Revised 14 April 1995, Gen. 70

 

DESCENDANTS OF RICHARD GREAVES OF BRADFIELD, YORKSHIRE & CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND

AND THE GREAVES/GRAVES FAMILY

OF SHIRLAND, DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND & NY STATE

 

 

GENERATION 1

 

Richard Greaves (1) was born before 1570, probably in Bradfield, Yorkshire, England, died in Oct. 1631 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, and was buried 1 Nov. 1631. He was a tanner. The name of his wife is not known. She died in March 1628/29 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. (R-9)

Children - Greaves

2. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1585, d. Sept. 1585 (Chesterfield, Derbyshire).

3. John Greaves, b. 1586, d. Aug. 1586.

4. Stephen Graves, b. 1587, m. Elizabeth Ingman, 21 May 1614, d. Nov. 1646.

5. Anne Greaves, b. 1588, d. Nov. 1588.

6. Anne Greaves, b. 1589, m. Anthony Cotterill, 9 Feb. 1621/22.

7. George Greaves, b. 1591, m. Anne Rogers, 4 March 1620/21.

8. Marjorie Greaves, b. 1593, d. 1676.

+9. Thomas Greaves, b. 1595, m. Elizabeth Clark, 20 April 1619, d. 20 Oct. 1622.

10. Ralph Greaves, b. 1597.

11. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1605, m. Godfrey Stubbing, 1628.

 

 

GENERATION 2

 

CHILDREN OF RICHARD GREAVES (1)

Thomas Greaves (9) was probably born in Jan. 1595, was baptized 25 Jan. 1595, and died 20 Oct. 1622, all in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. He was a tanner. He married Elizabeth Clark on 20 April 1619. She died 17 Feb. 1639/40 in Chesterfield. (R-9)

Children - Greaves

+12. George Greaves, b. 1620, m. Mary ------, 1642.

13. Thomas Greaves, b. 1622.

 

 

GENERATION 3

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (9) AND ELIZABETH CLARK

George Greaves (12) was born in 1620 and was baptized 12 Nov. 1620, both in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He married Mary ------ in 1642. He was a tanner. (R-9)

Children - Greaves

14. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1643, d. before 18 Oct. 1690.

15. Mary Greaves, b. 19 March 1643/44, d. May 1645.

16. Anne Greaves, b. 28 Feb. 1646/47, d. Oct. 1648.

17. Thomas Greaves, m. Clementia ------, d. 18 Sept. 1690.

+18. Ann Greaves, b. 1652 (Chesterfield, Derbyshire), m. Matthew Briddon, (Matlock, Derbyshire), d. after 18 Oct. 1690.

 

 

GENERATION 4

 

CHILDREN OF GEORGE GREAVES (12) AND MARY ------

Thomas Greaves (18) was born in 1649, was baptized 19 June 1649, and died 18 Sept. 1690, all in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He married Clementia ------ in Matlock, Derbyshire. She died 19 Feb. 1681/82 in Chesterfield. He was a shoemaker. (R-9)

Children - Greaves

19. Jane Greaves

+20. Thomas Greaves, b. 1678, m. Elizabeth Bowskill, 24 April 1704.

21. George Greaves, b. 7 Dec. 1680, m. Sarah Bland, 1709.

22. Anne Greaves, b. 19 Feb. 1681/82.

 

 

GENERATION 5

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (18) AND CLEMENTIA ------

Thomas Greaves (20) was born in 1678 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He married Elizabeth Bowskill on 24 April 1704 in Pleasley, Derbyshire. She was born in Shirebrook (?), Derbyshire, and died in Matlock (?), Derbyshire. All their children were born in Pleasley, Derbyshire.

This information is from original parish records per Charles Graves, who stated that he searched all over nearby Notts. and Derby records (Scarsdale Hundred) to find another Thomas Greaves who could have married Elizabeth Bowskill, without success. So the Thomas shown here is the best guess, especially since Pleasley was an important so-called dependent village of Chesterfield as far as economy was concerned.

