Crawley family history & genealogy

St Marys & High Streets in Bow - 1868 map

      A 1829 Bank of England extraction of Robert Emans 1828 made will listed Augusta the wife of Osborn Hills as one of his seven surviving children. It would be expected she would have been baptised at Bow Church but no baptism register entry has been identified. A record of Augusta's 8 May 1821 marriage to Osborn Hills has her age as 19 giving her a 1802 birth year. Her age as recorded at the 1851 and 1871 census also calculates to a 1802 birth year as does her death record age. The 1851 census listed the occupation of Augusta's 1796 born husband Osborn as a retired Grocer. Listed under Bankrupts in the London Gazette of 15 Nov 1839 was Osborn Hills a grocer of Bow. In these two census records two children were listed in the household born 10 years apart in 1826 and 1836. No doubt there were others born between the 1821 marriage and 1836. Walter Augustus who was 15 in 1851 and perhaps the last born child was an architect in Bow. The census of 1881 and 1891 listed him as having 12 chidren. One was Osborn Cluse Hills an architect and the author of the 1900 published memorandum on the contents and monuments in Bow Church cited in the opening paragaph who was in charge of the restotation of the church after a major roof colllapse in 1896. Both Augusta and her husband died in the first quarter of 1876 aged respectively 74 and 80.
      St Mary Stratford Bow parish baptism record extractions have the next child John Short Crawley as born 1 Apr 1804 and baptised on 22 April. As the first born son his first name of John suggests it was likely the given name of his Crawley grandfather. He married Susanna Dawson, daughter of George Dawson, on 4 April 1828 in the parish of St. Giles without Cripplegate. He died in 1838 and his will dated 3 Apr 1838 was probated on 12 Sep 1838. It had his occupation as gentleman. No children were named so if there were any they were not alive when it was made. In respect of the residue of his estate it provided that during his wife's lifetime after payment to her of an annual £150 annuity his five surviving siblings share equally in the income and after her death equally in the estate. Of his five surviving siblings the only ones mentioned by name in the will were his sister Mary who was named as the wife of Charles Stewart and mother of a daughter Ellen and his second youngest brother Alfred James who was an executor. His widow Susanna re-married on 10 Feb 1840 Algate meat-salesman Edward Banger Scales and they had a least one daughter. He died in 1858 and in 1860 Susanna sucessfully took legal action in respect of £2,400 she had advanced to her husband that he applied to the purchase of land in his own name that was not benefically left to her in his will that in respect of income left her only a lifetime annuity of £120 per annum. It contained a codicil making bequests to his mistress and provided that after his wife's death the mistress was to receive a £120 per annum annuity ³³.
      Robert and Rebecca's 1806 next born son was named Robert Emans after his father. He was was born 14 Dec 1806 and baptised at St Mary Stratford Bow on 25 Dec 1806. He must have died before 1819 as Robert and Rebecca named their 1819 last born son Robert Emans. Augusta and Mary were the only daughters. Mary was born on 29 Sep 1811 and baptised at Bow Church 20 Oct 1811. At age 19 with her parents consent she married Charles Stewart on 12 June 1830 in St Mary Stratford Bow parish church. Witnesses to the marriage were brother John Short Crawley, Henrietta Stewart, brother-in-law Osborn Hills, and Ann Hudson. Before the April 1838 date of her brother John Short's will she had a daugter named Ellen who was named in his will as a beneficary.
      In birth order the four other sons were - George Sowden and Richard Walter who were twins born in 1809, Alfred James the primary subject of this family history born in 1814, and Robert Emans born in 1819. Extractions of the parish records have George Sowden as born on 19 Oct 1809 at Bow and baptised at St Mary Stratford Bow on 12 Nov 1809 the same date as the baptism of his twin brother Richard. George Sowden married at 27 years of age on 13 July 1837 in the parish of St Mary Stratford Bow, Mary Ann Ivimey who was born on 2 July 1811, a daughter of Bow residents John Ivimey and Mary Green who married in 1810 ⁹. Witness to the marriage were George's mother's second husband George Le Boutillier and twin brother Richard Walter Crawley. In the parish marriage record George Sowden's occupation was given as a coal merchant. The Post Office London Directory (Small Edition) for 1852 listed him as a corn & coal merchant of Harley Place, Bow Road. He died at Harley Place in Bow Mile End on 14 Nov 1858 twelve weeks after his mother Rebecca died on 21 August. His death notice in The Times gave his age as 43 that to accord with his birth date and marriage record age of 27 should have read 49 ¹⁰. As he had a substantial estate and no will his death only a few months after his mother Rebecca must have been unexpected. The administration valuation of his estate was assessed as between £6000 and £7,000 ¹¹.
      Extractions of the St Mary Stratford Bow parish baptisms have George's twin brother Richard Walter as born on 22 Aug 1809 and baptised at St Mary Stratford Bow with twin brother George on 12 Nov 1809. If the respective 58 days apart birth dates of the twins of 22 August and 19 October have been correctly extracted and, are confirmed by reference to the original baptism register rather than to a Bishop's transcripts copy that could have been in error, it suggests Richard's birth would have been almost two months premature. Whilst the births of twins up to 85 and 87 days apart have been recorded in medical history such is extremely rare and combined with the survival of Richard in the days before incubators virtually miraculous. Only a check of the original registers held by the London Metropolitan Archives on microfilm X097/262 would establish if the transcribed dates are correct. Richard Walker married Catherine Price of Canterbury in Bow in 1845. She was the daughter of William Mitchell Price a deceased former Captain in the East India Company military service. They had five children baptised between 1846 and 1857 ²¹. Richard died in Hastings in Sussex on 23 Apr 1860 aged 50 and Catherine died on 16 Dec 1863 also aged 50. He was listed in the The Post-Office London directory 1843 as a pawnbroker at 38 Bow High Street and in the same in the 1852 PO directory at 40 High Street in Bow. The probate valuation of his estate was between £9,000 and £10,000 and the probate gave his occupation as pawnbroker. When he married in 1845 the church parish record had it as silversmith that in Victorian England would have been used as a euphemism for pawnbroker. By 1843 the directory listing establishes pawnbroker was his occupation and remained so until his death. His given names point to Richard Walter Burners Short as likely being the father of his mother Rebecca.
      The proven from records last born brother of Alfred James was named Robert Emans after his father. When his mother's will was probated in 1858 he was the sole executor and it was stated he was her son. He was born on 28 Dec 1819 in Bow in Middlesex and died in March 1897. He gained a Master of Arts degree at Oxford and was ordained a Church of England Deacon in Feb. 1845 and in April 1852 was appointed Vicar at Potterspury - a village in South Hamptonshire where he remained the vicar for the rest of his life ¹². In 1848 he married, registered at Westbury in Wiltshire, Susan Meyrick born ca. 1821 at Ramsburg, Wiltshire, daughter of Myra Meyrick (ca. 1782- ?). She died on 5 Apr 1889 aged 68. A 1851 census record for the household has not been noted. At the 1861 census in addition to daughters Mary aged 11 and Lucy aged 10, who were both born at Maiden in Wiltshire, there was a son Henry Howard aged 4 born at Bournemouth in Hampshire. At the 1871 census the children in the household were daughters Lucy aged 20 and Mary aged 21. The death of Henry Howard in 1900 aged 43 was registered at Lewisham. On a pillar near the chancel inside St. Nicholas church in Potterspury there is a brass tablet reading - In memory of Robert Emans Crawley M.A. for 45 years Vicar of Potterspury and Yardley, born 28 December 1819, died 14 March 1897. This tablet is erected by Parishioners as a token of universal respect and affection for their late Vicar. The probate valuation of his estate was £3136 ¹¹.

