George Cruse and Mary Ann Dickson

I've received details of another Cruse family in London which I've not yet been able to place in any of the existing London Cruse trees. This line begins with George Cruse who was born about 1814 either in Westminster, London, or St George's Hanover Square (the place of birth is different on the two census entries we have for him). George married Mary Ann Dickson, the daughter of John Dickson, a baker, at St Margaret's Church in Westminster in 1839. According to the marriage certificate George's father was Charles Cruse, a bookbinder. There were a number of bookbinders in the Rode tree from Somerset, some of whom moved to London, but at present it is not possible to see a connection between the two lines. George showed no interest in following his father's trade. He seems to have worked in a variety of jobs, and is described variously as a labourer, a drug porter, a drug warehouseman and a chemist.

George and Mary Ann Cruse had five children, one son and four daughters. Their only son, George, died at the age of four from water on the brain. Their second daughter Frances Caroline Cruse (born c. 1847 in Westminster) emigrated to Australia in 1871. She married John Hay (born 1834 in Aberdeen, Scotland) in 1877 in Melbourne. John and Frances Hay subsequently moved to New Zealand, and many of their descendants still live there today. According to family legend John Hay was reputed to have run away to sea as a young boy. He was supposedly shipwrecked, and was abandoned by a man who later became Mayor of Timaru, a small city in New Zealand. There was a famous incident in which John confronted His Worshipful Honour the Mayor, poking him in the stomach with his cane, and saying "you left me to drown". It has not yet been possible to substantiate this story. George and Mary Ann's youngest daughter, Alice Elizabeth Cruse (b. 1852 in Westminster) married George James Dyke, a waterman, some time before 1874 though there is no record of their marriage in the GRO marriage index. George and Alice Dyke settled in Limehouse in the East End of London. We currently have no information on the whereabouts of the other two daughters Mary Ann Cruse (born 1842 in Westminster) and Harriet Amelia Cruse (born 1849 in Westminster).

The London records at the London Metropolitan Archives and the Guildhall Library are in the process of being digitised, and I'm hoping that we will then finally being able to make some progress with all these London families. The first records are due to be made available early in 2009 on Ancestry. More information about the digitisation project can be found here.