The ancestors in the preceding 4 generations are considered probable ancestors of this Thomas Greaves on the basis of first name complexes. Charles Lee Graves did a lot of researching in original parish records in coming to this conclusion. His reason for believing that this Greaves family originated in the hills to the southeast of Sheffield (i.e., in Bradford, Yorkshire) is that he could not tie Richard Greaves (tanner, no. 1) to any Greaves living either in Brampton or Dronefield or other places near Chesterfield where there were Greaves families, nor to the Oliver Greaves mentioned in 16th century Chesterfield records. Also, the names of Richard's Children - John, George, Thomas, Ralph, etc. - seemed to correspond most closely to the Bradfield, Yorkshire Christian names. Other Greaves families from Yorkshire and Derbyshire had other first name complexes. In addition, Frank Tomlinson of Wessington near Shirland (son of Lydia Gertrude Greaves Tomlinson) believed their Greaves family originated in South Yorkshire (no proof given). (R-9)

Children - Greaves

23. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1705, d. 1705 (Pleasley (?), Derbyshire).

24. Sarah Greaves, b. 1706.

+25. Thomas Greaves, b. 1708, m. Elizabeth Wilde, 13 Nov. 1729, d. June 1783.

26. Hannah Greaves, b. 1711, m. Thomas Ward, 4 June 1745.

 

 

GENERATION 6

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (20) AND ELIZABETH BOWSKILL

Thomas Greaves (25) was born in 1708 in Pleasley, Derbyshire, was baptized 9 Nov. 1708 in Pleasley, died in June 1783 in Shirland, Derbyshire, and was buried 25 June 1783 in Shirland. He married Elizabeth (probably Wilde) on 13 Nov. 1729 at All Saints Church, Derby, Derbyshire. She was born in 1709, and died in June 1779 in Shirland, Derbyshire. All their children were born in Matlock, Derbyshire.

This is from original parish records per Charles Graves, who stated that he located many Wildes in Matlock, and the only record of a Thomas Greaves marrying in Derbyshire at this time was the one with Elizabeth Wilde at Derby (All Saints). He presumes Thomas met her at her Wilde relatives in Matlock, but that she was from Derby.

The reason Charles Graves tied the Greaves family of Shirland to Thomas Greaves and Elizabeth Wilde was that the dates on the tomb of Thomas and Elizabeth Greaves found behind the church in Shirland gave Thomas as born in 1708. The baptism of Thomas Greaves in Pleasley (1708), son of Thos. And Eliz. Greaves, coincided with such a date. No other Thomas Greaves, bapt. In 1708, was to be found in Derbyshire or nearby Notts.

The inscription on the tombstone at Shirland Parish Church reads, "To the Memory of Thomas Greaves, depated (sic) this Life, June (illegible number) 1783. Aged 75 years. Also to the Memory of Elizabeth his Wife. Aged 70 years. Here also lie the bodies of Mary and Phebe, the wives of John, the son of Thomas Greaves above said. Mary aged 38 years. Phebe aged 42 years." (R-9)

Children - Greaves

+27. John Greaves, b. 24 Aug. 1730, m(1) Mary Grundy, 14 Sept. 1750, m(2) Phebe ------, d. after 1799.

28. Thomas Greaves, b. 1731, d. Jan. 1731/32 (Matlock, Derbyshire).

29. William Greaves, b. 5 July 1733.

30. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 27 April 1736.

 

 

GENERATION 7

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (25) AND ELIZABETH WILDE

John Greaves (27) was born 24 Aug. 1730 in Matlock, Derbyshire, England, and died 26 April 1795 (or after 1799) in Shirland, Derbyshire. He married Mary Grundy on 14 Sept. 1750 at Chesterfield. She was born in 1724, died 29 March 1762 at Shirland, and was buried 30 Jan. 1774 at Shirland Parish Church. All the children listed below were born in Shirland. John secondly married Phebe ------.

This information is from the original parish records per Charles Lee Graves, who stated that this John Greaves was a child of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wilde) Greaves, baptized in Matlock in 1730. The only marriage of a John Greaves and Mary was the one at Chesterfield Sept. 14, 1750 (John Greaves and Mary Grundy). Therefore, it was concluded that Mary's maiden name was Grundy.

Shirland is located a few miles north of Alfreton, Derbyshire, on the road to Chesterfield. A book about Shirland has been published by The Ogston Estates (U.K.): A History of Shirland and Higham, Derbyshire, by Gladwyn Turbutt, 1978. (R-3, R-8)

Children - Greaves

+31. Thomas Greaves, b. 1755, m. Elizabeth ------.

32. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1756, d. Nov. 1756 (Shirland).