Freeman Family

      Alfred's wife Eliza Freeman was alive at the time of the 1901 census aged 82 but at the 1911 census was no longer listed with her daughter Mary in a household as had always been the case since the first census after her birth. Between 1901 and 1911 the death indexes list three possibles for Elisa of which one in 1903 aged 84 and one in 1907 aged 89 seem most likely ⁵. All five England and Wales census records from 1861 to 1901 gave an age for Eliza that calculate to an 1818 birth date and her birth place was consistently given as Rotherhithe situated in Surrey on the southern side of the Thames adjoining Southwark. In addition to Alfred and Eliza and their first two children, in the same household in Rodney Terrace West in Mile End Old Town, Lower District on census night in June 1841, were Anne Freeman aged 60 and Mary Freeman aged 25. Anne aged 60 would have been Eliza's mother and Mary her next oldest sister. Anne Freeman had no occupation and was recorded as of "Independent Means". At that time the census did not record who was the head of the household or whether a person was married or a widow or a widower and the age of adults was rounded down to the nearest five. It is presumed Anne's husband Joseph was deceased and it was Ann's household.
      LDS church extractions from the baptism records for St Mary's Rotherhithe list eight children of Joseph and Ann Freeman baptised there between 1800 and 1818 of whom the last born was Eliza born in December 1817 and baptised in January 1818. Eliza's sister Mary was born in July 1814 and baptised in September so would have been 26 and not the 25 recorded for her at the 1841 census ⁴. The baptisms of Eliza's parents and their parish marriage record have not been traced. Freeman was not an uncommon surname in England as were the given names of her parents Ann and Joseph. The rounded down age of 60 given at the 1841 census for Ann Freeman in the Rodney Terrace household may before the rounding down been only an estimate of say 64 by the informant. If such was the case then basis the Rodney Terrace address Eliza's mother would have been the Ann Freeman a widow of Rodney Terrace, Bow Road, Stepney who was buried at St Mary Rotherhithe in Surrey on 12 Oct 1850 with an age given in the parish register of 76 so born ca. 1774 and not ca. 1781 as per the 1841 census. There would have had to be very good reason for someone living for at least a decade on the north side of the Thames in Rodney Terrace to be buried on the south side of the river such as that her husband and some of the eight children born at Rotherhithe were already buried there. Thus it is concluded the years Eliza's mother Ann Freeman flourished were as were given in the burial record of ca. 1774-1850.

Alfred's Occupations

      Alfred was not listed in the 1841 London Post Office Directory. The 6 &7 June 1841 taken census is the first available. In that census his occupational status was recorded as of "independent means". The baptism records of the last six children baptised from 1844 to 1859 all listed his occupation as a silversmith. However such was not in accord with pawnbroker recorded as his occupation in The Post Office London 1843 directory when his business as a pawnbroker was at 100 High Street in Shadwell and same in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census. He was also listed in the Post Office London Directory (Small Edition) 1852 as a pawnbroker at 100 Shadwell High Street. Silversmith would have been a euphemism for pawnbroker - an occupation that along with other goods and chattels did involve much dealings with silver in all its forms such as jewelry, rings, and plate etc. His brother Richard's marriage record had the same occupational euphemism. In April 1867 the indenture of his son Melbourne had the occupation of father Alfred as coal merchant which seemingly was also employed as a euphemism as a month later a newspaper report of a break in of his wharehouse had it as pawnbroker.
      That mention, with his then occupation as a pawnbroker, was in a report of court proceedings in May 1867 after his warehouse in Shadwell had been broken into and a culprit apprehended. In committal proceedings a police inspector said the wharehouse had contained not less than £3000 worth of valuable property the thieves overlooked. ¹⁵. An earlier mention was also in a report on court proceedings. In April 1861 Alfred gave evidence that believing a 12 year-old girl was aged over 14 years he had lent her nine pence on a mantel. The girl was before the court charged with having stolen the pawned mantel, other wearing apparel, money, and other property from children in the streets. One charge was she had conned Alfred's then 10 year-old son George Sowden, who appeared in court as a witness, out one shilling and in another instance an eight year-old girl out the pawned mantel and wearing apparel. The girl Fanny Taylor was sent to goal for two weeks and then to reform school for the next three years ¹⁷.
      For unknown periods Alfred was also a licensed publican. The Era (London) newspaper of 30 March 1851, reporting on publican licenses granted in the Tower Hamlets on 24 March, reported in St Mary Stratford Bow parish Alfred Crawley was granted a license for a house in Fairfield-road, Bow. In the same street in Lower Shadwell where the pawnbroking shop was located on 25 Nov 1855 The Era reported Middlesex Sessions had approved the transfer of a license for the Ship and Star public house in High Street, St. Paul, Shadwell from William Smith to Alfred James Crawley. On 18 Oct 1856 it reported Middlesex Sessions had renewed the license. Presumably in an attempt to increase the patronage Alfred applied on 17 Sep 1856 as the landlord for a new music license. Local residents lodged a petition with the court that it is assumed even in the days before electronic amplification was against its' granting on the grounds it would result in a level of unacceptable noise etc. ²⁹. Twelve years later on 13 Oct 1867 The Times (London) reported, in respect of new licenses granted, that the Middlesex Sessions had granted a liciense to Alfred James Crawley for the same Ship and Star in High Street, Shadwell. At the 3 April 1881 taken census, when residing in the household of widowed daughter Laura Tapley on her 25 acre dairy farm in Buckinghamshire, an initial entry in the record of "no occupation" was crossed out and in very shaking handwriting "farmer" written in. Seven weeks later Alfred was dead having outlived all his siblings bar one.
      When his will was probated in 1881 the £177 valuation of his estate suggested a major reverse in his financial circumstances such as a bankruptcy had occurred during the last decade of his life. From 1873 to 1879 there was a worldwide economic recession, known as the Long Depression, when many businesses failed and interest rates were high, public works were halted, and unemployment escalated - the exact opposite of the later Keynesian economics approach by governments of lower interest rates and increased government spending directed at increasing aggregate demand (total spending) in the economy.
      However there was no 1870s bankruptcy. His financial troubles began long before. Not revealed by the ten years apart census records that in 1851 recorded his occupation as a pawnbroker with three staff and one household servant and, in 1861 as a pawnbroker with two households - one at the business premises in Shadwell with a housekeeper and two staff and the other with his wife and children in Bow, and in 1871 as a "Manager Pawnbroker" with two staff and a housekeeper at the business and one servant in the other household, is that seemingly prior to the end of 1855 when licensing records reveal he first became the licensed landlord of the Ship and Star at Nos. 112 and 113 High Street in Shadwell, in addition to the pawnbroking business, he had for a period from 1851 held the license for another hotel and also had a solely owned manufacturing business making deal furniture and bedsteads that traded as A. J. Crawley & Co. By the first half of 1857 he was in severe enough financial dificulties that for an unknown period until the court ordered his discharge on 22 Sep 1857 he was imprisoned in the then London and Middlesex debtors prison at Southwark named Queens Prison that replaced the Marshalsea debtors prison that closed in 1842 and was the setting for Charles Dickens' 1857 published Little Dorrit where Dickens own father was once imprisoned. When in the debtors prison on his own petition on 30 June 1857 the Court ordered his estate and effects vested in a provisional assignee ²³.
      After he filed the required documentation on 8 Sept 1857 the "Court For The Relief of Insolvent Debtors" set 22 Sept 1857 as the date for deciding whether to order his discharge that on that date it so ordered. When setting the date for the decision the Court had before it an as published very sketchy summary of his business history. It revealed in addition to the furniture manufacturing enterprise he once travelled to Melbourne in Australia and stayed for a short period during which his occupation there was a General Dealer. The sighted original handwritten passenger list for the Queen of England, that left Portsmouth on 17 August 1852 and arrived after a four month passage at Port Phillip on 16 December, listed him as Alfred J. Crawley aged 38 (thus born 1814) by occupation a pawnbroker. It is assumed the publicity given in London to the 1851 gold discoveries in NSW and Victoria were the attraction. Less certain is the date of his departure. He was likely the Alfred J Crawley who left Melbourne for London on the Indiana on 24 May 1853. However a transcript of the passenger list has his age as 24 which may be a transcription error or an error made when the original passenger list was made up. In any event he must have left Melbourne no later than about May 1854 to have been back in London to conceive his last born child Eliza born in late June 1855. The journey to Melbourne and back explains the origin of the first given name of his son Melbourne who founded the Indian branch of the family and was baptised as such in the family church in Bow on 4 May 1853 after word of his safe arrival in Melbourne would have reached England.

