Charles Lucas Reay of St Peter, East Oxf. to Marianna Essex, Widow. By Licence. Witnesses Edw. James & Mary Jones.
Hope this helps :)
Hi,
From a parish record disk I have.......Marriage at St Peter's, Wolvercote on the 17th May 1834: Charles Lucas Reay of St Peter, East Oxf. to Marianna Essex, Widow. By Licence. Witnesses Edw. James & Mary Jones.
Hope this helps :)
Bingo! Thanks heaps. That means that I now have both marriages. :D
And Ireland will make sense of why I cannot find them in 1841. The birth of Robert in 1839 is not registered in England, maybe he was born in Ireland. If I could just work out why he was baptised in Shropshire I could start making some sense of this itinerant family!
kiterunner
17-06-13, 19:04
If you can get an image or full transcription of that baptism, Chris, it might have extra info to explain it, and it should at least show the family's "abode".
I only have the Robert baptism from Family Search. I will try and work out how to get a copy. Thanks Kate
I will post what I now have on this family, which looks like quite a lot, but this story may become an historical novel. I do now have the other bits and pieces of padding around some of these bare facts, thanks to you people.
REAY, Charles Lucas
born 25 Mar 1811 Oxford baptized 24 Dec 1811 S Peter Liverpool Lancashire
died 31 Mar 1848 age 38 CMS station Hicks Bay Waiapu Eastern district North Island,
buried (by the Revd Charles BAKER) 02 Apr 1848 churchyard S John Rangitukia
brother to Maria REAY (1851) with sister Charlotte proprietors girls’ school
born 05 Aug 1802 died 11 Oct 1870 Ellesmere [left £4 000]
brother to Julia REAY born 03 Nov 1804 died 02 Feb 1881 [left £300 000]
married 14 Jul 1823 S Anne Liverpool Thomas RIPLEY wealthy ‘merchant prince’ in East India and China trade
brother to Harriet REAY born 05 Feb 1809 died 20 Nov 1855 Liverpool
married 02 Jan 1841 by CL REAY,
the Revd Kenneth Mackenzie PUGHE (1816-1865) ; several more priests in their family line
brother to Charlotte REAY born 01 Mar 1817 died 04 Jun 1877 Ellesmere [left £10 000]
only son of William Lucas REAY gentleman merchant surgeon of Liverpool
baptised 06 Dec 1770 Shotwick co Cheshire,
died 11 Apr 1832 residence Islington co Middlesex
son of the Revd Stephen REAY priest at Shotwick Cheshire died before 1809
married 04 Feb 1799 Liverpool co Lancashire
and Charlotte ROBINSON born c1771 died 11 Nov 1846 age 75;
married 17 May 1834 Wolvercote Oxfordshire,
Marianne ESSEX née COOK
she married (i) Dec ¼ 1824 London,
Lieutenant James Henderson ESSEX RN, who served in Demarara Guiana
son of Hector ESSEX
(1807) churchwarden S Clement Dane, died 01 Aug 1818 of The Strand London
their daughter Jane Henderson ESSEX baptised 07 Nov 1827 S Clement Dane London,
married 1846 Nelson New Zealand, Dr Daniel POLLEN died 1903 Auckland
(Oct 1842-Mar 1843) Marianne REAY with Robert REAY and Jane REAY from England arrived Auckland UNION; also on board that ship the Revd Henry GOVETT with 'cousin' the Revd William BOLLAND (who married Jane WRIGHT), and the Revd Philip WRIGHT (who married Sarah Louisa GOVETT),
the ‘designer of Wakefield church’ diocese Nelson
at husband’s death Mrs Marianne REAY with young son Robert Charles Lucas REAY returned to England, to reside Walpole St Chelsea;
(Mar 1851) with two visitors two servants, and servant Helen DILLON age 9 born Nelson New Zealand, residing 28 Walpole Street Chelsea co Middlesex
(Aug 1851) widow Marianne was accused of fraudulent mis-handling of her financial grant from CMS
born c1804 Cambridge
Note: 1845 Miss Jane ESSEX daughter of Lieutenant ESSEX RN of Demarara Guiana, arrived Nelson, married (18 May 1846 Nelson by CL REAY) Dr Daniel POLLEN of Auckland MLC and Colonial secretary, (Jul 1875) ‘now Premier’ for a few months; promoted pottery manufacture (born 02 Jun 1813 Dublin died 18 May 1896 Auckland)