+33. John Greaves, b. 1758, m. Mary Bancroft, 1783.

34. Catherine Greaves, bapt. Jan. 1762, m. Samuel Renshaw, 29 Sept. 1800 (Wingerworth).

 

 

GENERATION 8

 

CHILDREN OF JOHN GREAVES (27) AND MARY ------

Thomas Greaves (31) was born in 1755 and was baptized 3 Oct. 1755, both in Shirland, Derbyshire, England. He married Elizabeth ------. (R-3, R-8)

Children - Greaves

35. John Greaves

36. Jacky Greaves

37. George Greaves

38. William Greaves, bapt. 11 May 1788.

+39. Samuel Greaves, b. 2 May 1789, m. Sarah Blount, 13 June 1814.

 

John Greaves (33) was born in 1758 in Shirland, Derbyshire, England. He married Mary Bancroft in 1783 or 1784 in Shirland (or Warsop, Nottinghamshire).

There were 4 John Graveses baptized in Shirland at about the right time: John, son of Robert and Sarah, 1758; John, son of John and Mary, 1758; John, son of Thomas and Mary, 1755; John son of John and Helen, 1751. Although Frances Spalding said that John, the son of Thomas and Mary, looks the most likely based on naming patterns, Charles Graves and Graham Blount state that this John was the one who was a son of John and Mary.

All their children were baptized in Shirland. (R-3, R-7, R-8)

Children - Greaves

+40. Thomas Greaves, bapt. 25 Aug. 1785, m. Elizabeth (Harsley?), 2 Oct. 1806, d. 5 Aug. 1868.

41. Joseph Greaves, bapt. 1788.

42. Mary Greaves, bapt. 1789.

43. Samuel Greaves, bapt. 1791.

+44. Jesse Greaves, bapt. 1793, m. Elizabeth Wright, 3 May 1819, d.c. 1861-1871.

+45. William Greaves, bapt. 1795, m. Hannah Bromhead.

46. John Greaves, bapt. 1797.

47. Elizabeth Greaves, bapt. 1799.

 

 

GENERATION 9

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (31) AND ELIZABETH ------

Samuel Graves (originally Greaves) (39) was born 2 May 1789 in England. He was baptized 13 June 1790 in Shirland parish church, Derbyshire, England. He married Sarah Blount, daughter of Samuel Blount and Diana Holmes, on 13 June 1814 in St. Leonard's Church, Shirland. She was born 12 June 1792 at Swannack (Alfreton), Derbyshire. Their first 3 children were born in England. William (the fourth child) was born at sea in 1821 as they came to the U.S. They settled in upstate New York, and had 8 more children born in the U.S. He was a Methodist clergyman, according to the 1855 census records of Champion, N.Y. (near Watertown). (R-1, R-3)

Children - Graves

48. Mary S. Graves, b. 24 Oct. 1814.

49. Ann Graves, b. 4 Feb. 1817.

50. John Graves, b. 27 Oct. 1819.

+51. William Graves, b. 1 Feb. 1821, m(1) Lydia Jewett, 20 Feb. 1844, m(2) Frances Maria Freeman, 18 April 1866, d. 8 Jan. 1900.

52. Henry Graves, b. 20 July 1822.

53. Eliza Ann Graves, b. 22 April 1824.

54. Samuel Graves, Jr., b. 21 Dec. 1826. Lived in Governeur, N.Y.?

55. Thaddeus St. John Graves, b. 12 Sept. 1828. (Does this name indicate a possible connection with the Graves family of Mr. Arthur Burris? See p. 27, Graves Family Newsletter, 1976.)

56. Isaac Alexander Graves, b. 15 Aug. 1830. Had a grist mill in Watertown, N.Y.?

57. Amanda Jane Graves, b. 20 April 1830.

58. Maria Terrisa Graves, b. 20 April 1835.

59. Helen Amelia Graves, b. 13 Feb. 1836.

 

CHILDREN OF JOHN GREAVES (33) AND MARY BANCROFT

Thomas Greaves (40) was baptized 25 Aug. 1785 and died 5 Aug. 1868, both in Shirland, Derbyshire. He married Elizabeth (Harsley?) on 2 Oct. 1806. Their first 5 children were baptized in Hucknall, Torkard, Nottinghamshire, and the sixth was born at Shirland, suggesting that the family may have moved back to Shirland about 1820. (R-8)

Children - Greaves

60. John Greaves

+61. Thomas Greaves, b. 30 Jan. 1809, m. Sarah White, 31 May 1830, d. 1876.