The Children

SECOND GENERATION

1.  Eliza Crawley, born 1838 registered West Ham June Qtr. 1838 (v.12, p. 275). She was named after her mother. A baptism record has not been identified. At the June 1841 taken census she was listed in her parents household aged 3 years but was not listed in the household at the March 1851 census. In 1850 Shadwell births and deaths were registered at Stephney. She is presumed to have been the Eliza Crawley whose death was registered at Stepney in Middlesex in Dec. Qtr. 1850 (v.2, P.363). In 1855 her parents named their last born child Eliza. She would not have been given the name if 1838 born Eliza was still alive.

2.  Amelia Crawley, born 1839 in Plaisdow, Essex, birth registered Dec. Qtr. 1839 at West Ham (v.12 p. 267). A baptism record has not been identified. She married 10 Jan 1859 at Stephens, Old Ford, Bow ¹⁴, reg. Poplar in Mar. Qtr. 1859 (v.1c p.885), Lawrence Hawkins Johnson, b. ca. 1836 ; d. aged 91 reg. Hambleton Mar. Qtr. 1927 (v2a p316), second son of Robert Johnson of Little Burstead, Middlesex and Sarah Hetty unknown.

      At the 1871 census the household was in Hackney and her husband's occupation was given as Australian Merchant. Their seven children with ages ranging from 11 to 1 were all listed and there was a cook and a domestic servant. At April 1881 census her husband's occupation was given as an Australian and New Zealand merchant. The household was in Hackney with the children excepting Laurence Jr. listed and a cook and a domestic servant. Amelia was absent. She listed aged 41 in the household of her widowed sister Laura Tapley in North-end in the civil parish of Turville in Buckinghamshire. At the 1891 census the occupation of Amelia's husband's was given as a tealead roller and white lead manufacturer. At 1901 census the household was in Blackheath in Lewisham and her husband's occupation was a Lead Merchant. In the household were two unmarried daughters Madeline, a violinist, and Johanna a portrait painter, respectively aged 35 and 33 and there was a cook and domestic servant. At 1911 census her husband's age was given as 75 and occupation as retired merchant. Amelia's age was given as 71 and there was an unmarried daughter Ada aged 48 a cook and a housemaid. The postal address of the household was - The Chartwynde, Hindhead (a village in Surrey between Portsmouth and London). When her husband Lawrence died aged 91 in 1927 the probate valuation of his estate was £31,000.

Children of Amelia Crawley and Lawrence Hawkins Johnson were:
    10.  i       Hetty Johnson
    00.  ii      Lawrence P Johnson
    11.  iii     Ada Johnson
    12.  iv     Bernard Lawrence Johnson
    13.  v      Madeline Johnson
    14.  vi     Johanna Johnson
    15.  vii    Horace Lawrence Johnson

3. Mary Jane Crawley, born 1841 Shadwell, Middlesex, Eng. reg. Stepney (Dec. Qtr. 1841 v2, p.466). At the time of compilation, as was the case with her two prior born sisters, a baptism record had not been identified. At the 1891 census. when her mother resided with her in Henley in Oxfordshire, she was unmarried and although there was only one boarder her occupation was given as boarding house keeper. At the 1901 and 1911 census she resided in the household of widowed sister Laura Tapley in Ealing. Her death aged 76 was registered at Hendon in Middlesex in Sept. Qtr. 1918 (v.3a, p.302).

4.  Laura Crawley, born 1844 Shadwell, Middlesex, Eng, reg. Stephney (Mar 1844 v.2, p.567), baptised 7 Feb 1844 Parish of Christ Church, Watney Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets ; died aged 92 in Dec. Qtr. 1936 reg. Hendon, Middlesex (v.3a p.475). She married 13 Sep 1865 at St Leonard's, Bromley, Middlesex ¹³, reg. Poplar (Sept Qtr. 1865 V.1c, p.1717 or 1217), Thomas Harden Tapley, born 30 December 1836 ; died aged 40 reg. reg. Wycombe Sep. Qtr. 1877 v.3a p.289, son of Thomas Tapley and Anna Maria Harden.

