George William CRYER (1790-1842) of Bermondsey

George William Cryer (1790 - 1842) is the earliest known Cryer in Neil's line. He was born in the second half of 1790 in a location documented in the 1841 census merely as "foreign parts" (not Scotland or Ireland).

George married his first wife Elizabeth Cressey on 23 August 1818 at Saint Bride, Fleet Street, London. After she died, he married Ann Bayford at Saint George the Martyr, Southwark on 5 February 1832. She is the wife who is the ancestor of our line. Ann was born in 1795 - in Bermondsey according to the 1841 census, and in Blackfriars according to the 1851 census. She must have originally been a family friend because she was a witness at George's first marriage. There the name was given as Ann Byford rather than Bayford - but since this was at a time when few people could write and the records were handwritten, the two were almost certainly one and the same.

By the time that George and Ann married, Ann had already given birth to his son Alexander Robert Cryer who was baptised on 13 March 1831 at Saint Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey. The dates (and consequently the order) of these events have been checked from original parish records.

Throughout the time of his marriage to Ann, George appears to have lived at 42 Crucifix Lane, Bermondsey. The road still exists, but number 42 was demolished to make way for the railway line.

George was earning his living as a cooper (ie a maker of barrels) at the time of the baptism of Alexander Robert in 1831, but ten years later, in the 1841 census, he gave his occupation as an engineer.

George died of gangrene on 26 December 1842 while Alexander Robert was still only a child. At that time, death certificates did not state place of birth. Ann's death was either not registered or she was one of the several Ann Cryer's who died outside Bermondsey between 1851 and 1861. She was absent from the 1861 census.

The children we know of are as follows, but there may have been more. In census records George Cryer is documented as father to all of them, but Elizabeth, George's first wife, is the mother of Eliza Rebecca Cryer, Caroline Cryer and George William Cryer.

Eliza Rebecca Cryer, baptised 13 February 1820 at Saint Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, and probably born shortly before that date.
Caroline Cryer, baptised 3 November 1822 at Saint Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, and probably born shortly before that date. (However birth dates derived from census data indicate a later date of birth or a late baptism.) Caroline died of TB, unmarried, a school teacher, age 30, in Bermondsey.
George William Cryer, baptised 5 November 1826 at Saint Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, and probably born shortly before that date.
Alexander Robert Cryer (Neil's great grandfather)

We have no further records for George or Ann. We would be interested to learn more and to make contact with any descendants

George CRYER (1790-1842) of Bermondsey