62. Samuel Greaves

63. Jesse Greaves

64. David Greaves, b. 1815.

65. Martha Greaves, b. 1822.

 

Jesse Greaves (44) was baptized in 1793 in Shirland, Derbyshire, and probably died between 1861 and 1871. He married Elizabeth Wright. Jesse's occupation on census returns of 1841, 1851, and 1861 is given as agricultural laborer. (R-7)

Children - Greaves

66. Elizabeth Greaves, b. 1820, m. Henry Brown, 1845, d. 1895. Lived in Loscoe, Derbyshire. Great-grandparents of Miss Spalding.

67. other children

 

William Greaves (45) was baptized 11 May 1788 in Shirland parish church (St. Leonard's), Derbyshire, England. He died 10 July 1883 at Hucknall, England at about age 89, and was buried 13 July 1883 at the parish church of Sutton-in-Ashfield in the Nottingham area. He lived in Nottinghamshire, where he was engaged in lace making. He married Hannah Bromhead. All their children were born in England. He was listed in the Kirkby-in-Ashfield census records for 1861 and 1871 as a frame-work-knitter and frame smith. (R-1, R-3)

Children - Greaves

68. Mary Greaves, m. M. Coleman, d. 1901.

+69. Abraham Greaves, b. 1815, m(1) Mary Jepson, m(2) Margaret Newton, d. 1898.

+70. Thomas Greaves, d. before 1898.

+71. Samuel Dewitt Greaves, b. 1 Feb. 1823, m. Margaret Elder, 13 Nov. 1845, d. 13 June 1918.

 

 

GENERATION 10

 

CHILDREN OF SAMUEL GRAVES (39) AND SARAH BLOUNT

William Graves (51) was born at sea on 1 Feb. 1821 and died 8 Jan. 1900. He first married Lydia Jewett (French ancestry) of LeRoy, Jefferson Co., N.Y. on 20 Feb. 1844. She was born 8 Nov. 1819 and died of tuberculosis (?). He secondly married Frances Maria Freeman of Champion, Jefferson Co., N.Y. on 18 April 1866. She was the daughter of Deacon Silas Pierce Freeman and Nancy Colton (see Pierce and Colton published genealogies). She was born 5 Oct. 1839 and died 10 Feb. 1909.

Mrs. C. Heiberg had in her possession in 1976 "Pastor's Handbook" with "William Graves" in pencil on flyleaf and his license from the Methodist Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. dated 4 June 1854. She also has a picture of his stone house in Adams Center (razed for highway). He was a poor farmer, raising berries and little else. "Notes for 1900" at end of the diary for 1899 of Samuel Monroe Graves, his son, say: "Jan. 7: I sat up with father. Jan. 8: I sat up with father. Father died. I went to town. Jan. 9: Father's funeral, 11 a.m." William Graves was buried in Adams, N.Y. (R-1)

Children - Graves, by Lydia Jewett

72. Lydia Adelaide Graves, b. 20 Sept. 1846, m. John Kilpatrick, d. Feb. 1880 (tuberculosis). No children.

+73. William Vincent Graves, b. 15 June 1848, m(1) Ada Wickes, d. 3 Aug. 1914.

+74. Amelia Victorine Graves, b. 29 April 1850, m. Willis Rodney Younglove, 17 March 1869, d. 18 Feb. 1885.

Children - Graves, by Frances Maria Freeman

75. Lillian Graves, b. 22 Jan. 1867, d. 16 May 1867.

76. Lena T. Graves, b. 28 Jan. 1868, d. 28 Aug. 1868.

77. Lilla O. Graves, b. 15 June 1869, d. 15 April 1870.

+78. Florence A. Graves, b. 15 Jan. 1871, m. Sheldon Bates, d. 4 May 1944.

79. Helen L. Graves, b. 6 Jan. 1873, d. 21 Feb. 1960. Never married.

+80. Silas Freeman Graves, b. 13 Oct. 1874, m. Ada Maude Sloat, d. 22 Aug. 1917.

+81. Samuel Monroe Graves, b. 11 Sept. 1878, m. Wilhelmina Landau, d. 20 Dec. 1943.