Children of Laura Cawley and Thomas Harden Tapley were:
    16.  i     Laura Clare Tapley
    17.  ii    Frank Leslie Tapley
    18.  iii   Maud Annie Tapley
    19.  iv   Herbert Stanley Tapley

5.  Alfred James Crawley, born 1846 Shadwell, Middlesex, Eng, reg. Stepney (Jun Qtr. 1846 V.2, p.578), baptised 22 Apr 1846 Parish of St Mary Stratford Bow, Borough of Tower Hamlets ; d. 16 Apr 1928. He married 1874 reg. Mile End Old Town (Sep Qtr 1874 V.c, p.1030) Martha Isabella Murrell, b. ca. 1846 ; d. ?, daughter of Martha Murrell

    At the April 1881 census his occupation was recorded as Clerk (wool). He and wife Martha Isabella were listed in the household at Bow East of his mother-in-law Martha Murrell aged 68 whose occupation was given as a retired publican. When he died in 1928 his address was Ludwig House, 133 Tredegar Road, Bow. The probate valuation of his estate was £1515.

Children of Alfred James Crawley and Martha Isabella Murrell were:
    20.  i      William E. H. Crawley
    21.  ii      Percival Henry Crawley
    22.  iii     Sidney Murrell Crawley
    23.  iv     Bertram A. B. Crawley
    24.  v      Madeline Patti Elizabeth Crawley

6.  Clara Mary Ann Crawley, born 1848 Shadwell Middlesex, Eng., baptised 13 Sep 1848 at Parish St Mary Stratford Bow, Borough of Tower Hamlets. She was last noted listed in the 1871 census in the household of her married sister Amelia Johnson aged 22 when her occupation was given as an unemployed governess. Nothing further known as a marriage or death record has not been identified.

7.  George Sowden Crawley, born Dec 1850 or Jan 1851 at Shadwell, Middlesex, Eng. reg. Stepney, Middlesex (Mar Qtr. 1851 V.2, p. 622) ; baptised 6 Aug 1851 Parish of St Mary Stratford Bow, Borough of Tower Hamlets ; died 15 April 1921 (#1921-1515) in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, buried 16 April 1921 Ipswich Cemetery. He married 10 Aug 1871 (#1871-809) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Jane Ann Patrick Corkan, born 17 Feb 1855 Sydney, NSW, Australia ; died 16 May 1931 (#1931-C1525) Dinmore, Ipswich, Queensland, buried 18 May 1931 Ipswich Cemetery, daughter of Robert Corkan (1820-1868) and Margaret McGrath.

      He founded the Australian branch of the Crawley family of Bow. His family history is detailed on a linked web page titled Descendants of George Sowden Crawley. It has been said he arrived in Sydney in Australia as the 3rd Mate on a ship. After marrying in Sydney in New South Wales in Australia in 1871 George and his wife in 1879 or 1880 moved north to Gympie in Queensland where they resided for 39 years before about 1919 moving to Ipswich near Brisbane where George died in 1921 and his wife a decade later in 1931. In Gympie George was employed as an engine driver on the goldfields that were first discovered there in 1867 with undergound reef mining commencing shortly after. When wife Jane died in 1931 her obituary stated there were 22 grandchildren. T

Children of George Sowden Crawley and Jane Ann Patrick Corkan were:
    25.   i     George Sowden Crawley
    26.   ii    Alfred James Crawley
    27.   iii   Margaret Clara Crawley
    28.   iv   Mary Amelia Crawley
    29.   v    Robert William Crawley
    30.   vi   John Melbourne Crawley
    31.  vii   George Henry Crawley
    32. viii   Clara May Crawley
    33.   iv   Elizabeth Ellen Catherine Crawley

8.  Melbourne Burners Short Crawley, born 1853 Shadwell, Middlesex, Eng, reg. Stepney (Sep. Qtr. 1853 v.1c, p.424), baptised 4 May 1853 Parish of St Mary Stratford Bow, Borough of Tower Hamlets. He married (1) on 25 Apr 1881 in St Thomas Cathedral in the Bombay, Helen Rebecca How, daughter of Andrew Peddi How. As a widower he married (2) on 4 July 1898 in Belgaum, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Presidency of Madras, Helen Hoogwert, born ca. 1868 daughter of Alexander Hoogwert.

     He founded the Indian branch of the family. The last England and Wales census record listing him was at the April 1861 taken census in his parents household aged 8 years. A puzzling aspect of his early history is that in the years from 1851 to 1854 there was no Melbourne Crawley birth other than his registered in England yet a Melbourne Crawley aged 15 of British nationality, thus aged in accord with Melbourne's early months of 1853 birth, landed in Sydney in Australia on 14 Sep 1868 as the "boy" in the twenty-nine member crew of the "Sarah Grice" that would have departed London in May 1868. Just under a year earlier on 2 Oct 1867 he was apprenticed for seven years to his sister Amelia's husband Lawrence Hawkins Johnson whose occupation was given in the indenture as Merchant Taylor meaning he was in the business of trading in textiles. He was a member of the Merchant Taylors' Company. A membership list of Freemen of the company from 1530 to 1928 compiled by the company ca. 1930 is held by the Guildhall Library (Ms 34037/1-4). It lists both Lawrence and Melbourne. To have become a Freeman, Melbourne whose second given name was spelt in the apprenticeship indenture as Berners, must have completed the apprenticeship ca. 1874. Lawrence Johnson's occupation at both the 1861 and 1871 census was an Australian merchant and at the 1881 census an Australian and New Zealand merchant.
     By 1881 Melbourne was in India where he married Helen Rebecca How in April that year in Bombay. The parish marriage register entry had his occupation as Engineer. After the death of his first wife, at age 46 he remarried Helen Hoogwert in 1898 in the Presidency of Madras. Indications are there were six children of the first marriage of whom the first was born in the Presidency of Bombay on 28 Sep 1882. It is not known if there were issue from the second marriage.

Indicated children of Melbourne Burners Short Crawley and Helen Rebecca How were:
    34.   i     Melbourne How Crawley
    35.   ii    John William Crawley
    36.   iii   Clara Rebecca Crawley
    37.   iv   Mabel Ethel Crawley
    38.   v    Charles Reed Crawley
    39.   vi   Hetty Amelia Crawley

9.  Eliza Crawley, born 24 June 1855 Shadwell, Middlesex, baptised 4 Feb 1859 Parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, Borough of Tower Hamlets. Likewise to 1848 born older sister Clare at the 1861 census she was listed in her married sister Amelia Johnson's household then aged 5. At the 1871 census she was listed in her parents household in the parish of St Mary Stratford Bow (Registration District: Poplar, sub-District: Bow) aged 15 years and born Shadwell, Middlesex. Nothing further known.


17.  Frank Leslie Tapley, b. ca 1867

18.  Maud Annie Tapley, b. ca. 1874. At the 1911 census she was unmarried.

19.  Herbert Stanley Tapley, b. ca. 1876 Hackney. Married in Mar Qtr. 1901 reg. Brentford in Middlesex (v3a, p.95), Beatrice Adelaide Dickson. At the 1911 census he was a widower living in his mother's household

20.  William E. H. Crawley 25 in 1901 Land surveyor's clerk b. Bow, London.

21.  Percival Henry Crawley, b. Bow, London. Aged 24 at the 1901 census & 35 in 1911 when his occupation was solicitors clerk.

