William Joseph Spry Yeo (1813–1897) was baptised at the parish church of St Andrew, Plymouth in 1813. The record of this baptism names his father as John Yeo, a dock labourer and his mother as Ann Yeo – see John Yeo and Ann Ellis.
William married Elizabeth Nicholson at Stoke Damerel in 1840. They moved to Guernsey, where William worked as a shoemaker. Their four sons were born there:
– James William Yeo (see below)
– John Thomas Yeo
– George Henry Yeo (see below)
– Francis Yeo (born 1845, died as a child)
The 1841 census for Guernsey records William in prison. He and Elizabeth later moved to London; the 1881 census records them in Battersea.
James William Yeo (1839–1910, son of William Joseph Spry Yeo and Elizabeth Nicholson) moved to London with his parents and married Harriet Rich in 1858. Their births of their four sons were registered at Lambeth:
– James William Yeo (1861–1928, married Emma Webb, no recorded children)
– George Henry Yeo (1863–1888)
– Thomas Edward Yeo (1864–1924, married Mary Ann Elizabeth Condon in 1888, five children)
– Alfred Edward Yeo.
Harriet died in 1872, and James married again the following year. With his second wife Mary Jane Petrie he had five children:
– Ada Elizabeth Yeo (1874–1955, married George Quinlan)
– Frederick Richard Yeo (1878–1948, married Florence Matilda Finch, five children including Douglas Raymond Yeo, 1917–1984)
– Walter Douglas Yeo (1881–1927, married Daisy Florence Cumerford, two children)
– Alice Emma Yeo (1884–1954, married Matthew Cotter)
– Florence Jane Yeo (1887–1955, married Henry John Dent and Charles A. Painter).
George Henry Yeo (1843–1911, son of William Joseph Fry Yeo and Elizabeth Nicholson), moved to London with his parents, where he married Sarah Holland in 1869. They had ten children:
– James Alfred Yeo (1870–1909, married Amy Adams, two daughters)
– Elizabeth Charlotte Yeo (1872–1953, married Francis William Riches)
– Maud Eliza Yeo (1874–1950, married George Frederick Jones)
– George Henry Yeo (1876–1941), married Ellen Caroline Musto, five children)
– William Yeo (1879–1944, emigrated to Canada and married Elizabeth Hughes)
– Annie Yeo (1881–1885)
– Arthur Richard Yeo (1883–1961, married Emma Martha Poole, three children including Edward George Yeo, 1917–1987) [note 1]
– Francis Frederick Yeo (1885–1947, married Alice Ethel Bone, four children including William Lionel Yeo)
– Walter Yeo (1887–1956, married Beatrice Wilson, emigrated to Canada, son Walter George Roy Yeo, 1917–1996)
– Annie Yeo (1890–1978, married James Henry Sears).
If you are a descendant of this line, or if you know anything else about William Joseph Spry Yeo or the reason for his imprisonment, please use the Contact Us page to send us a message.
Note
1. The 1939 Register for Poplar lists Arthur and Emma and their son Edward at 25 McCullum Road. Arthur is recorded as a printer’s cutter and Edward as a printer’s assistant.