 

CHILDREN OF THOMAS GREAVES (40) AND ELIZABETH ------

Thomas Greaves (61) was born 30 Jan. 1809 at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and died in 1876 at Shirland, Derbyshire. He married Sarah White on 31 May 1830 in Shirland. She was born in 1805 and died in 1882. Thomas was a farmer and a grocer. They lived in "Brick Kiln House", Shirland. (R-8)

Children - Greaves

+82. Samuel Greaves, bapt. 15 Aug. 1830, m. Hannah Radford, 12 April 1857.

83. Percival Greaves

84. Joseph Greaves

85. Thomas Greaves, prob. b. 1836 (Shirland), m. Beatrice ------, d. 1 Dec. 1918. He emigrated to Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A., with Robert Watchorn (benefactor to the Watchorn Memorial Methodist Church in Alfreton, Derbyshire). Before going to the U.S., Thomas visited South Africa and then returned to England. He became a man of means through the development and ownership of The Shirland Knitting Mills in Germantown (now a section of Philadelphia, PA). He and his wife attended the Greaves/Graves Family Reunion at Schenectady, NY in 1915. At the time of his death, he and his wife were living at 156 Manheim St., Philadelphia, PA.

+86. Mary Greaves, b. 5 May 1834 (?), m. John Radford.

87. Sarah Greaves

88. William Greaves

89. Elizabeth ("Bessie") Greaves

 

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM GREAVES (45) AND HANNAH BROMHEAD

Abraham Greaves (69) was born 1815 in England, and was baptized 4 Dec. 1815 in Hucknall Torkard parish church. He died 1898 in Chesterfield, England. He first married Mary Jepson. He secondly married Margaret Newton. She died 27 Dec. 1896, and was buried at Ironville, Derbyshire, England. He was a druggist with at least two shops. He lived in Ironville and Rye Hill House, Chesterfield, England. All his children were born in England. (R-1, R-2)

Children - Greaves

+90. Catherine Greaves, m. Edward Swaffield, d. 1925.

+91. William Samuel Greaves, married twice, d. 1904.

+92. Abraham Walter Greaves, b. 1850, m. Eliza Chater, d. 1924.

93. Mary Greaves, m. Luke Evans.

+94. Dora Greaves, m. Cecil Carr Taylor.

 

Thomas Greaves (70) apparently died before his brother Abraham, since Abraham left a legacy to Thomas' daughter Mary. (R-1)

Children - Greaves

95. Mary Greaves

 

Samuel Dewitt Greaves (71) was born 1 Feb. 1823 in England, died 13 June 1918, and was buried in Huntingtonville Cem., Watertown, N.Y. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1842 at age 19. Excerpts from a letter he wrote home state that when he arrived in the U.S. (apparently in N.Y. City), he went by steamboat up the Hudson River to Albany, took the Erie Canal to Utica, walked 31 miles to Boonville, caught the stage to Champion, N.Y., and walked 4 miles to the home of his uncle and aunt, Samuel and Sarah Graves. He soon moved to Watertown, where he became a printer on a newspaper. He retired in 1912. He married Margaret Elder of Watertown on 13 Nov. 1845. He met her at church singing in the choir. Her parents, Robert E. Elder and Hannah Floyd, were from northern Ireland. She was born 10 Nov. 1822 and died 26 Feb. 1906. All their children were born in the U.S. (R-1)

Children - Greaves

+96. William Abraham Greaves, b. 12 March 1847, m. Sarah Gertrude Dale, 19 Sept. 1871, d. 20 May 1900.

+97. Edwin Elder Greaves, b. 12 March 1849, m. Alsina Reviere, 16 Oct. 1869, d. 26 Aug. 1925.

+98. Samuel Dewitt Greaves, Jr., b. 28 Aug. 1851, m. Josephine Artebeese, 22 Nov. 1875, d. 1918.

99. Mary Hannah Greaves, b. April 1854, d. 1869.

+100. Annie Margaret Greaves, b. 4 April 1857, m(1) Clinton Jacob Leper, 30 April 1873, m(2) George Ford, before 1916, d. 23 Feb. 1926.

101. James Matthew Greaves, b. July 1861, d. 1863.

+102. Jennie Elizabeth Greaves, b. 24 Feb. 1864, m. Hartley Frederic Dewey, 10 Oct. 1888, d.c. 1943.

 

Return to Alphabetical Ancestor Listing

Return to Main Page