Author: Lee Gratrix in collaboration with Keith Millard
Researching the Gratrix/Greatrix family only came about after my dad died in 2004 aged 71yrs. As I got older I started to think about my past family more and realised that I never really knew them.
We as a family did not seem to show much affection to each other despite always being there, and I think that with the few remaining family I have left we all don’t strive to see each other regularly. The Greatrix family I have left are still relatively local to Boston Lincolnshire with the odd exception, so it is nice to know that we are continuing.
After looking into our history, mainly through my work of memorial masonry, and the fact I spend a lot of time in church yards and meeting with clerks and vicars of parishes, I managed to find pieces of information and began to put a complicated map together. Despite this there are still many blank spaces, because once again the Gratrix tended to move slightly away from family as though they just enjoyed their own company. This is evident with the many generations I have managed to find and also to reiterate how I feel about our family today. We have not been academic in any way, but it is just as important being vocational. The lack of schooling has enabled us to be knowledgeable about life affairs, which I believe has helped us to still exist as a family which unfortunately is gradually getting smaller.
It is very easy to get side tracked and go off on a tangent because of interesting information which is always coming to light, but I will try and give you the most relevant information I can.
I will start with the earliest Gratrix I found buried in Grantham St Wulfram church Lincolnshire and that is for JOSEPH GRATRIX born 1703 and died 22nd November 1773 aged 70yrs, I will attach the will for Joseph that is very interesting and shows how he was a wealthy land owner or tenant and possibly farmed cattle for his business of Glove Maker around what is called Spittlegate on the East side of Grantham. Another reason for implying he was wealthy is that he had a slate hand carved headstone very close to the main church door. Elizabeth Osbourne was the wife of Joseph born 1706 and died June 15th 1781 in Grantham aged 75yrs.
WILLIAM GRATRIX son of Joseph and Elizabeth was born Grantham St Wulfram May 7th 1729 and married Elizabeth Perryman who was born North Stoke also known as Stoke Rochford, approx 5miles south of Grantham 1734 and died March 14th 1776 North Stoke. Unfortunately I am unable to find anything for William. I do know from searching parish records for Grantham that William had quite a few siblings;
John born 22nd may 1727 died Dec 26th 1776
Joseph born 9th June 1731
Elizabeth born feb22nd 1732, married Willliam Jarvis of Leasingham Sleaford Lincolnshire
Mary born 24th April 1735 died June 20th 1735
Abraham born June 8th 1736
Ann born 9th oct 1738 died Nov 1811
Mary born May 30th 1740
George born 6th April 1743 died 1808 65yrs in Fulbeck Sleaford, who was married to Mary and had children John, Elizabeth, Elanor, Mary and Sophia.
Note: If you look at the will for Joseph, George was executor.
SAMUEL GRATRIX son of William and Elizabeth born 1751 East Stoke married Francis Page (father Robert) born 1755 at North Stoke 14th April 1775. Francis possibly died Newton By Folkingham, East of Grantham in her 80th year. I know Samuel had been married twice but I am trying to keep this side fairly simple. The Geni site goes into greater detail. I lost track of Samuel and do not know when or where he died but I have the death certificate for his son SAMUEL GRATRIX, who we come to now, he was born July 5th 1776 of Easton Lincolnshire, North of Grantham but moved to the very fertile silt soil of the reclaimed land known as the Wash area of Lincolnshire as it is called. Samuel was a farm worker and married Elizabeth Hobley, May 14th 1806 in Benington, near to Boston, and this is where my family settled and stay to this day. Death/Birth/Marriage certificates are now much easier to obtain so greater accuracy on dates is better.
Samuel died at Benington 23rd Dec 1841 aged 65yrs of Tuberculosis but had children with Elizabeth;
John born 1820
Elizabeth born Aug 22nd 1819 died April 1st 1820
Joseph born 1816 died May 1903
James born 13th June 1813
Samuel born 13th Aug 1810 died 24th Jan 1858
William born 10th Feb 1807 died Jan 6th 1831.
