Generation 6

John Surl - As to whether or not this John could be the same as the one heading the Tewkesbury Branch, please see the Introduction.

Nothing had been proven but ALS always said (and a tree drawn by Morley Chancellor also showed) that John originally came from Mitcheldean (or Mitchell-Dean or even Dean Magna as it seems to have been in the early 1800's) and that he married a lady by the name of Margaret. A marriage record has now been found for John Surl marrying a Margaret POWEL (or Margarett POWELL) on 10th Aug 1788 at St Mary de Lode, Gloucester which is a good fit considering the birth of son John in 1791. Moreover, this particular location is the same not only as this John suspected 2nd marriage in 1810 but also his son John's in 1817. It is assumed that Margaret was born c1765 and died pre 1810 but no death record has yet been traced. 

No more is known about John and nothing has yet been found to link him to Mitcheldean. However, it is interesting to note that there were Powel and Powell marriages in Mitcheldean in the 1770's so perhaps John & Margaret both lived in Mitcheldean for a time when young then married and settled near Gloucester. 

Generation 7

John Surl - b 1791,  Bap 27th March 1793 at St Catherine's in Gloucester, d 25th June 1850 in Newent.

After completing his apprenticeship, he became a Freeman of the City of Gloucester on 9th October 1812. "John Serle (sic) of the City of Gloucester, tinplate worker and late apprentice to William Stephens of the same place, tinplate worker, and his Mary Ann his wife." On his death certificate he is described as "Tinman & Ironmonger"

As per his father, he married in St Mary de Lode, Glos on 1st May 1817 one Diana WORKMAN (b 1792, d 29th Jan 1869 - source: gravestone in Newent Church) . She was the daughter of Daniel and Mary Workman - the surname Workman is believed to be primarily Irish in origin.  In the1851 census she is shown as having been born in Stone; in one transcription of it she is shown as aged 37 (rather than 59) and in the index to another transcription as "Draca". Hmm ! 

Between 1819 and 1830 John & Diana had four children - see 8.7.1 below. The middle Christian name Dyer was used not only for two of their children but also two grandchildren so it could point to Diana's mother's maiden name.

Caroline, the 2nd child is known to have been born in Newent in 1820 so their move from Gloucester to Newent probably occurred shortly after their marriage in 1817. In Pigot's 1822 Directory of Gloucestershire, John is shown in Newent under the heading "Braziers and Tin-Plate Workers" whilst the 1830 edition lists him as a "Brazier & Ironmonger" in Newent.

The 1841 census shows John (Ironmonger age 50) & Diana (48) in Broad Street Newent with three children, Ann & Caroline (22 and 20, both "Straw Bonnet makers") and John (11). 

John died in June 1850 and was buried in the same grave in Newent Churchyard as his infant daughter Mary Anne Dyer [MI ref A49]. The 1869 death certificate for Diana quotes her as the "widow of John Surl, Ironmonger" living at Broad Street, Newent. The informant was her son, John Dyer Surl (8.4) , of the same address. The gravestone in Newent churchyard (ref B87) reads: 

Diana SURL, 29 Jan 1869, (age) 77  
John Dyer SURL, 21 June 1901, 71 
Mary Ann SURL, w/o John, 20 June 1907, 73

Generation 8 

Ann Surl -  b 6th Jan 1819, died 6th June 1887.

In Robson's directory of Newent for 1837, there is a listing for 'C & A Surl, Straw Hatmakers' (sic) so presumably Ann with sister Caroline (8.2) ran a business together prior to their marriage (and with which Caroline continued thereafter until at least 1868)

On Thursday 21st August 1845 there was a double wedding in Newent Parish Church when both Ann and sister Caroline married. In Ann's case it was to Edwin BAILEY, born 1818, the eldest son of Thomas Bailey and his wife Ann (later Mary Ann) who farmed at various locations in the Gloucester/Herefordshire border area over the years. The same witnesses were used for both weddings - Edwin’s sister Maria and Aaron Goold, a steward of the "Ledbury and Forest of Dean District" Methodist circuit.

