Cruse of Yateley

Anahita Hoose has kindly sent me details of her Cruse ancestors from Yateley in Hampshire. Anahita’s line can be traced back to Jonathan Cruse and Sarah Paice who married on 28th December 1787 in Yateley. Rather unusually Jonathan was described in the marriage register as a 'pauper'. Jonathan and Sarah had three children, two of whom were born prior to their marriage and who retained the Paice surname:

1) Elizabeth Paice was born c.1784 and was baptised on 27th February 1786 in Yateley. She is probably the Elizabeth Paice, aged twenty-seven, who was buried on 10th September 1811 in Yateley.

2) William Paice was born on 22nd September 1786 and baptised on 4th October 1786 in Yateley. He married a Sarah, but no marriage has so far been located. William and Sarah had five children. William’s death was registered in the Farnborough registration district in the March quarter of 1865.

3) Sarah Cruse was born on 13th April 1788 and christened on 13th July 1788 in Yateley. She married James Watts on 15th October 1804 in Yateley and was buried on 9th August 1812, aged twenty-four, in Yateley.

Sarah Cruse née Paice was buried on 14th November 1788 in Yateley, just nine months after the birth of her youngest child Sarah. She was just twenty-nine years old. The parish register records that she died of consumption.

Jonathon subsequently had a relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, which produced another child:

4) Charlotte Taylor was born on 24th March 1793 and baptised on 31 March in Yateley. No record has so far been found of a marriage or burial.

Elizabeth Taylor is probably the one who was buried on 2nd August 1807, aged forty-four, in Yateley.

Jonathon himself was buried on 22nd May 1803 in Yateley, aged seventy-one, his place of residence being given as Sandhurst, Berkshire. His burial record places his year of birth at around 1732. If the age given at burial is correct Jonathan would have been about fifty-five years old when he married Sarah Paice. It seems likely therefore that this was a second marriage. No baptism has yet been located for Jonathan. Jonathan is however a name which appears in the Ogbourne St George tree from Wiltshire. The Ogbourne St George line spread across the county border into Berkshire, and I suspect that Anahita’s Cruses might well be related. To test this hypothesis we would need to find a direct male-line descendant of William and Sarah Paice, who would be expected to have the same Y chromosome as Jonathan Cruse. Anahita is herself descended from William and Sarah Paice but is not aware any Paice cousins. It is of course always possible that this particular male line has now become extinct.

If anyone is researching this tree do get in touch. We would be particularly interested in knowing what happened to baby Charlotte Taylor.

© Debbie Kennett 2010