22.  Sidney Murrell Crawley, b. 1879 Bow, London. He married 31 Mar 1907 Parish of Saint Anthony, Tower Hamlets,  Laura Rhonda Hall, b. ca. 1886, daughter of Mathew Hall. At time of the marriage his name was recorded as Sydney.

23.  Bertram A. B. Crawley, b. ca. 1882 Bow, London. At the 1901 census when aged 19 his occupation was given as asistant to an intruement maker

24.  Madeline Patti Elizabeth Crawley in 1901 census aged 15 & 24 in 1911 census b. Bow, London m. Frederick James Goates. She was an executor of her father's will.

25.  George Sowden Crawley

26.  Alfred James Crawley

27.  Margaret Clara Crawley

28.  Mary Amelia Crawley

29.  Robert William Crawley

30.  John Melbourne Crawley

31.  George Henry Crawley

32.  Clara May Crawley

33.  Elizabeth Ellen Catherine Crawley

34.  Melbourne How Crawley, b. 28 Sep 1882 Presidency of Bombay. He would have been the Melbourne Crawley, an Excise Inspector noted as having travelled from London to Bombay in 1920 on the Egypt.

35.  John William Crawley.

36.  Clara Rebecca Crawley

37.  Mabel Ethel Crawley

38.  Charles Reed Crawley

39.  Hetty Amelia Crawley

SOURCES:
¹   St Mary, Bow, Middlesex 1814 baptism register - born 10 Jul 1814, baptised 28 July 1814, Parents: Robt. Emans Crawley & Rebecca, abode: Bow, Quality Tade or Profession: Gentleman.
²   Jackson's Oxford Journal 15 May 1881 - HENLEY-ON-THAMES - Died May 23rd at Northend, Turnville, near Henley, Alfred James Crawley, formerly of Bow, Middlesex, in his 67th year.
³   Parish of Saint Mary Le Bow marriage register.
⁴   LDS Church (familysearch.org) - England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - as extracted from the parish records for the Parish of St. Mary, Rotherhithe. From 1800 to 1818 eight Joseph & Ann Freeman baptisms at St. Marys Rotherhithe are listed. In order they were:- Joseph Matthias bpt. 3 Dec 1800, Martha b. 1 Sep 1804, 26 Sep 1804, Joseph Arimathea Freeman bpt. 1 Oct 1806, Henry bpt. 27 Sep 1808, Robert 31 Oct 1810, Sarah Ann bpt. 6 Sep 1812, Mary b. 29 Jul 1814, bpt. 25 Sep 1814, Eliza b. 16 Dec 1817, bpt. 14 Jan 1818.
⁵   In respect of the two most favoured the informants signature and place of residence and the place of death given in the official registration likely would identify her. The three possibles are - aged 84 reg. Hampstead in the County of London in Dec Qtr. 1903 (v.1a p.414), aged 89 reg. Edmonton, that spanned the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, in Dec Qtr. 1907 (V.3a p.221). Third aged 90 reg. Wandsworth Dec. Qtr. 1911 (V.1d, P.696). She would have been the Eliza Crawley who at the 1911 census was a patient in the Tooting Bec Asylum, Tooting Common, London SW - a large hospital type institution for the mentally incapacitated with several hundred patients. In the census record a marginal number beside each patient's name seeming indicated the age they became a patient - in this Eliza's case at age 86 that would have been in 1907. The birth place was stated as not obtainable. The infirmity of most patients was listed as "lunatic" then a term covering those with dementia and like conditions which apart from deaf or blind would have been the actual condition of place of death, deceased father's name and occupation.
⁶   In 2014 according to Ancestry.com the 1800 marriage was recorded in the parish marriage register of All Saints, Poplar, Tower Hamlets. However this parish is not correct. The parish of All Saints Poplar did not even come into existance until created by an Act of Parliament in 1817 and the parish church was not built until the 1821-23 period. The marriage celebrant was the Rev. Allan Harrison Eccles M.A. who was the Rector of St Mary Stratford Bow from 1771 until his death on 29 Sep 1801 aged 61 years a year after performing the marriage. The burial register recorded that he was buried "under the Communion Table "in the Chancel of Bow Church". The actual register entry stated Robert Emans and Rebecca Short were both of "this parish" which was of course St Mary Stratford Bow.
⁷   Marriage date of 9 Nov 1831 as per the St Faith parish, County of London, marriage register for the year 1831. Reported - Jackson's Oxford Journal 26 Nov 1831 - "Marriages ... George Boutillier Esq. of Islinglton and London to Rebecca, widow of the late R. E. Crawley Esq. of Bow." George Le Boutillier was buried in the parish of Islington, Middlesex on 1 April 1840 (London Metropolitan Archives, St Mary, Islington, Register of burials, Jan 1837-Mar 1843).
⁸   Children baptised at Saint Luke Old Street, Finsbury, London with Richard Walter Burners Short and Anne as parents were - 26 Feb 1775 Elizabeth Anne Catharina Matilda Short, 2 Mar 1777 Augusta Mary Jane Short and 13 Aug 1780 Sophia Short.
⁹   George Sowden Crawley's parish register marriage record had his father's name as Robert Emans Crawley. On 14 Aug 1869 his youngest daughter Emma married at Islington Edward Matravers, son of William Matravers (The Brisiol Mercury 21 Aug).
¹⁰  The Times (London) - On the 14th instant, George Sowden Crawley, Esq, of Harler-place, Bow-road, aged 43, deeply regretted by all who knew him. Same 14 Nov 1858 death date was given in the record of his estate administration in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
¹¹  England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966.
¹²  Jackson's Oxford Journal 22 Feb 1845 - Ordinations by the Lord Bishop of Lichfield in Trinity Church, Marylebone in the County of Middlesex - DEACONS - Crawley, Robert Emans, BA, Magdalen hall, Oxford. The Morning Post (London) 19 April 1852 - VICARAGES - The Rev. Robert Emans Crawley, to the vicarage of Potterspury, Northamptonshire
     The LDS church (familysearch.org) database listed the baptisms of the three children as: Mary 11 Nov 1849, at Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire ; Lucy 3 Nov 1850, at Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire ; Henry Howard 27 May 1857, Potterspury, Northamptonshire.
¹³  The Pall Mall Gazette 15 Sep 1865 - marriage notice.
¹⁴  The Essex Standard and General Advertiser for the Eastern Counties, 14 Jan 1859 - marriage notice.
¹⁵  The Times (London) 29 May 1867, p. page - "At the THAMES Police-court John Smith, alias John Hollen, with several other aliases, was charged, on remand, with feloniously breaking and entering the premises of Mr. Alfred James Crawley, pawnbroker, of High-steet, Bow and stealing property to the amount of £5 ... Mr. Crawley said the wharehouse was safe when he left it at 8 o'clock on Wednesday night ... Inspector Kerressey of the K division, said there was not less than £3000 of valuable property in the wharehouse which the thieves over looked. The prisoner made no defense, and Mr. Partridge committed him for trial.
¹⁶  As recorded at the 1841, 1851 & 1861 census of England and Wales with baptism records for the last six extracted from the parish registers by the LDS Church (familysearch.com).
¹⁷  The Morning Cronicle (London) 25 April 1861 - under the heading - THAMES, ROBBERY OF CHILDREN IN THE STREET it was reported - "Fanny Taylor aged 12 years was bought up on remand before Mt Woolrych, charged with stealing money, wearing apparel, and other property from children in the streets. ... A boy named Crawley, son of a pawnbroker of Harley-street, Bow-road said he was 10 years of age. About a month hence his mother gave him a shilling and directed him to a baker's shop in the neighbourhood to purchase some biscuits. On the way there he was met by the prisoner who opened his hand and said, "What have you got there". He said "It's a shilling", and the prisoner took it from him and said, "I want you," and sent him upon an errand. On his return to the place he left the prisoner he could see nothing of her. Three weeks later he saw her in the station-house and identified her."
     In evidence relating to the 12 year-old girl's theft of a mantel and other wearing apparel from and 8 year-old girl, using the same technique of purporting to hold the girl's bag of wearing apparel and the mantel safe for her whilst she carried out an errand for her, it was reported - "Mr Alfred James Crawley, pawnbroker of High-street in Shadwell, the father of the first witness, (ED. 11 Dec 1850 born son George Sowden was then 10 years and 4 months of age) said he received in pawn a mantel which he now produced. (ED the mother of girl identified it as the mantel that was in a bag taken by the prisoner from her 8 year-old daughter) It was pledged on Monday, 15 April, for ninepence only. Mr. Woolrych: Are you in the practice of receiving pledges from girls of that age? - Mr. Crawley: No sir; if girls are apparently under fourteen years of age I receive nothing at all from them. At the station-house the prisoner said she was fifteen, and should take her as such. ... The parents of the prisoner said their daughter was incorrigible, and they had many unsuccessful attempts to reclaim her. Mr. Woolrych said there was not the slightest doubt the prisoner was a most wicked girl. He sentenced her to be imprisoned for fourteen days, to be detained in a reformatory school for three years, and that the parents should contribute 1s. 6d. per week towards her maintenance."