ALS noted that Edwin was a farmer from Ledbury but he probably confused the latter element with the Fleetwoods (who were indeed from Ledbury) as the 1881 census records his birthplace as Newent and Roger Bailey confirms it as Yates Farm, Malswick, Newent. By the time of his marriage in 1845 he was indeed a farmer in his own right - at Hill Farm, Hope Mansel in Herefs (now generally 'Hope Mansell'), about 6 miles to the south east of Ross, so not far at all from Mitcheldean, Drybrook and East Dean. 

It seems that they spent the rest of their lives in that area as they were running the larger nearby Silverstone Farm in 1861 while in 1871 he is in Drybrook as a Farm Labourer and they have a lodger. A change of occupation then takes place for in the 1881 census Edwin was working as a Coal Haulier and the couple are shown living at 'Hawthorns, East Dean, Westbury on Severn, Gloucester'. Hawthorns is an area of Drybrook so it seems that the whole district came under Westbury - some 10 miles away - for administrative purposes at that time.. 

Ann's death is recorded in Westbury on Severn on 6th June 1887, aged 67 and Edwin on 9th February 1897. Both were buried at Holy Trinity Church, Drybrook. 

No issue from the marriage has been traced. It is highly probable that Edwin was the inspiration for the choice of this Christian name for his nephew born in 1857, a name that has been perpetuated in the Surl family ever since. 

NB : The 1881 census lists a Charles Bailey born c 1817 as a coal merchant in Newnham, Gloucester. It had been thought that this might be Edwin's brother but, thanks to info from Roger Bailey, this has been discounted. However, by coincidence, Edwin did have a (younger) brother Charles who did become a 'coal dealer' around 1880 but this was in the Birmingham area. 

On 21st August 1845 (same day as Ann above) she married James SUMMERS (1818-1907) who was described as a "Wool Stapler" of Newent, son of John Summers, "Gentleman". They had two children, William and Agnes - see 9-8.2 below - both of whom died relatively young (William aged 27 and Agnes at 18) and neither is thought to have had any children. In fact James Summers seems to have outlived all his own siblings (incl a Mary Ann Summers) as well as all his local Surl in-laws so that after his death in 1907, all his household effects were auctioned rather than inherited, and the proceeds were divided equally between the four children of John Dyer Surl & Mary Ann nee Fleetwood (see 9-8.4), Caroline's nieces & nephews.

The auction notice of May 1907. The paper quality was rather poor so the printing on the inside of the cover has bled through to make the result rather unclear.

As noted under Ann above, Caroline continued with the millinery business in Newent for some years after her marriage. In the 1851 census, she is listed in Broad Street as a 30 year old 'Straw Bonnets Maker' together with husband James and infant son William. (Living with them is Charlotte WORKMAN an 18yr old servant born in Weston Herefordshire - a cousin via her mother, Diana nee Workman ??)

By 1861, the enlarged family had moved to Leewall* St, Newent and Caroline is now shown as a Milliner. By 1868 they had moved back to Broad Street again where she is listed in Slater's directory under 'Milliners and Straw Hat Makers', but the 1871 census lists her there without an occupation. Another house move followed, this time to Church Street, Newent, as James appears there in Morris's directory of 1876 & both of them there in the 1881 census, but again Caroline has no occupation so the millinery business seems to have ceased between 1868 and 1871.

In the 1881 census James, age 62, is still shown as a 'wool stapler' as per all previous censuses and directories but this one shows him as born in Much Marcle, Bristol rather than just plain "Bristol, Somerset" as previously. Living with them is their 18 yr old niece from around the corner in Broad Street, Mary Ann Dyer Surl (aka 'Polly' - see 9.43 below), who is listed as a 'companion', their own two children having died not long previously.   

* Leewall Street also appears concurrently as Lee Wall Street in both the original manuscript of the 1861 census and the transcript of Slater's 1868 directory but this name then seems to disappear. Most of the businesses listed in 1868 as being in Leewall St are listed in 1876 as either being in High St or Broad St so it looks as if Leewall St was either redeveloped or incorporated into High St & Broad St .... or possibly even was a temporary name for part of Broad Street so could it be that the family didn't physically move from Broad St and then back again ?  

