This is an overview of some of the main family members.
The Dyer and Clift
Families.
Early in my research, I found
that my Maternal Great Grand-father, William Bailey had married Lois Dyer Clift
in 1863. Lois was one of 6 children of William and Jemima Clift and according
to the Parish Registers, was baptised on 27th November 1831 in
Norton Gloucestershire. Initially, I wrongly assumed that Lois had been given
the second name of Dyer as it was her Mother’s maiden name and consequently
continued my research of the Dyer Family on that basis.
I completed my research into the
Dyer Family and included it on my ‘Ancestry Tree’. Several months later I was
contacted by Glenis Coates in Gloucestershire, a descendant of the Dyer Family,
who kindly pointed out that my research, was flawed. There certainly is a
connection between the Clift and Dyer Families, but a generation earlier with
the marriage of Isaac Clift (William’s Father) to Deborah Dyer and therefore
Lois Dyer Clift was named for her Grand-mother rather than her Mother. This
then left the question as to who was Lois’ Mother, Jemima. As Lois was born
before the introduction of Civil Birth Registrations in 1837, I was unable to
obtain a Birth Certificate for her. However, her youngest Brother, Cornelius,
was born in 1838 and I was therefore able to obtain a Birth Certificate for him
from the General Register Office which recorded his Mother’s maiden name as
Jemima Merrell Wise. This was proof enough that my original assumption was
incorrect and that I needed to reassess my original research. At this time I
also made contact with Jennifer Butt in Australia, another descendant of the
Dyer Family. I am indebted to both Glenis and Jennifer for the assistance they
have given to enable me to further my research into these two families as
follows:
The Clift Family:
I already knew that William Clift
had served in the 9th Regiment of Foot from 1809 to 1827 and
according to his Discharge Papers, had been posted to either the East or West
Indies, but the Papers were not specific. The first child of William and
Jemima, Isaac William Clift, was baptised in Wootton Bassett, Berkshire, on 1st
June 1828. Wootton Bassett currently has a large Army Barracks and probably did
also in the 19th Century so I assume he was stationed there prior to
his Discharge in 1827. Despite much research, I have not been able to find a
marriage in the UK for William and Jemima, nor have I been able to find a
birth/baptism in the UK for Jemima Merrell Wise. It would therefore seem likely
that she was born overseas and that she married William Clift during his overseas
posting and probably just before his return to England.
Early research showed that
William Clift had been baptised in Horsley, Gloucestershire on 23rd
April 1791 and that he was buried in Norton, Gloucestershire on 30th
November 1860, He was predeceased by Jemima who was buried in Norton on 13th
February 1848. Following Jemima’s Death, William re-married to Mary Ball nee
Blackwell in Norton on 6th December 1848. There were no further
children from this second marriage. Details of the 6 children of William and
Jemima are recorded in the Descendants List for the Clift Family etc.
With the inclusion of the
Gloucestershire Baptism, Marriage and Burial Parish Records on the ‘Ancestry’
Web-site, I was then able to trace the Clift Family back a further 4 generations
to a Phillip Clift who was born in the mid-1600’s. Evidence for Phillip and his
Wife Elizabeth was found on the Baptismal record for their Son Cornelius, baptised
in Horsley in 1696. Elizabeth’s maiden name is not recorded nor have I found a
record of her marriage to Phillip Clift. Cornelius married Maria Teakle in
Horsley in 1719 and they had 4 children, Elizabeth 1719, Jane 1721, William
1725 and Cornelius 1727.
William (1725) married Elizabeth
Guy in Horsley in 1750 and had 5 children, Cornelius, Deborah, Isaac and Betty
all Baptised on 24th June 1760 and William Born 1st June
1762 but not Baptised until 23rd January 1789, 2 years before his
Marriage. Isaac married Deborah Dyer in Horsley on 22nd May 1788
which formed the connection to the Dyer Family and consequently the source of
Lois Dyer Clift’s second name.
I have extensively researched the
Clift Family and details of my findings are recorded in the Descendant’s List
etc.