     Four years later Alfred James was personally charged with taking goods on pawn from a person under the age of sixteen years. On 29 April 1865 the Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, And General Advertiser reported he appeared at Thames Police-court charged with receiving and taking goods on pawn or pledge from a girl apparently under the age of 16 years. The girl was 15 years old and had pawned aricles at his shop on four occasions. The goods pawned had belonged to her mother and stolen from another. Alfred was fined the full penalty of 5/- plus 2/- costs.
¹⁹  Bow Poor Rate Book December 1820 held by the civil parish of St. Mary, Stratford Bow (otherwise Bow) archives of Tower Hamlets Borough Council. In 2014 the images of the 46 pages of the rate book in 10 pdf's plus a surname index were available at the IDEA Library Information site whose URL in 2014 was:
https://www.ideastore.co.uk/local-history-archives-online
    The Law Journal Reports : For Year 1840, Vol. 18 from Michaelmas Term 1839. A report of a Dec 1839 Chancery case Hunter V Pugh. About the year 1825 a husband and wife sold a lease over property to Robert Emans Crawley for a term of 61 years. The plaintiff Hunter sought to have the court order the demise cancelled. Among the co-defendants were Robert Emans Crawley's legal personal representatives named as - Rebecca Le Boutillier the wife of George Le Boutillier, John Price, and Thomas Greenhough. The plaintiff lost the case. The validity of the lease sale was upheld.
    In 1828 in the year before his death The Era reported at great length on meetings held regarding matters in contention re the accounts of St Mary Stratford Bow, the amount of the proposed rate, and land acquisition etc. At one Robert Crawley excused himself as the matters under discussion would be the acquisition of lands for a churchyard extension upon which was a public house and cottages in which he held an interest.
²⁰  The National Archives at Kew holds the 11 September 1829 probated Will of Robert Emans Crawley, Gentleman of Bow , Middlesex, Reference: PROB 11/1760/232. Additionally the Findmypast.co.uk online database lists as held an image re the 1929 probated will of Robert Emans Crawley with source as Bank of England Will extracts. The National Archives has the 14 July 1838 probated Will of Richard Walter Burners Short, Gentleman of Saint John Hackney, Middlesex, Reference: PROB 11/1898/301 and 12 Sep 1838 probated will of John Short Crawley, gentleman of Bow PROB 11/1900/264. Will book copies are available online from the Archives.
²¹  The baptism dates and spouses of the children of Richard Walter Crawley and Catherine Price were: Catharine Elizabeth Crawley 20 May 1846 (m. 1866 Thomas George Walter), Augusta Mary Crawley 21 May 1847 (m. 1869 John Fyson), Richard Walter Crawley 24 May 1850 (m. 1875 Fanny Tayler), Robert Emans Crawley 15 Sep 1854 (m. 1878 Emma Inwood), William Mitchell Crawley 8 Apr 1857 (m. 1889 Louisa Bangs) - in respect of the marriage a notice in the 9 Feb 1889 issue of The Times (London) of his 7 Feb. 1889 marriage stated he was the youngest son of the late Richard Walter Crawley of Bow, Middlesex. NOTE - the dates given above were extracted in 2014 as baptism dates by the compiler from a then database at Ancestry.com titled: London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 and recorded here as such. A file subsequently noted at Rootsweb WorldConnect citing a similar named database at Ancestry having the same dates as the children's birth dates.
²²  The parish registers St Mary Stratford Bow are held by the London Metropolitan Archives and the Poor Rate books by the Tower Hamlets Library and Archives.
     The memorial mention is in chaper III titled "The church: monuments, furniture and fittings" (pp. 25-42) of the 1900 published memorandum An Account of the Church of St. Mary Stratford Bow by Osborn Cluse Hills who was a great-grandson of Robert Emans Crawley. In 2015 it was available online commencing at page 5 at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk2/pp5-7 and included after the text the images of 27 plates of historical photos and drawings of the church. A limited edition of 250 copies were printed by Essex House in 1900 as "Survey of London Monagraph 2" of which 100 copies were reserved for members of "The Committe For The Survey of the Memorials of Greater London". The limited edition sold out quickly that year for £1 a copy. Stated in it was that there was a monument in the church dedicated to the memory of - "George and Richard Crawley - twin brothers and members of one of the oldest remaining families in Bow". Most mentions in the book of the memorial monuments then in the church were identically worded to the mentions in a 1885 published pamphlet authored by then St Mary Stratford Bow parish Rector Rev. William Pimblett Insley M. A. printed by "Ye Bow Presse" and titled: Memorials of the Parish Church of Bow ; or St Mary Stratford Bow, commonly called Bow Church. After mentioning Rust and Summers monuments on the walls of the north and south aisles dated 1704 and 1764 the Rev. Insley wrote - "there are three other monuments of recent date — one erected to the memories of George, Robert and Richard Crawley ...". An earlier 18th century publication on the history of the church and its monuments by Daniel Lysons was titled: The Environs of London: Volume 3, County of Middlesex (London, 1795), pp. 489-502 In 2014 it was available online at the URL : http://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol3/pp489-502
     The reference in the 1900 Osborn C Hills authored book that there was a notation in a burial register indicating a Crawley initially interred in the vault under the clergy vestry was later transfered to the family vault in the churchyard would be to a notation in the original parish burial register held today for the period Jan 1813 - Jan 1840 on microfilm X089/129 by the London Metropolitan Archives and not likely to a bishops transcript of same as such would likely not have included the notation.
     Journal of the North West Kent Family History Society Volume 12, No. 4 December 2010, pages 159-60, a 1½ page article by descendant Alan Crawley titled: A grand resting place - Robert Emans Crawley described as a being a brief account of author's ancestor R. E. Crawley, cheesemonger of Bow, including a photo of the tomb'. In 2014 available .PDFs of the society's quarterly newletters were only available on its website to Dec 2009. However the web site listed the several articles in Volume 12 of which induvidual copies were available by post from the Society - see:  http://www.nwkfhs.org.uk/jour12.htm
     Dec. 2014 Bow churchwarden Frances Reynolds email advice was that as far as is known all the bells that were in the tower when it was bombed in WW II were recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry - the oldest manufacturing enterprise in England.
²³  The London Gazette 30 June 1857 p. 2269 - "Court For The Relief Of Insolvent Debtors, Saturday the 27th day of June, 1857. Orders have been made, vesting in the Provisional Assignee the Estates and Effects of the following persons : On their own Petitions. ... Alfred James Crawley, late of No. 20, Aston-street, Limehouse, Middlesex, Liciensed Victualler, out of business. - In the Debtors Prison for London and Middlesex."
     The London Gazette, 8 Sep 1857, p. 3071 - "COURT FOR RELIEF OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS. - The following PRISONERS, whose Estates and Effects have been vested in the Provisional Assignee by Order of the Court, having filed their Schedules, are ordered to be brought up before the Court, as hereinafter mentioned, at the Court-House, in Portugal-Street, Lincoln's Inn, as follows, to be dealt with according to the Statute: On Tuesday the 22nd September, 1857, at Eleven o'Clock precisely, before Chief Commissioner Law. ... Alfred James Crawley, formerly of No. 100, High-street, Shadwell, first a Pawnbroker, and afterwards a Deal Furniture and Bedstead Maker, carrying on the latter business under the style of A. J. Crawley and Co., but having no partner, then of the Ship and Star, Nos. 112 and 113, High-street, Shadwell, Licensed Victualler, then and late of No. 20, Aston-street, Limehouse, all in Middlesex, out of business, for a short time, while trading as a Pawnbroker, occupied in travelling to Melbourne, in Australia, carrying on there for a short time the business of a General Dealer, and afterwards engaged in travelling back to England.".
     The Morning Post (London) 22 Sep 1857 - Insolvent Debtor's Court, Portugal-street (before Chief Commissioner Law) ... For Discharge.- S. Reynolds - G. Hofill - A. J. Crawley - T. Priestly. Adjourned Protection - J. Austin."
     Note: The records of the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors established in 1813, including registers of petitions from imprisoned debtors 1813-1861, are held by The National Archives at Kew. See the Research Guide on ‘Bankrupts and insolvent debtors 1710-1869’ on The National Archives website - URL in 2014 was www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