(352;217;212;33;111)
Education
23 Mar 1829 matriculated age 17, Queen’s College Oxford
13 Feb 1834 BA Oxford
21 Sep 1834 deacon Lincoln
20 Sep 1835 priest Lincoln (411;111;244)
Positions
21 Sep 1834-1838 curate Gosberton co and diocese Lincoln
Mar 1838 – 1843 appointed vicar Swanbourne Buckinghamshire diocese Oxford (internet information)
Nov 1840 a chaplain to the Right Honourable John KEANE (1781 – 1844) 1st Baron of Ghuznee Afghanistan & Cappoquin co Waterford Ireland – John KEANE served in the Napoleonic wars, in New Orleans during the British war (1812) with the United States of America, (1815-1817) British occupation of France, in Jamaica, (1834-1839) in Bombay and then leader of the British forces in the First Afghan war: for which he was made a baron; died Burton Lodge Hampshire (411)
02 Oct 1841 offered to CMS
26 Dec 1841 departed Plymouth CMS missionary (with Bishop SELWYN and HF BUTT) TOMATIN; chaplain to crew (212;287)
‘After his hurried departure it emerged that he had left debts with local businesses amounting to £105.13.6 ½. His wife, whom he had left behind in Swanbourne, promised to discharge the debts, but the episode proved deeply embarrassing for Henry VENN who had arranged REAY’s passage under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society.’ p134 The nineteenth-century Church and English society Frances Knight, Cambridge University Press (1995)
21 Aug 1842 CMS missionary among M?ori and among (with CW SAXTON) settlers Nelson diocese New Zealand (37)
30 May 1842 he arrived (with SELWYN bishop New Zealand) New Zealand BRISTOLIAN
18 Aug 1842 departed Port Nicholson (with SELWYN bishop) VICTORIA for Nelson
21 Aug 1842 arrived Nelson (with SELWYN) VICTORIA
1842 established Bishop’s school Nelson (33)
23 Aug 1842 with SELWYN took services Nelson for M?ori
04 Oct 1842 – 11 Oct 1842 visited M?ori settlements Wakapuaka
Rangitoto in D’Urville island through the French Pass
04 Nov 1842 to Waitapu and to Nelson
06 Nov 1842 services John KERR’s barn Waimea West
22 Jan 1843 services Rangitoto
31 Jan 1843 to Motueka and Tomatea near Pakawau [10km from Collingwood] for M?ori settlements
10 May 1843 appointed incumbent Nelson (228)
May 1843 from England wife and son arrived to join him
mid 1843 holiday in Auckland
24 Dec 1843 at opening S Michael church Waimea West
01 Jan 1845 preached Church on Hill Nelson
no date: quarrelled with important settler JN BEIT in Nelson
unauthorised visit to Sydney (202)
1845 no licence occasional services diocese Australia (111)
11 Oct 1846 preached at opening of church S John Wakefield near Nelson
31 Jan 1847 preached S Paul Wellington
03 Feb 1847 departed JULIA for Nelson
31 Mar 1847 finished work in Nelson province
02 Apr 1847 departed Nelson for Auckland:
1847 – death stationed (vice KISSLING G) CMS mission (under chief Mokena KOHERE) Te Araroa and Rangitukia Waiapu diocese New Zealand (253;33;217;55)
Other
1841 author The services of the Unitarians: as compared with the Book of common prayer of the United Church of England and Ireland (London: W.E Painter 342 The Strand, publisher and printer)
Son Robert Charles Lucas REAY (1839-1911) married Hannah GEMMELL (1856-1928) a daughter of the Princess Hipora TE APATU, and was a surveyor of confiscated M?ori land; he and his wife are buried Wairoa cemetery Hawkes Bay. (275;33;89;212;204)
I have found a possible brother for Marianne: Thomas Draper Cooke b c 1804, Tydd St Giles, Cambridgeshire. Tydd is the most northerly parish in Cambridgeshire and he married Eliza Walker and lived in Lincolnshire. He was an attorney at law per the 1841 census and a solicitor per the 1851 census. He died in 1853 and one George Walker was the executor of his will per death duty records on FMP.