Thanks to the discovery of the following memorial inscription in Newent Churchyard : 

"To the memory of Mary Ann[sic], daughter of John and Diana Surl died May 2nd 1826 aged 2 months." 

the mystery of what happened to Mary has at last been solved. However the age of 2 months is in some doubt because her Christening in Newent has been found in the IGI for 5th Feb 1826 (it was not uncommon for children to be christened very young if they were not expected to live long) where she is shown as Mary Anne Dyer Surl.   

It is interesting to note that that when her brother John Dyer Surl (below) had children, the second girl was also called Mary Anne Dyer (the first having been Caroline Ann, an amalgam of the names of his two eldest sisters). 

On 31st Jan 1856 in Ledbury Parish Church he married Mary Ann FLEETWOOD, born June 10th 1834, died 21st June1907. Mary Ann was the eldest of the five children of  John & Mary Fleetwood, butchers, of New Street in Ledbury. Her father had died before 1851 as mother Mary is shown in that year's census as a Widow carrying on the butchery business. Mary Ann's one brother, Thomas Fleetwood (bc 1836), later moved to the Bath area and in 1881 was a 'Scripture Reader' while the eldest of her three sisters, Sarah Elizabeth (bc 1838) and her offspring maintained contact with her Surl first & second cousins until the last known died in 1967. See 8A below for more info on Sarah Fleetwood's family. The other two sisters were Hannah Fleetwood (bc 1841) and Martha Fleetwood (bc1847). 

It seems that John Surl lived at the same house in Broad Street, Newent at least from the age of 11 if not throughout his whole life. He is also consistently referred to as being a Tin Plate Worker and/or Ironmonger during his working life eg an Ironmonger at the time of his marriage in 1856, again at the death of his mother in 1869 and yet again in the 1881 census but Tin Plate Worker in the 1891 census. In Morris's Directory of 1876 he is described as "Ironmonger, and iron and tinplate-worker, Broad Street, Newent". In the 1901 census - just before he died - he is shown aged 71 without occupation (though son John Fleetwood Surl is shown as an 'Assistant Ironmonger' ... to whom ? Presumably someone else had taken over the business.).

John & Mary Ann had four children  - see 9-8.4 below. Both John & Mary Ann died on the same day of the year - the Summer Solstice - he in 1901, she in 1907.

Digression - Cousin "Betty" Church & The Malvern Link : 
The Family of Mary Ann Fleetwood's sister Sarah 

She married Joseph MATTHEWS (1835-1896) probably around 1865. In 1881, the family is living at Aldwyn Tower, Great Malvern, and Joseph (born in Colwall, Herefs) is shown as a "Boarding & Lodging House Keeper"

They had one child ....

Married Frank Bailey PERKINS in Sep qtr1888 in Upton on Severn. They had two children .....

Married Reginald CHURCH (b 16th July 1886, died 9th July 1961). They had no children.

Reg worked throughout his life for Lloyds Bank in Malvern and the couple lived in an attractive flat near the town centre. On a visit to Malvern after Reg's death (c 1962), Betty - a slim, slight and elegant person - proudly showed us her beautifully executed needlework and tie-dying. It being a Saturday afternoon, the television was switched on after tea for her ritual of watching the wrestling on ITV. To say that she was then a person transformed is putting it mildly ! 

 Generation 9

Shown in 1861 census with parents & Agnes and one servant living in Leewall Street, Newent, then, in 1871, in Broad Street, again with parents and Agnes but this time as a 23 yr old Grocer & Draper (with G H Davey, aged 22,  born Calcutta as Grocer's Assistant and Charlotte Baldwin, 16, from Newent as General Servant). "No issue" marked on old family tree and none traced.

Shown as 'scholar' in both 1861 and 1871 censuses. "No issue" marked on old family tree and none traced.

9-8.4

Children of Mary Ann Fleetwood & John Dyer Surl  (8.4)

9.41

ALS said that he was a "Tinsmith" until around 1890 but this does not now appear to have been exclusively in Gloucestershire as the 1881 census shows him at age 23 lodging in Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, as an Ironmonger's Assistant. He later moved to London and became a commercial traveller for and director of C Chancellor & Co, paint manufacturers, the company owned by his sister Polly's in laws.

