The old days
CraneThe earliest Crane I have been able to trace with any degree of certainty is John Crane of Foxton who married Mary Croft in Shearsby 1679. We have no idea what he did or who he was, but we surmise that he was probably a yeoman farmer. His son John, born in Shearsby in 1686, moved to Dunton Bassett where he married Sarah Flude in 1717. John and Sarah had a son John in April 1718 before John snr. Died in Leire the next month. Sarah remarried John Overton in 1722 at Lutterworth. What is clear is that Sarah Flude came from a good family, being descended from the Fludes of Monks Kirby in Warwickshire (see Mike Flude’s excellent web site for more information). It is unlikely that John Crane would have married a lady of this status unless he was reasonably well connected himself. John remained in Dunton Bassett where he raised 9 children of his own between 1742 and 1763. the family lived in Dunton all in all for around 150 years, marrying within the village or occasionally into the neighbouring village of Willoughby Waterless where my great-grandfather James Alfred Crane was born. |
LewinAfter much tracing of the Lewin line back to William Lewin in Countesthorpe in 1594, I was rather irritated to find that the John Lewin from whom he was descended died in Swineshead in 1828 and therefore could not have been the one who lived to a ripe old age with my 3 x great-grandmother! However, having identified the correct line, I have amended the tree which now tops out with my 10 x great-grandparents William and Isobel who married at St Mary's Anstey in 1574. The Lewin family seems to stay in Anstey until the 1770's when John my 4 x great-grandfather marries Anne Webster of Thurcaston and they have four children including the elusive John who gave me all the trouble with this line! He then married Hannah Noone of Anstey on 5th July 1811. As their son John was baptised in the village on the 19th of the same month, it would seem that they cut the wedding a bit fine... In 1817, they were living in Aylestone, where Thomas was born before finally settling in Wigston around 1821. Whilst little is known of the backgrounds of the Lewins, it is likely that they were involved in agriculture as most people of the period were. It would seem that the Lewins tried their luck in the City in the 1700’s before settling into the Framework Knitting industry that was to make Thomas Lewin’s fortune. If anyone knows where the Lewins got their money from to start the business, I would be delighted if they got in touch. |
The information on this site is prepared from public records and from verbatum evidence provided by third parties. I am placing it in the public domain in good faith and to the best of my belief all statements made are truthful. However, no warranty as to accuracy is either given or implied and interested parties should perform their own validations.
Copyright © 2003, Charles Crane