kiterunner
17-06-13, 21:58
I have found a possible brother for Marianne: Thomas Draper Cooke b c 1804, Tydd St Giles, Cambridgeshire. Tydd is the most northerly parish in Cambridgeshire and he married Eliza Walker and lived in Lincolnshire. He was an attorney at law per the 1841 census and a solicitor per the 1851 census. He died in 1853 and one George Walker was the executor of his will per death duty records on FMP.
FamilySearch gives the name of Thomas's father as Robert on the 1839 marriage. They have a baptism of a Thomas Cook in 1801 at Tydd St Mary, Lincolnshire, parents Robert Cook and Jane Draper. It is on Lincs to the Past, baptism date 29 Apr 1801, and Draper is evidently Jane's maiden name as it is in brackets and most of the other entries are done the same way. I can't see a baptism for Marianne / Mary Ann with these parents on FamilySearch, but it does seem likely she would belong to the same family. Tydd St Mary is very close to the border with Cambridgeshire.
The eldest son would look to be Robert Draper Cook son of Robt Cook and Jane his wife, late Jane Draper spinster, born 24th Feb & bp ptely 5th March 1796 in Hingham, Norfolk.
Or possibly not, as they married in Snelland, Lincolnshire in 1788 per family search.
Charles Reay's appointment to Swanbourne was reported in the Westmorland Gazette on 3 March 1838.
Ecclesiastical Intelligence
The Queen has been pleased to present the Rev Charles Lucas Reay BA late of Gosberton* , Lincolnshire, to the Vicarage of Swanbourne, Bucks, vacant by the death of the Rev William Wodley.
* The article says Gesberton.
Newspaper report on the discovery of Charles Reay's headstone in 1914.
http://search.api.brightsolid.com/bl/v1/seadragon/download/h=E778A486F62B737619A988830AC87BB1256124494F5AB720 871D7B1E64666607AD043770B59C3ED32FFBACB126A6BCC52D BFC0DB2C27D9F014830A16E9CF5583/BL/0000536/19140724/0007/A4
The headstone is interesting, you have to wonder how it got there and did it ever get the site of his grave before that date. It was found close to the port of Auckland, so is that as far as it ever got, or was it returned there from somewhere? There is a suggestion that there was a headstone in Nelson where he spent most of his time here, and that vanished or did not exist. He was actually buried where he died at Rangitukia, which is about half way between Auckland and Nelson. The stone is now at the little church in Rangitukia, but not at his grave site. That is said to be unknown, but local Maori have their own ideas about where he is!
I have just received a copy of a letter written in April 1859, by Maria Reay to her nephew Robert Charles Reay, the son of Charles Lucas Reay and Marianne Draper Cook.
It goes some way to explaining why we have found the baptism of Robert Charles in 1839, but no birth registration. It makes an even bigger mystery of this family.
In the letter Maria tells Robert that he is not the son of Charles Lucas Reay and Marianne Draper Cook, but that Marianne had "palmed on her husband and his family a child with whom they had no connection and making them believe that he was theirs".
She says that she believes that his mother's name was Sanders and she afterwards married and the name of her present husband is Drury. Mr and Mrs Drury do not live together and have separated by mutual consent.
She says that his mother wishes to know something about her son and asks that he make contact and write to her once or twice a year so that she knows how he is.
She asks him to contact his mother by writing care of Mr John Drury, Westington Nr Campden Gloucestershire. She says his mother had no other children.
It sounds from the letter as though Maria has been in contact with Mr Drury on a number of occasions. Unfortunately she is not clear that John Drury is his mothers husband, and she does not give his mothers christian name.
