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The Devon parish of St Giles in the Wood is a short distance south of Great Torrington. George Yeo, son of Anne Yeo, was baptised there in 1806 and married Margery Cooke there in 1834 [note 1]. They had at least twelve children, four of whom did not survive infancy. They all appear to have been born at St Giles in the Wood:
– Sarah Yeo (1836–1838) [note 2]
– Mary Ann Yeo (1837–1881, married Henry Roberts and James Rowland) [note 3]
– Sarah Margaret Yeo (1843–1881, married John Harper)
– Eliza Yeo (see below)
– Elizabeth Yeo (born 1845, married Henry Levi Davey)
– Charles Yeo (1847–1849)
– Clara Yeo (1849–1851)
– Thomas Yeo (1852–1853)
– Giles Yeo (born 1847) [note 4]
– George Yeo (1854–1930)
– Augustus Yeo (see below)
– Lydia Ellen Yeo (1860–1931, married George Powell).
The 1871 census records 65-year-old George Yeo in St Giles in the Wood, working as a mason [note 5].
Eliza Yeo (1844–1925, daughter of George Yeo and Margery Cooke) married Henry May at St Giles in the Wood in 1870. They already had a daughter:
– Sarah Margaret Yeo (1868–1921, married John Harper) [note 6]
Henry and Eliza emigrated to Canada soon after the 1871 census was taken; Sarah appears to have remained in Devon with her grandparents.
Augustus Yeo (1857–1923, son of George Yeo and Margery Cooke) moved to Yorkshire, where he married Sarah Margaret Williamson. They had four children:
– George Cooke Yeo (1883–1883)
– Frances Margaret Yeo (1885–1947, married Charles William Whyman)
– Edith Cooke Yeo (1891–1952, married Thomas Smith Hughes)
– George Augustus Yeo (1898–1972, married Rosina Williams).
Please Contact Us if you can add to or correct the information shown. This line takes some effort to unravel as not all the births were registered.
Notes
1. Margery died in 1867 aged 51; her death registration and burial records show her as Margaret Yeo.
2. Sarah was baptised at a ceremony in the Bideford Wesleyan Methodist circuit, making the location of her baptism unclear.
3. Second marriage and year of death subject to confirmation.
4. No marriage or death record has been found for Giles, who is presumed to have died as a child.
5. Listed with George, who is recorded as a widower, are his son Augustus Yeo (age 13), his daughter Lydia E. Yeo (10), Henry May (age 21, a blacksmith; George’s son-in-law, but he is recorded as a lodger), George’s daughter Eliza May (26), Henry’s daughter Sarah M.C. Yeo (3) and Henry’s son William May (3 months). The birthplace of all seven people is given as St Giles.
6. Sarah was baptised at St Giles in the Wood as Sarah Margaret Cook [sic] Yeo.