Greaves - Harborne, Staffordshire

[mickcee]

Hi, can anyone over there shed any light on my Greaves ancestors? My great grandfather, Edward Greaves b 1857 in Kings Norton, died by his own hand in Sydney, Australia in 1906. His father was Matthew Greaves b c1816 in Harborne. Matthew's parents seem to have been Austin Greaves and Frances Coales married 1794. On various and many Family trees that people have put on the Internet, Austin's parents are either Joseph and Betty (Whyrley) or William and Pheobe (Allen). It would seem that these are obviously two completely different families, so which one does my Matthew belong to. He married firstly Charlotte Withers (1833) and then Mary Ann Parry (Edward's mother) in 1856. He died in 1891.
Hope someone has some answers to this dilemma. 
Mickcee

[lizdb]

I think your first move needs to be to contact the people who say his parents are Joseph and Betty, and those who say they are William and Phoebe, and find out on what basis they have each come to their conculsion.
You can then make your own decision as to whether you are satisified that either is correct or not.

I have seen many trees where someone has listed x and y as someones parents, and several other people have copied it, but there is no evidence to back it up - they just took a random couple off familysearch of approx the right age and area and, in the absence of anyone else, claimed them as parents. Or found a christening of the right name for the child with those parents but not looked into it any further.

[mickcee]

Thanks for your suggestion. There seems to have originally been the two different ideas on Matthew's parents, which as you say, have been copied by all these people into their trees.  Matthew's birth on one of these trees is given as 1822 and his marriage to Charlotte in 1833 (aged 11 years)
Anyway, will keep my fingers crossed for some clarification - I live in Australia and so can't visit the Parish Churches over there as I would like to do.
Thanks again
Mickcee

[trish1120]

Do you have Edward Greaves Christening and those of all his Siblings?
The naming pattern of Austin/Frances Children should help in finding the right Parents for Austin.

Trish

[mickcee]

Thanks forthat, Trish. I have been going through their names without much success so far.
Mickcee

[mickcee]

Well Trish et al, I've been through a heap of Family Trees tonight and have found (I think) the answer to my question/s.
Both Joseph (wife Betty) and William (wife Phoebe) were sons of Austin Greaves and Anne Moore. Both the sons had boys named Austin born 1773/74, but only William's son Austin married Frances Coales/Coates, and various of their children and grandchildren had the name Phoebe included. This is the line where my Matthew fits into. Matthew in the 1871 Census is with his sister Martha (Freeman), born c1812.
Ah well, back to the search. Many thanks
Mickcee

[Expat66]

Hi Mickcee,
I just came across your post this morning.
Matthew Greaves would be my 3x great grandfather.
His son James Greaves (b.1836) from his first marriage (to Charlotte Withers) was my 2x great grandfather.
I have done quite a bit of research on the Greaves family in my tree,  though I am less confident about the info. I have going further back.  I had been wondering about the two Austins!

Now that 'Ancestry.com'  has the Birmingham parish records I have been working my way through my tree and trying to add records which fit.  For Matthew I was able to find his two marriages and his burial record (buried at St.Peters, Harborne - 12 Sep 1891)
Did you know that Mary Ann Parry was a widow when she married Matthew in 1856. Here father is listed as Abraham Heath, wireworker.  I am therefore assuming that her maiden name was Heath.

I didn't have any info. on your Edward Greaves ... I didn't know he had emigrated to Australia. So your post has filled in quite a few gaps for me!

I started researching my family genealogy because of James Greaves.
There is a photo of him which was taken in Rio De Janeiro.  It is the only photo we have of him. (see attached .. he is seated on the right). 
We don't know when the photo was taken or why he was there.  Noone seems to know what happened to him either. I have been unable to find a death record for him, though his wife remarried in 1880 and was listed as a widow.  Rumours abound within the family but I have found nothing so far.

If you would like more info. on what else I have on the Greaves family I would be happy to share what I have found. 
 

[mickcee]

Hi expat66.
I have sent you a PM with my email address. Hope to hear from you. I knew Mary Ann Parry was a widow as I have a copy of the Matthew/Mary Ann Marriage. As she was single in 1851 Census and married to Matthew in 1856, I looked for a marriage between those dates. Only one I found was for a Mary Ann Heath, father Abraham, and to a Richard Parry, Tinsmith, on May 1 1853 - in Boston Massachusetts US. There is a Mary Ann Heath aged 20 on the Boston Passenger list on a ship named "1268" So this may have been our Mary Ann.
There are a few mentions of Edward Greaves, of Sydney, to be found in digitised newspapers on the national library site here in Australia. It is http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
This is a really great source of information - make sure to use the 'Advanced Search' option.
Look forward to making contact.
Mickcee