Tracing the descendants of Thomas Humphry of Bolsover

Thomas Humphry is suspected of fathering James and John Cree who are thought to have been brought up as the sons of James Cree and Mary Fearn who married in Sutton cum Duckmanton parish on 28 July 1777. James and Mary appear to have been absent from the area from their marriage in 1777 until the baptism of a daughter, Mary, on 29 June 1788. There is no record of the baptism of James and John Cree and it has been assumed that they were born during the couple's absence. This assumption is consistent with the dates of their marriages.

Thomas Humphry was from one of numerous Humphrey families in the parish of Pleasly, just three miles from Bolsover, presumably descended from William and Anne Humfrey who were having children in Pleasley from 1687 to 1701. On 9 Dec 1779 Thomas married Ann Taylor at Bolsover. If he did father the two Cree boys, it's possible that they were conceived before his marriage. We assume that James Cree senior was absent from Bolsover, possible fighting in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

Thomas and Ann Humphry are known to have baptised children from 1780 to 1793, the first two at Bolsover and then mainly at Pleasley. A small detail which may reflect relevantly on Thomas's character is that those first two baptism dates were 1 January 1780 (Mary) and 26 August 1780 (Sarah) - a gap of just under eight months. It is likely that the Mary's was a "late baptism" and certain that she was conceived before the marriage. All except one of Thomas and Mary's seven children were girls. However he had a further son and daughter by a second wife, Ruth, in 1803 and 1807. So in looking for male-line descendants we focus on his two sons: Thomas, baptised on 3 May 1786 at Blackwell by Alfreton, about five miles south-west of Pleasley; and Francis baptised at Pleasley on 15 Feb 1807.

The line of Thomas Humphrey (baptised 1786)

Thomas Humphrey junior can be identified in the 1851 and 1861 Censuses for Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, by his birthplace of Blackwell. In the former year his wife is shown as Elizabeth Humphrey, who turns out to be his second wife. The place where he is living helps in turn to identify him in the 1841 Census. He was living there in Back Lane with a son James Humphrey aged 15 (therefore born in 1825 or 1826). No wife is present so we assume Thomas was widowed. His wife is reported to have been Sarah Ashley whom he married in 1808 at Mansfield. James was baptised at Mansfield Woodhouse on 24 August 1823. It seems that another son, Thomas Humphereys (sic) was baptised at Skegby (not far from Mansfield) in 1812 although I am suspicious of any event where the date is only a year. Thomas and Sarah's marriage is also dated with only the year..

However the importance of Thomas Humphereys is that he is reported to have married Mary Sudbury and had ten children with her. He and Sarah and the seven surviving children then migrated to New Orleans, USA, in 1853. Although there were five sons in this family we have no information as yet about their descendants. Incidentally there is a strong hint that the family were Mormons. (See the Strasburg Family Tree on Ancestry.)

Returning to James, he appeared in the 1851 Census at Langwith (near Bolsover!) aged 27 with a wife Elizabeth and son Herbert Humphrey aged 2. In 1871 they had children Thomas aged 15, James 11, William 9, Joseph 7 and Elizabeth 2. So we have should have four male lines to follow! In 1881 James aged 21, Joseph aged 16 and Elizabeth aged 12 were still at home. In the 1891 Census, James and Elizabeth are still at Langwith (Cuckney parish), aged 66 and 63, with a "relative" Mary E Humphrey aged 12. James died in

1. Thomas Humphrey

In 1881 Thomas was a 24-year-old coal miner living in Bolsover with his wife Ann aged 25 and son Herbert aged 7 months. Thomas and Annie Smith had been married about a year earlier in Mansfield Reg Dist. Ten years later they were living in the village where Thomas was born, Langwith in Derbyshire, with his wife Annie aged 36 and five children: Herbert was now aged 10, Frances 8, Maud 6, Thomas 3 and James 1. By 1911 Thomas was a publican at the Black Horse in Whaley, still in Bolsover parish. He and Annie now had the following children living at home: Thomas aged 23, James 21, Jessie 18 and Reggie 11. It was noted that Annie had had 13 children in her 30 year marriage of whom only eight were still living in 1911.

Reggie was born in about February 1900 in Chesterfield Reg Dist. In about November 1921 he married Maud W Gooch there. They seem to have had only one child, a daughter. James was born in about 1891. He married Gladys Downes in about August 1915. They seem to also to have had only a daughter. Thomas was born in about 1888. He may have married Irene M Baker in Bingham in 1918. They also had just one child, a son born in c Nov 1918 who died soon after birth. Thomas and Annie's first-born, Herbert Humphrey, married in 1900. His wife was Harriet Flint. In 1901 they were living at Whalley Common in Bolsover parish but by 1911 they had moved to Balby near Doncaster and had a daugher and a son. The son, Eric Thomas H Humphrey, was born in 1908 (March quarter). They had another daughter, Annie, in 1914.

Eric Thomas H Humphrey married Mary A Blackwell in Doncaster Reg Dist in 1932. They had children as follows: John H Humphrey 1932, Dolly 1933, Eric P 1937 and Paul 1947. The first three were born in Doncaster Reg Dist and Paul in Hemsworth, also in West Yorkshire.

John Herbert Humphrey married Jean Heaton in 1963 and died on 19 May 2012 (His obituary in the Doncster Free Press mentions that he was "Former Landlord of The Granby Inn, Bawtry"). They had a son Peter W Humphrey in 1960. He probably lives in Doncaster byut I don't have an address.

Eric P Humphrey married Carole Silverwood at Hemsworth in 1959. They had a son Michael in 1961, born in Wakefield (also West Yorkshire).

Paul Humphrey probably married in 1967. (There are two people of that name who married in that year in Yorkshire.) I suspect that this Paul Humphrey married Brenda Abbott in Don Valley Reg Dist. FreeBMD web site does not show any children.

This is the article referred to in Review Part 1