JAMES GRATRIX is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth I have followed, with him being my direct ancestor. He was born in Benington 13th June 1813 and married Susanah Marrat at Benington 14th May 1839. Their children were;
Susanah born May 31st 1840 Sibsey near Benington
Sarah Ann born March 5th 1843
William born Dec 30th 1841 died June 11th 1842 6months
Samuel born Feb 1847
Note: Samuel moved around the country, and went from being a Bakers Boy, a Public Inn owner, asingle father after his wife abandoned him and their children (for a travelling musician in 1887 and eloped with Thomas Bentham Inglis). Samuel lost his business after his wife left, and the pub lost its licence because of an unenviable reputation. Samuel was fined for not having his children inoculated against disease and he moved to Stratford on Haven for a new start running a general shop. His son died aged 12yrs in 1891 and Samuel himself passed away 10th Jan 1908 aged 61yrs.
Going back to JAMES GRATRIX his wife Susanah died Jan-March 1848 aged 33yrs, but JAMES remarried Mary Ann Smith born 1829 at Gunby, 20miles North of Benington Dec 21st 1848.
James and Mary had children;
Joseph born 9th March 1851 died Sept 2nd 1936 85yrs
James born Aug 7th 1853 died 11th Nov 1858 aged only 5yrs (with cause of death on certificate burnt)
William born March 21st 1855 died March 13th 1936 82yrs.
JAMES died 4th Feb 1856 aged 42 yrs of Typhus Fever also known locally as poor mans disease, because of bad conditions such as sanitation.
Click on photos to enlarge, cursor over for caption, or click on Download File to Open the Family Wills file:
Researching the Gratrix/Greatrix family only came about after my dad died in 2004 aged 71yrs. As I got older I started to think about my past family more and realised that I never really knew them.
We as a family did not seem to show much affection to each other despite always being there, and I think that with the few remaining family I have left we all don’t strive to see each other regularly. The Greatrix family I have left are still relatively local to Boston Lincolnshire with the odd exception, so it is nice to know that we are continuing.
After looking into our history, mainly through my work of memorial masonry, and the fact I spend a lot of time in church yards and meeting with clerks and vicars of parishes, I managed to find pieces of information and began to put a complicated map together. Despite this there are still many blank spaces, because once again the Gratrix tended to move slightly away from family as though they just enjoyed their own company. This is evident with the many generations I have managed to find and also to reiterate how I feel about our family today. We have not been academic in any way, but it is just as important being vocational. The lack of schooling has enabled us to be knowledgeable about life affairs, which I believe has helped us to still exist as a family which unfortunately is gradually getting smaller.
It is very easy to get side tracked and go off on a tangent because of interesting information which is always coming to light, but I will try and give you the most relevant information I can.
I will start with the earliest Gratrix I found buried in Grantham St Wulfram church Lincolnshire and that is for JOSEPH GRATRIX born 1703 and died 22nd November 1773 aged 70yrs, I will attach the will for Joseph that is very interesting and shows how he was a wealthy land owner or tenant and possibly farmed cattle for his business of Glove Maker around what is called Spittlegate on the East side of Grantham. Another reason for implying he was wealthy is that he had a slate hand carved headstone very close to the main church door. Elizabeth Osbourne was the wife of Joseph born 1706 and died June 15th 1781 in Grantham aged 75yrs.
WILLIAM GRATRIX son of Joseph and Elizabeth was born Grantham St Wulfram May 7th 1729 and married Elizabeth Perryman who was born North Stoke also known as Stoke Rochford, approx 5miles south of Grantham 1734 and died March 14th 1776 North Stoke. Unfortunately I am unable to find anything for William. I do know from searching parish records for Grantham that William had quite a few siblings;
John born 22nd may 1727 died Dec 26th 1776
Joseph born 9th June 1731
Elizabeth born feb22nd 1732, married Willliam Jarvis of Leasingham Sleaford Lincolnshire
Mary born 24th April 1735 died June 20th 1735
Abraham born June 8th 1736
Ann born 9th oct 1738 died Nov 1811
Mary born May 30th 1740
George born 6th April 1743 died 1808 65yrs in Fulbeck Sleaford, who was married to Mary and had children John, Elizabeth, Elanor, Mary and Sophia.
Note: If you look at the will for Joseph, George was executor.
