Just before the cost of ordering certificates from the General Register Office went up at the beginning of April I put in a large £119 certificate order. I purchased three Cruwys marriage certificates for some puzzling Cruwys marriages which I had been unable to place. Outline details of the marriages are provided below:
- 1846 The Register Office, Shrewsbury, Shropshire: Thomas Cruwys, widower, tailor, son of Thomas Cruwys, innkeeper, and Hannah Walton, spinster, daughter of Corbet Walton, tailor
- 1853 The Parish Church, Chatham, Kent: Henry Cruwys, Private 53rd, son of William Cruwys, dyer, and Sarah Maile, daughter of Edward Maile, shoemaker
- 1860 Register Office, Stoke Damerel: Henry Cruwys, widower, sergeant in ??? Regiment, son of William Cruwys, master dyer of Wellington, Shropshire, and Ruth Badger, widow and licensed victualler, daughter of William Hugoe [?]
Although the marriages took place in different parts of the country it turns out that all three marriages relate to the Cruwys tree from Shrewsbury in Shropshire which I wrote about in an earlier posting.
The 1846 marriage certificate of Thomas Cruwys is particularly useful as it gives us the name of his father, though I am still not as yet able to link him into one of the other Cruwys trees. In the 1841 census Thomas was living in Shrewsbury with his presumed wife Hannah and three children. It would therefore appear that both of Thomas's wives shared the same Christian name. However, I have not been able to find any record of the death of the first Hannah in the GRO indexes. Thomas died in 1848 but I cannot find his widow Hannah in any of the subsequent censuses, and there does not appear to be a matching death registration on Free BMD.
The Henry Cruwys who features in the other two certificates I purchased is, I believe, the grandson of Thomas and Hannah Cruwys of Shrewsbury. Henry was born on 7th November 1833 in St Chad, Shrewsbury, and was the son of William Cruwys (1809-1870) and his wife Elizabeth. William was born c.1809 in Shrewsbury, but I have been unable to find a record of his baptism to confirm his parentage. Henry Cruwys and his second wife Ruth Badger née Hugoe can be found in the 1861 census in St Chad, Shrewsbury, hiding under the mistranscription of Crump. Henry was a soldier, but I cannot read the name of his regiment. Henry and Ruth then seem to disappear from the records. I can find no trace of them in any of the subsequent censuses and there is no record of their deaths in the GRO indexes.
This Shrewsbury line is particularly problematic and I would be very pleased to hear from anyone researching this tree or any of the other associated surnames.
© Debbie Kennett 2010
© Debbie Kennett 2010
5 comments:
Hi Debbie,
I don't know if your post is still active, but since purchasing a medal to Henry Cruwys of Shrewsbury I have been researching him on and off for the past 9 months.
If you are still interested in him and his history please get in touch.
Regards
Hello, This blog is still active but I haven't had time to post much new content recently. I'd love to hear more about Henry Cruwys. Do get in touch.
Hi Debbie,
I am starting to put together a time line for Henry but his unusual surname and incorrect spellings aren't helping, I have a few gaps which maybe you can help fill in.
I know Henry went to India in 1853 to fight in the Indian Mutiny. He took his new wife Sarah Maile and they had a daughter Elizabeth in India.
I can not find a death certificate but Sarah did not return from India so presumably died out there.
Their daughter Elizabeth died in 1860 in Wellington, Shropshire.
Henry remarried a widow Ruth Badger later that year.
I cannot find a marriage certificate for Ruth and her first husband Mr Badger.
Henry and Ruth are back in his home town of Shrewsbury in 1861 but both disappear until 1875 when Ruth marries John Hill in her home town Plymouth, sadly she dies a few months later.
Henry is in Burley Woodhead in 1875 with his brother William and wife Maria Bascombe. Henry married Sarah Bascombe , Marias sister and they have a daughter Annie Maria Cruwys.
William dies in 1877 and Maria married Henry Carmichael in 1881.
Henrys daughter Annie dies in 1877 , Sarah is found as a servant in London in the 1881 census but Henry is lost again until 1891 when he's in Berrington workhouse just outside Shrewsbury.
In 1901 Henry is back in North Yorkshire as a boarder, 2 years later in 1903 Henry dies in Otley Workhouse.
Any help filling in the gaps or additional information will be welcome.
Where his medal has been for the past 122 years I've no idea, but today it hangs proudly on my study wall in recognition of a brave man who I fear had a pretty tough life.
Regards
Tony
Hi Debbie,
I sent you info on Henry Cruwys of Shrewsbury in May this year but not sure if you have seen it.
Regards
Tony
Hi Tony, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I haven't looked at the Shrewsbury Cruwyses for a long time so I ended up revisiting the family and adding the tree to Ancestry. You actually had a lot more on Henry than I had been able to find when I look at this about 15 years ago.
Here's a link to my page on Ancestry on Henry where you will also be able to access the rest of the tree:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/21521180/person/402691709261/facts
I have two of his marriage certificates which I've uploaded to the tree.
Like you, I've been unable to find Henry in 1881. I've also been unable to find a marriage for Ruth Hugoe to Mr Badger.
There's also something very puzzling about Sarah Bascombe. The birth of Henry and Sarah's daughter Annie Maria Cruwys was registered with the mother's maiden name of Maitland but I can't find any record of a Bascombe/Maitland marriage. I don't have the certificate for Henry's marriage to Sarah Bascombe.
What I did find quite by accident when searching through the newspapers was a wonderful letter that Henry wrote to Sally (Sarah) his first wife from India where he described all the military action and the loss of life. You may already have seen this but, if not, and if you have any trouble extracting it from my tree let me know (I've uploaded the newspaper article and my transcription).
I would guess that the medal was given to Henry's sister Jane who married James Bishop Richards. I haven't traced all their children through to the present day. Henry had an uncle (Richard) and two aunts who emigrated to Kentucky, USA. Richard's wife Margaret left a will in 1881 in which she left $1000 to Jane Richard(s) but she doesn't mention Henry at all.
It's very sad that Henry ended his days in the workhouse and that his heroic war effort was not recognised. It must have been a traumatising experience seeing all those men die in battle.
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