Gray Family

An American Adventure

Suffolk, England - Nathaniel Gray, 1732-1786, and his wife Elizabeth Button are the earliest identified ancestors of this line of the Gray family, who carefully passed down skills as stone masons and builders through the generations. Nathaniel's son William Gray was born in Campsey-Ash in 1755 and was married in the Parish Church to Mary Cole in 1783. Their son James Gray was born in Tunstall in 1787 and married to Peggy Pells in the same locale in 1808. A son, Frederick Gray, was born to this marriage on 31 May 1820 in Tunstall.

London, England - Frederick Gray was married to Susan Ann Edwards on 16 May 1847 in St. Martin's in the Field, Middlesex. To this marriage, four sons were born before Frederick's untimely death about 1856:

• Frederick Gray, born about 1848 and last evidenced in the 1871 census at age 23 living with his step-father Robert Brown and mother Susan Ann Edwards.

• John Edward Gray, born 10 June 1849, further described below.

• Edwin Gray, born about November 1850 and died about February 1852.

• George Gray, born 6 September 1854, pursued a career as a bricklayer and builder, and died in 1920 at Wandsworth, London.

John Edward Gray, born in Hoxton, Middlesex in 1849, and wife Eleanor Sophia Fosdick, born 1850 in the village of Eyke, Ipswich, resided at St. George Hanover Square, London, with four children at the time of the 1881 British census. As yet unlocated in the 1891 British census, son Laurence indicates the family moved to Clapham Junction about that time. By 1901, the Gray family was located at 310 Merton Road in Wandsworth, living not far from John's brother George Gray. In December 1907, John Edward and Eleanor Gray arrived in Victoria, British Columbia with five of their surviving children. Daughter Rose Elizabeth Gray and husband Henry Plymsell joined the family at a later date; daughter Florence Ethel Gray may have also joined the family at a later date.

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - George Gray and Emily Constant met in England, traveled with their families to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and were married there in 1909. Many of their children remained in Victoria or environs, including Florence Ethel Gray and husband William Tippett, Percy Owen Gray and wife Adela Skelton, Mabel Violet Gray and husband Harry Grist, Lawrence Gilbert Gray and wife Mabel Williams, and Cecil Harold Gray and wife Hazel Whittaker.

Los Angeles, California - While other family members remained in Canada, George and Emily Gray made their home in Los Angeles beginning in 1921, after a brief stay the San Diego, California area during 1911 and 1912.

©2004 Sue Phillips - Material on this site may be quoted or reproduced by those engaged in non-commercial genealogical research without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the compiler. Any commercial use of this material without prior permission of the compiler is prohibited.

Updated: Wednesday, June 28, 2006