He married in North London on 11th Feb 1899, Edith Lucy BECKWITH (born 7th Oct 1871, died 30th July 1948), 14 years his junior (see Beckwith Tree 2 notes). 

They had two children, Geoff and Arthur - see 10-9.41 

The 1901 census shows Ted, Edie & one year old son Geoff living at 85 Digby Road, Stoke Newington with Ted's occupation listed as 'Commercial Traveller in Painters Sorts (?)'. The family later moved to 25 Ferme Park Road, Hornsey, and finally to 33 Dartmouth Park NW5 (near Tufnell Park). 

9.42

Caroline Ann Surl ("Carrie") - b Feb 19th 1860, died 1907. 

Shown living with her parents and younger brother in Broad St, Newent, in 1881 aged 21, unmarried and without occupation. I believe that she never did marry and worked in the hotel business in the Malvern area towards the end of her life but certainly at age 41 in 1901 she was living in Islington, London with sister Polly and brother-in-law Harry (below), presumably helping with their young family.

In the 1881 census she is shown as living in Church St, Newent (just around the corner from the family home in Broad St) as 'niece' and 'companion' to her Aunt Caroline and Uncle James Summers (8.2). 

In 4th quarter of 1885 in Newent, she married Henry George CHANCELLOR - b 3rd June 1863, died 1945. He was the son of John & Louisa Chancellor, grocers, of South Street, Walton, nr Street in Somerset. Walton is in the rural district of Wells, hence this city on his birth record, and as for the 1881 census saying that he was born in Bridgewater (sic), it would have been his landlord in Newent who answered the enumerator's questions and Walton is not that far east of Bridgwater). It is interesting to note that by 1901 the Chancellor family's grocery business in Walton was being run by Frank & Jane Fleetwood but no connection has been made between these Fleetwoods and his mother-in-law's Fleetwoods from Ledbury.

'Harry' Chancellor was educated at Elmfield (Primative Methodist) College in York and is shown in 1881 as a 17 year old Chemist's Apprentice living with the Roper family in Church Street, Newent but then, if the cutting below is correct, he moved to London in 1883 and specifically (upon marriage?) to 'North Islington' in 1885. Certainly, their first child, Hilda, was born in Islington in 1886 (but in a curious twist, she later married the son of a near neighbour to the Surls, Ropers & Summers from Broad St in Newent !)

In 1891 he is listed as "manager to blacklead merchant" whilst living at 55 Dresden Road, North Islington, with Mary Ann, their two eldest children (Hilda & Nora) plus his 19 yr old brother Harold C Chancellor, clerk to the said blacklead merchant. It is likely that these are early references to the family firm of C Chancellor & Co, paint manufacturers, in which Harry became a partner. It has been stated that the 'C' in the name referred to his sister or sister-in-law but this has yet to be proven. In a patent application in 1919 by a third party, Messrs C Chancellor & Co of Hligham Hill Works (sic), St Andrew Road, Walthamstow, are quoted as the suppliers of an aluminium powder the applicant used in the manufacture of reflective cinema screens. By 1901 the job description had changed to 'colour paint merchant' and he was noted to be an 'employer' rather than a 'worker'. At this time Harry, Polly and the five surviving children were living at No 2, Hornsey Rise in the Tollington Ward of Islington together with Polly's 41 year old sister Caroline Ann.

Henry Chancellor was elected to the House of Commons in Jan 1910 as the 'Radical'/Liberal MP for Shoreditch (Haggerston), a position he seems to have held uninterrupted until 1928. 

Guinness was obviously not good enough for the people of Hoxton !
Newspaper cutting of the results of Jan 1910 Election (from the scrapbook of A L Surl, age 8) 

In public life he was always known as H G Chancellor and he seems to have had a wide variety of interests. In 1914 he published an article entitled "Why Vivisection" in Nash's Magazine and in September 1916 "The War and National Temperence" in the Athanaeum whilst his radically critical stance on the Government's war effort caused a split in the London District of Unitarians with whom he had been associated for some years. After his time as an MP, he served on the board of the National Anti Vaccination League (1929 to at least 1936) while in 1941 he is shown as Hon Sec (with occupation as 'Merchant') of the International Arbitration League (offices at 63 Victoria St, SW1; Lady Nancy Astor is listed as one of the parliamentary Vice Presidents) for whom he also wrote leader articles for their 'organ', the "International Arbitrator".  