I have looked at Free BMD for a Drury/Sanders marriage before 1859 and found nothing.
I cannot find a John Drury in Gloucestershire in 1861.
Anyone want to have a play with this new information??! :D
Campden is/was on the Gloucestershire/Warwickshire border and Ancestry have it listed in Warks.
Here is John D, 41, married and no wife at home:
1861 John Drury (http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8767/WARRG9_2235_2240-0484/21433907?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fMS_AdvCB%3d1%26db%3duki1861%26rank %3d1%26new%3d1%26so%3d3%26MSAV%3d2%26msT%3d1%26gss %3dms_r_db%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3ddru*%26gsln_x%3d1 %26gskw%3dcampden%26gskw_x%3d1%26dbOnly%3d_F00027B 9%257c_F00027B9_x%26dbOnly%3d_F0003039%257c_F00030 39_x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303A%257c_F000303A_x%26dbOnly %3d_F00032DB%257c_F00032DB_x%26dbOnly%3d_83004006% 257c_83004006_x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303D%257c_F000303D _x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303E%257c_F000303E_x%26dbOnly%3 d_F00032F6%257c_F00032F6_x%26dbOnly%3d_F0003888%25 7c_F0003888_x%26uidh%3d672&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults)
In 1851 John is unmarried and living with his parents:
1851 John Drury (http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8860/WARHO107_2075_2076-0358/9527610?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk %2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fMS_AdvCB%3d1%26db%3duki1851%26rank %3d1%26new%3d1%26so%3d3%26MSAV%3d2%26msT%3d1%26pca t%3d35%26gss%3dms_r_db%26gsfn%3djohn%26gsfn_x%3d1% 26gsln%3ddrury%26gsln_x%3d1%26gskw%3dcampden%26gsk w_x%3d1%26dbOnly%3d_F0003888%257c_F0003888_x%26dbO nly%3d_F00032F6%257c_F00032F6_x%26dbOnly%3d_F00030 3E%257c_F000303E_x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303D%257c_F0003 03D_x%26dbOnly%3d_83004006%257c_83004006_x%26dbOnl y%3d_F00032DB%257c_F00032DB_x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303A %257c_F000303A_x%26dbOnly%3d_F0003039%257c_F000303 9_x%26dbOnly%3d_F00027B9%257c_F00027B9_x%26uidh%3d 672&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults)
If he married between 1851 and 1861 ten this looks most likely, but nothing like Sa(u)nders!
Marriages Jun 1853
Drury John Chipping N 3a 805
Edwards Hannah Chipping N 3a 805
I don't have time to look for Hannah now.
There's a possible, but she's in Oxfordshire:
1861 Hannah Drury (http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8767/OXFRG9_879_884-0863/11340297?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fMS_AdvCB%3d1%26db%3duki1861%26rank %3d1%26new%3d1%26so%3d3%26MSAV%3d2%26msT%3d1%26pca t%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26gss%3dms_r_db%26gsfn%3dhannah% 26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3ddrury%26gsln_x%3d1%26msbdy%3 d1821%26msbdy_x%3d1%26dbOnly%3d_F00027B9%257c_F000 27B9_x%26dbOnly%3d_F0003039%257c_F0003039_x%26dbOn ly%3d_F000303A%257c_F000303A_x%26dbOnly%3d_F00032D B%257c_F00032DB_x%26dbOnly%3d_83004006%257c_830040 06_x%26dbOnly%3d_F000303D%257c_F000303D_x%26dbOnly %3d_F000303E%257c_F000303E_x%26dbOnly%3d_F00032F6% 257c_F00032F6_x%26dbOnly%3d_F0003888%257c_F0003888 _x%26uidh%3d672%26msbdp%3d5&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults)
At least it should be possible to work out if this is the woman from the marriage or not. Have to go out now.
Thanks Merry, I tried google to see where it was and got nowhere, local knowledge helps out!
OOoo that is the wife, I have found the divorce of Hannah Drury and John in 1859 and she was a widow when she married John Drury.