²⁴  Rebecca Short (Crawley then Le Boutillier) birth place as given in the 1851 census when a widow resided at Tregegar Place with one servant. Rebecca Le Boutillier of Tredegar Place, Bow, death date of 17 Aug 1858 as given in the 10 Dec 1858 will probate - effects under £450, son and sole executor of the will Rev. Robert Emans Crawley of Potterspury village near Stoney Stratford in the County of Northampton. First husband Robert Emans Crawley will was probated on 11 Sep 1829.
²⁵  The clearing of the seven buildings for the churchyard extension was as stated in 2014 in a .pdf file at the About Us/History tab on the official St Mary Stratford Bow "Bow Church" web page. In 2014 a 1931 dated article on another web site included an illustration dated 1826 depicting the last two of the seven tenament buildings that had stood west of Bow church viewed when approaching it from London acquired in 1825 for a church-yard extension to provide additional burying ground that September 1828 newspaper reports establish had by then not been consecrated for that purpose.
     In respect of the buildings acquired The Morning Chronicle of 26 Sep 1828 reported that at a meeting of parishioners held the previous afternoon, that did not conclude until midnight, to determine a rate to be raised from landowners for the repair of the church tower it was said the accounts showed an expenditure of £8104, of which £5500 had been borrowed on the project to enlarge the churchyard for additional burying ground by acquiring the seven adjoining properties and the project had commenced on 7 Feb 1825 with the appointment by the parishioners of a Committee to obtain an Act of Parliament to authorise the extension, borrow the money, and to carry out the project. At the meeting it was stated despite the vast expenditure not an inch of additional burying ground was available and there was no money left to pay for its consecration. In outlining the history of the project a Mr. Alston told the meeting that of those appointed to the committee by the inhabitants of the parish - "Mr. Crawley retired, because he had an interest in a public house, and some other premises, situate on the ground that was to be added to the church-yard".
²⁶  Burial register of the parish of St Mary Stratford Bow for 1829.
²⁷  Marriage register of the parish of Holy Trinity Minorities for 1873. Both parties were recorded as of the parish. Witness to the 14 May 1773 marriage (in the register numbered No. 181) were Richard and Jane Baston. This marriage was solemnised twice four months apart with the register recording only one intervening marriage. The first (No. 179 in the register) was on 29 Jan 1829. The 2nd register entry gave the reason for the repetition as - "This marriage was solemnised before as No. 179 - as by accident there was only one witness present it was thought advisable to solemise it again." Presumably the marriage act in force required two witnesses for a valid marriage. Thus the 2nd is taken to have been the legal marriage. It is by no means certain they were the parents of Robert Emans Crawley.
²⁸  London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) Ref. BRA/437/007 Property and Legal Collection, Classification - Families and Individuals. Assignment of residue of term of a lease, dated 16 Jul 1788. The parties were:- (1). Thomas Herne, Titchfield Street, Thomas Rumball junior, Mile End, Hamilton Murray, West End Hampstead, John Crawley, St. Mary Stratford Bow, shopkeeper; (2). Thomas Rumball the elder, Church St. Edmonton; (3). James Collins.
    London Metropolitan Archives - File ref. MJ/SP/1805/01/077 Collection - Middlesex Sessions of the peace. John Crawley his appeal against the level of poor relief levied on him set for 21st February 1805. File ref. MJ/SP/1805/10/035 Collection - Middlesex Sessions of the peace. John Crawley petition against the level of poor relief levied on him. File Ref. MJ/SP/1805/10/036 Collection - Middlesex Sessions of the peace. John Crawley brief notes concerning his case against the poor rate in Stratford Bow. Note the above four items in 2014 could be viewed in full at the London Metropolitan Archives or copies obtained via its fee charging Research Service .
²⁹  London Metropolitan Archives - file ref. MR/L/MD/0827, dated 17-25 Sep 1856, two notices of intention to apply and application for a new music license from Alfred James Crawley, the landlord of the Ship and Star Public House, High Street, Shadwell, in the parish of Saint Paul, Shadwell; and a petition re same signed by local residents.
³⁰  A Collection of the Public General Statutes, Passed in the Forty-fifth Year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third (London 1805). Being an Act of Parliament (45 GE0 III) dated 5 June 1805. At pages 624 & 625 - in a section commencing at page 619 headed "for the rest of Middlesex" both Robert Emans and John Crawley (names were listed together) and a Richard Crawley (on page 625) were appointed Commissioners for putting into execution the Act that imposed and continued land tax and duties on personal estates and on sugar, malt, tobacco and snuff etc. in England.
³¹  Perhaps his father was the John Crawley, gentleman, of Walthamstow in Essex on the eastern side of the River Lea north east of Bow whose National Archives held will was probated on 10 October 1800? Some other potential candidates for his father with a Prerogative Court of Canterbury probated will are John Crawley, a Gentleman, of Charles Street Covent Garden, Middlesex probated 3 Dec 1804 and John Crawley of Saint Mary Stoke Newington probated 27 April 1787 and Richard Crawley of Saint James Westminster, Middlesex probated 15 Feb 1805 (NA Ref. PROB 11/1420/178).
³²  An in 2014 online article titled Early London Gas Industry, it was stated that in the preamble to an Act of Parliament titled the "Whitechapel Road (Lighting With Gas) Act 1821" that gave permission to improve streets with lighting fueled by gas, Robert Emans Crawley was named as an investor in the company authourised by the Act in that regard that built and operated the Bow Oil Gas Works to supply the gas, and that he was a grocer and a member of the company's Committee of Management who had to take over management of the Bow Works in an emergency. It is assumed the emergency was that referred to elsewhere in the article, that at an enquiry into a later bill put forward to light London and Westminster by oil gas, evidence was given that on 5 May 1825 Mr. Crawley was the Bow plant's Superintenant of Works when the River Lea was badly polluted with oil and offensive fumes caused persons to become sick. The URL of the article in 2014 was -
http://marysgasbook.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/bow-oil-gas-works.html
³³  Copy of the marriage certificate of Susanna Crawley nee Dawson to Edward Scales provided courtesy of Paul Shannon transcriber of the John Short will and 1860 court case report report posted at Rootsweb WorldConnect.
     In his will John Short Crawley beqeathed to wife Susanna a £150 a year annuity plus £100 and all money and funds standing in their joint names plus all household goods furniture etc. During his wife's lifetime the remaining rents, profits, interest and dividends of his estate were to be equally divided and paid to his siblings who were unnamed except for executor Alfred James then of Plaistow in Essex, and sister Mary wife of Charles Stewart. Upon his wife's death the estate was to be equally divided between his siblings. The other bequests were £50 to Ellen Stewart, daughter of Charles Stewart of Colborn Street, (thought likely a phonetic rendition of Coborn Street) Bow, and same amount to Amelia Susanna Smith daughter of Thomas Smith, Sail Maker of Rotherhithe. Joseph Robey of Stratford in the County of Essex received £200. The value of the bequests can be assessed by a comparison to an about £20-30 annual wage a working man would then have received.
     The Chancery court case SCALES V BAKER was reported in The Times (London) on 3 March 1860. Of a total £2,400 advanced to Edward Scales by wife Susanna £2,000 had come come from the conversion of the £150 per annum lifetime annuity left to her by her first husband into a lump sum that was invested in London and Westminster Bank shares. Together with £400 lent to her husband in 1853 it was applied to the purchase by him of 62 acres of land at Hornchurch, in Essex in his own name. In his will apart from household furniture and some funds his wife received only a lifetime annuity of £120 that upon her death went to his mistress. The court found, as sought in the action, that Susanna had a £2400 interest in the 62 acres purchased with her money.
³⁴  Jan 2015 advice of Bow Church Rector Rev. Debbie Frazer that the Crawley memorial was extant in the church and its' wording.
³⁵  Image provided Feb 2015 courtesy of Bow Church churchwarden Frances Reynolds.
³⁶  Bank of England Will Extractions 1717-1845 (source www.findmypast.co.uk) was worded as follows:
No. 116804 Sworn under £16,000. Robert Emans Crawley of Bow Middlesex Cheesemonger died possessed of