Over the 13 years following their marriage, they had six children - for details see 10-9.43 

H G Chancellor, Polly and their five surviving children as depicted on a Christmas card for 1904.
Order is thought to be - Nora, Morley, H G, Hilda & Polly with Desmond & Dorothy in front. 

Shown in 1881 aged 11 with his parents in Broad St, Newent; ditto aged 21 in 1891 (indexed under 'John Lueb') with no occupation or mark to signify employed or otherwise; ditto aged 31 in 1901 (indexed as 'John Turl') but now that his father had retired, shown with occupation of "Assistant Ironmonger"

Known to have lost an eye in a fireworks incident in Newent and to have been a keen supporter of the Newent football team. Although he was apparently a popular chap, he never married.

 Generation 10

10-9.43

Children of Mary Ann Dyer (Polly) Surl & Henry Chancellor (9.43)

Married Mar qtr 1910 in Islington, Stanley Peter PENWARDEN (1880-?). Though the name Penwarden would seem to be Cornish in origin, Stanley was born in Newent and appears there in both the 1881 and 1891 censuses .... as one of the 7 children of the grocer in Broad Street, just a few doors down from the Surls. Coincidence or another Newent family member later drawn to London by a Chancellor?

Incidentally, in 1881, Stanley's parents are shown as Peter Penwarden, b 1851 in 'Pancraswick', Devon and Elizabeth, b 1854 in 'Stoke Damoral' (sic), Devon but in 1891, his birth place has been corrected to Pancrasweek (not too far from the Cornish border !) while hers is recorded as 'Devonport'. Peter's parents (Stanley's grandparents) were buried in Newent churchyard in plot B86 - next door to John Dyer Surl & co. The MI reads "Peter Penwarden, late of Newent, formerly of Youlden, Pancras-Wyke, Devon, 14th April 1902 aged 79 and Christiana, wife, 9th March 1900, age 72"  

Hilda Penwarden must have outlived Stanley by some years because in the 1950's she shared a house in North London (North Finchley ?) with her brother Morley (10.33). I believe that both died within a year or so of one another, Morley first in late 1955 or early 1956, just before Nancy Beckwith. Arthur Surl inherited Morley's 'lucky' glass walking stick/crook ... and put it to good use to un-jam the gearbox of the family Ford Consul when it unceremoniously halted en route to Nancy's funeral.   

Hilda Penwarden (left) with Malcolm & Evelyn Surl at Patrixbourne, Kent c1956

Hilda and Stanley Penwarden had no children.

Nora Geraldine Chancellor - b 16th July 1889, died 13th Feb 1975.

In Sep qtr 1913 in Islington she married Arnold BROADBENT. Birth & death details unknown - all the Broadbent births found so far during 1875-95 are in Lancashire. 

Nora & Arnold had three children - see 11-10.32 for details

She is not shown on the tree drawn by Morley Charles Chancellor (10.33) or A L Surl but she is on that by Nora Broadbent's daughter Mary, thanks to which both her birth & death records have been traced.   

Never married and no more details known.

 Generation 11

In 1939 married Kenneth MAYHEW and they had one child, Diana - see 12-11.11. LKA Dyfed, Wales 1989.

Married Constance ? ("Connie") - No known offspring. LKA in mid Kent.

Married Joyce ? and they had two children, Caroline & Andrew - see 12-11.13. Latterly lived at 'Cobblers' in Penn near High Wycombe in Bucks.

 Generation 12

In 1965, she married John LEVER and they have three children - see 13-12.11 for details 

Married Richard ? According to a letter from John & Joyce in late 1986, they had two boys aged 10 & 7 (so born c 1976 and 1976) - names unknown.

Married Marylin ? and, in 1986, were living in Wales. Offspring unknown

 Generation 13