Hannah Sanders married William Edwards Thame June 1841!
Oh well done!!
I don't have any local knowledge - I just searched for Campden in 1861!!
Do you need anything else on this?
Great work! So it looks as if Hannah's son was illegitimate.
I have found the divorce of Hannah Drury and John in 1859
Interesting that they both said they were married in 1861!
She continued to say she was married and probate in 1892 says she was wife of John Drury, although in 1891 she does says she was widowed!
I am pretty sure I have the correct probate as it was granted to Drusilla Stone spinster, who in 1851 is living next door to Ann Sanders b the same place as Hannah and about the right age to be a sister!
The letter says she has some property which she wants to leave to her son, but he is not mentioned at probate. I wonder if he ever wrote back.
We lost his adoptive mother after 1851, but his aunt says she has a letter from her a few days ago in 1859, so she was still alive then!
Interesting that they both said they were married in 1861!
The divorce papers go into the 1860s - her petition for separation was granted on 18 November 1862.
The following info is from the divorce papers.
Hannah Edwards, widow, married farmer John Drury on 23 June 1853 in Great Rollright, Oxfordshire.
They lived in Great Rollright and then Westington and had no issue from the marriage.
She accused him of committing adultery with Mary Waine, now Garden, wife of William Garden, and with Mary Anne Ingram.
John Drury denied that he committed adultery and accused her of absenting herself without his permission and went to to keep house for Mr Phillips at Over Porton when his wife was at another farm.
John Drury was ill in January 1959 and, instead of staying and performing her duties, Hannah went to visit Mr Phillips. Therefore John Drury had to engage a housekeeper. When Hannah returned, he threw her out. She then incurred bills in Oxford, which he doesn't seem to have paid, as she sued him for them.
John claimed that she also threatened his life and he once escaped through a window and went to stay with his brother.
The letter says she has some property which she wants to leave to her son, but he is not mentioned at probate. I wonder if he ever wrote back.
In 1859, he was asked to contact his mother via John Drury. As John and Hannah Drury were accusing each other via the courts from 1859 until the separation was granted in 1862, what are the chances that John Drury passed on any letters from his estranged wife's illegitimate son?
In 1851, Hannah Edwards is living in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, with her husband, William.
William Edwards, farmer, 56, b Great Rollright
Hannah Edwards, farmer's wife, 36, b Great Hazely
Ann Briant, niece, 5, b Great Rollright
Mary Cowley, servant, 14, b Long Compton, Warwickshire
Place of birth fits in with the 1861 census record Merry found.
It is interesting because the letter says that John Drury was encouraging him to contact his mother, and yet they were living apart at the time, the letter also makes that clear. I wonder if he did ever contact her.
I imagine that the letter must have been very important to Robert to have been kept all this time.
I am pleased to have been able to prove the contents of the letter to be correct, there was no love lost between the writer of the letter and her brothers widow, so my first thought was she was making trouble with her nephew by telling him these things.
So thanks everyone for your help with this! :D
Christine,
I am researching the Eyes family and their connection to the Reay family, specifically Charles Lucas Reay, for a friend. Your information on Charles' purported "son" is very interesting and I would like to include it for my friend. Can you tell me where you found the letter from Maria Reay to Robert? Is it possible to get a copy of the letter with some documentation as to its provenance?
Thank you for your help,
Gail Colby
[email protected]
Hi Gail,
I will need to look back on what information I have on Charles Reay. It is a long time since I looked at him, I was researching him as part of the Blain Biographical Directory of New Zealand and Pacifica, and then investigating further for our former Bishop who was looking at writing up his story. I think I obtained a copy of the letter from the bishop, and I am not sure where he obtained it, but if I check through all of my old emails, I may well find it. If I have a copy of the letter in my email file, and I am pretty sure he will have scanned it and sent it to me, I can forward it to you.
I will have a good rummage through the information I have this evening when I get home from work and get back to you.
Thanks, Christine. I appreciate the help!
I have found the copy of the letter and scanned it and sent it to the address on post #64. Hope it helps!
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