The Dyer Family:
My research on the Dyer Family
commenced with Deborah Dyer (Wife of Isaac Clift), born in Horsley ca. 1765 and
Baptised there on 11th June 1772 at the age of 7 years. Her Parents
were Nathaniel Dyer and Elizabeth Brown and she had 4 Siblings, Anne,
Nathaniel, Mary, and Elizabeth. I have also extensively researched these 4
Siblings and in particular Nathaniel, born 1751, but more on him below. Glenis
Coates and Jennifer Butt whom I previously mentioned above, are descended from
Anne Dyer and Elizabeth Dyer respectively. There are no living descendants of Nathaniel
Dyer.
I was able to trace the Family
back one further generation to another Nathaniel Dyer born in Horsley ca. 1688
and married to Elizabeth Smith in Horsley in 1713.
Returning to Nathaniel Born 1751
and Baptised in Horsley on 26th May 1751. He apparently started life
as a Carpenter and later became an Architect. He married 4 times, the first
three Wives were wealthy Widows and the fourth a wealthy Spinster. As a result
of these marriages, Nathaniel amassed a fortune in money, lands, property etc.
that would have made him the equivalent to a millionaire in modern terms.
His first marriage was to
Margaret Heaven nee Farmiloe in 1776 whose wealth came courtesy of her Father
William Farmiloe. His second marriage was to Ann Newman nee Harmer in 1781 whose
wealth was inherited from her 1st Husband William Newman. His third
marriage was to Elizabeth Miller nee Ford 1805 and she inherited from her 1st
Husband George Miller. Finally, he married Sarah Rayer in 1816 who appears to
have been a wealthy Spinster in her own right as I have been unable to find a
source for her fortune. Along the way he was also the main beneficiary in the
Will of Mary Ellis nee Harmer, the Sister of Nathaniel’s second Wife. Perhaps I
have a suspicious mind, but it appears that he was in the right place at the
right time to ‘collect’ these wealthy Widows and that once married, they did
not survive very long! Nathaniel predeceased his fourth Wife Sarah in 1833 and
Sarah died in 1840.
Nathaniel only had 1 child, a
daughter named Margaret, from his first marriage to Margaret Heaven baptised in
Horsley on 22nd November 1778. Margaret married William George in
1803 but they both predeceased Nathaniel in 1816 and 1821 respectively without
issue.
I have found several transcripts
of Wills from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury for several of the people
mentioned above. Although difficult to read at times, I have completed modern
transcripts of these Wills which make very interesting reading and provide a
good insight into the extent of the wealth amassed by them and in particular,
Nathaniel Dyer. In Nathaniel’s case, the Court transcript runs to 23 pages and
my typed transcript to 21 pages. He was very repetitive in his wording but very
precise as to what his wishes were. He appears to have favoured his Sister Anne
and her Husband Nathan Clark to the point that he insisted that a condition of
his Will be that the Clark Family change their name to Dyer by Royal Decree.
Jennifer Butt was able to provide me with a copy of the Royal Decree worded as
follows:
‘Nov. 2.---The King has been pleased to grant unto Nathan Clark, of
Norton-Court, in the county of Gloucester, gent, his authority that he and his
issue may henceforth use the surname of Dyer only, instead of that of Clark,
not only in compliance with a proviso and direction contained in the last will
and testament of his maternal uncle, Nathaniel Dyer, late of Bredon, in the
county of Worcester, esq. deceased, but also in testimony of his grateful and
affectionate respect for the memory of the testator.’
Glenis, Jennifer and my own
research has confirmed that indeed the Dyer name was adopted solely by the
descendants of Nathan Clark.
Many of the Descendants of the
Dyer Family have remained in the Gloucestershire and Worcestershire areas.
Jennifer Butt is descended from the marriage of Elizabeth Dyer and Joseph Guy.
Their Grand-son, Francis Guy, thought to be the illegitimate son of Deborah
Guy, emigrated to Australia where he and his own children made good, no doubt
having learnt from a lot from Nathaniel Dyer on how to succeed in business.
I have a large number of copies
of Parish Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records dating back to the late 1600s
stored on my computer but too numerous to include on my web-site. I feel very
confident that the information I have collected on the Dyer and Clift Families
and their descendants to be an accurate record. All of these documents are
included on my Family Tree on the ‘Ancestry’ Web-site and therefore available
for anyone to down-load.
Again, I must express my thanks
to Glenis Coates and Jenifer Butt for their assistance and contributions to my
research.