3219 £5200   3½ Red'd 99/8   £5154.10.0
8711 £2350   New ... 102¾    £2414.12.6

And by his will dated 15 December 1828 attested by three witnesses appointed his wife Rebecca Crawley now widow the Relict / John Price and Thomas Greenhough Executors to whom probate was granted at Doctor Commons 11 september 1829 (in the will called Gentleman). In the will are the following words.

I will and direct that I may be buried in a plain and decent manner and that all my just debts and funeral expenses may be paid as soon after my decease as convienently may be I give and beqeath unto my wife Rebecca Crawley the Interest and Dividends arising from Five Thousand pounds now standing in my name in the 3½ per cent annuities at the Bank of England and likewise the Interest or Dividends of any further sum I may have there at the time of my decease to be held by her to receive the rents and profits during her life and the said funded property and all my estate herein after her decease to be equally divided between my seven children and their heirs forever John Short Crawley Augusta Hills the wife of Osborn Hills Richard Walter Crawley George Sowden Crawley Mary Crawley Alfred James Crawley and Robert Emans Crawley and if any of my said children should die before their mother without lawful issue the part of him her or them so dying to be equally divided between the survivors but leaving lawful issue the part of the parent to go to the children and as it respects the whole of my personal property viz. money in the funds cash book debts rent in arrear and due to me at the time of my decease and all other personal property of what kind or nature soever I give unto my Executrix and Executors hereafter named in the first place to pay my just debts and funeral and testamentary expenses and the legacy to my wife as before ment.

Researched & compiled by John Raymond, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
posted 2014 - last updated 5 May 2015

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