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The Clift and Dyer Families.

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. 


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