Person:George Lewis (122)

George Lewis was baptised on 1st March 1778 at Willen in Buckinghamshire, son of Sarah Lewis, formerly Northern, and her husband Thomas Lewis, a labourer. George's mother died in 1793, when George was fifteen years old.

George was married at Willen on 7th June 1802, aged 24, to Mary Goodman, who was also from Willen and was a couple of years older than him. They had a son, Daniel, born at Willen just over nine months later.

Some time between 1803 and 1806 George and Mary left Willen and moved about seven miles south-east to the village of Husborne Crawley, just over the border into Bedfordshire. At Husborne Crawley they appear to have had another four children: Thomas, Susannah, Mary and Henry.

George and Mary became grandparents on Christmas Eve 1821, when George was 43 years old, when his son Daniel had a son named Jesse with a woman named Susannah Emerton. Daniel and Susannah were not married at the time of Jesse's birth, and the following June, Daniel was ordered to pay the parish authorities three pounds and five shillings costs and two shillings a week for maintenance. Four months later Daniel and Susannah did marry.

Back in Willen George's father Thomas died in 1823. Five years later George and Mary's youngest son, Henry, died aged fourteen in 1828.

George and Mary's son Thomas and daughter Mary both married in Husborne Crawley in the 1830s: Thomas in 1833 to Sally Cook and Mary in 1838 to Richard Norman. George and Mary appear to have had at least 24 grandchildren, all born in their lifetimes, with the first seventeen born at Husborne Crawley. Their son Thomas and his family moved to neighbouring Aspley Guise around 1840 where Thomas became publican at The Swan public house.

The 1841 census finds George and Mary living at Church End in Husborne Crawley with their grandson Henry (Thomas's eldest son) living with them, as well as their daughter Mary and her husband and two children. George was described as an agricultural labourer. By 1851 their daughter Mary and her family had moved to their own house in Husborne Crawley, but George, Mary and their grandson Henry were still living together at Church End. In 1851 George was described as a pauper agricultural labourer.

George died on 2nd May 1857, aged 79. He and Mary had been married for nearly 55 years. Mary survived him by almost exactly three years, dying on 1st May 1860. They are buried together at Husborne Crawley churchyard.

1. ↑ Church of England. Willen Parish Registers, 1665-1981. (Aylesbury: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies).

   George Son of Thomas & Sarah Lewis bapt[ise]d March 1st 1778

   Whilst no named connection has been found, this baptism has been linked to the George Lewis who married Mary Goodman on the basis of the 1851 census in which they both appear to have given their place of birth as Willen, which is also where they married and had their first child before moving to Husborne Crawley. No evidence has been found suggesting that the George baptised in 1778 died young or married anyone else.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 5; Book 20; Folio 3; Page 1, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Church End, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   George Lewis, male, 60 [1776-81], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born outside county
   Mary Lewis, female, 60 [1776-81], born outside county
   Henry Lewis, male, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   ~second household in the same house~
   Rich[ar]d Norman, male, 25 [1811-16], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Mary Norman, female, 25 [1811-16], born in county
   George Norman, male, 2 [1838/9], born in county
   Edward Norman, male, 1 [1839/40], born in county

   This household is next door but one to brothers named John and George Lewis but the connection (if any) between them has yet to be established.

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1755; Folio 63; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Church End, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire
   George Lewis, head, married, male, 75 [1775/6], Pauper Agric[ultural] Lab[oure]r, b. Wilden [sic], Buckinghamshire
   Mary Lewis, wife, married, female, 77 [1773/4], b. Wilden [sic], Buckinghamshire
   Henry Lewis, grandson, unmarried, male, 17 [1833/4], Tailor, b. Crawley, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   Registration District Woburn Union
   1857 Death in the Sub-district of Woburn in the County of Bedford
   No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
   357	Second May 1857 Husborne Crawley	George	Male	80 years [1776/7]	Agricultural Laborer	General Decay not Certified	X The Mark of Mary Emmerton in Attendance Husborne Crawley	Fourth May 1857	J. Dexter Registrar

   
5. ↑ Monumental inscription, Husborne Crawley churchyard.

   George Lewis husband of Mary Lewis died 1 May 1857 aged 79 / Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh / Mary Lewis wife of George Lewis died 1 May 1860 aged 84

6. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish register of Husborne Crawley, 1557-1812. (Bedford: Bedfordshire County Record Office, 1989).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Husborne Crawley in the County of Bedford in the Year 1857
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   502	George Lewis	Crawley	May 7	80	W.C.C. Bentinck, Vicar