SAMUEL GRATRIX son of William and Elizabeth born 1751 East Stoke married Francis Page (father Robert) born 1755 at North Stoke 14th April 1775. Francis possibly died Newton By Folkingham, East of Grantham in her 80th year. I know Samuel had been married twice but I am trying to keep this side fairly simple. The Geni site goes into greater detail. I lost track of Samuel and do not know when or where he died but I have the death certificate for his son SAMUEL GRATRIX, who we come to now, he was born July 5th 1776 of Easton Lincolnshire, North of Grantham but moved to the very fertile silt soil of the reclaimed land known as the Wash area of Lincolnshire as it is called. Samuel was a farm worker and married Elizabeth Hobley, May 14th 1806 in Benington, near to Boston, and this is where my family settled and stay to this day. Death/Birth/Marriage certificates are now much easier to obtain so greater accuracy on dates is better.
Samuel died at Benington 23rd Dec 1841 aged 65yrs of Tuberculosis but had children with Elizabeth;
John born 1820
Elizabeth born Aug 22nd 1819 died April 1st 1820
Joseph born 1816 died May 1903
James born 13th June 1813
Samuel born 13th Aug 1810 died 24th Jan 1858
William born 10th Feb 1807 died Jan 6th 1831.
JAMES GRATRIX is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth I have followed, with him being my direct ancestor. He was born in Benington 13th June 1813 and married Susanah Marrat at Benington 14th May 1839. Their children were;
Susanah born May 31st 1840 Sibsey near Benington
Sarah Ann born March 5th 1843
William born Dec 30th 1841 died June 11th 1842 6months
Samuel born Feb 1847
Note: Samuel moved around the country, and went from being a Bakers Boy, a Public Inn owner, asingle father after his wife abandoned him and their children (for a travelling musician in 1887 and eloped with Thomas Bentham Inglis). Samuel lost his business after his wife left, and the pub lost its licence because of an unenviable reputation. Samuel was fined for not having his children inoculated against disease and he moved to Stratford on Haven for a new start running a general shop. His son died aged 12yrs in 1891 and Samuel himself passed away 10th Jan 1908 aged 61yrs.
Going back to JAMES GRATRIX his wife Susanah died Jan-March 1848 aged 33yrs, but JAMES remarried Mary Ann Smith born 1829 at Gunby, 20miles North of Benington Dec 21st 1848.
James and Mary had children;
Joseph born 9th March 1851 died Sept 2nd 1936 85yrs
James born Aug 7th 1853 died 11th Nov 1858 aged only 5yrs (with cause of death on certificate burnt)
William born March 21st 1855 died March 13th 1936 82yrs.
JAMES died 4th Feb 1856 aged 42 yrs of Typhus Fever also known locally as poor mans disease, because of bad conditions such as sanitation.
Click on photos to enlarge, cursor over for caption, or click on Download File to Open the Family Wills file:
| gratrix_family__wills_in_lincolnshire2.pdf |
Fortunately my family gained employment on farms and even become farm small holders, this enabled them to have some form of wealth which in turn allows them to send their children to school, and with the introduction of reading and writing the GRATRIX name circa 1851-1870 gained the ‘E’ through no reason except because of how the name sounds when spoken.
With the outbreak of the First World War my grandfather Herbert James Greatix and brothers William and Samuel were called upon to do their part, so ultimately the farm business began to suffer and eventually land and equipment was sold off. After war and including the Second World War the brothers came home married and settled down.
There are many more details that I have found out about us, all of which is mostly sad! It seems for every step we went forward we went two steps back. I hold high regard for my family and having this knowledge of them makes me proud. I wish I could have been closer to my father and grandfather and in hindsight I should have talked to them more while they were here, but that is life!
Click on photos to enlarge, cursor over for caption:
With the outbreak of the First World War my grandfather Herbert James Greatix and brothers William and Samuel were called upon to do their part, so ultimately the farm business began to suffer and eventually land and equipment was sold off. After war and including the Second World War the brothers came home married and settled down.
There are many more details that I have found out about us, all of which is mostly sad! It seems for every step we went forward we went two steps back. I hold high regard for my family and having this knowledge of them makes me proud. I wish I could have been closer to my father and grandfather and in hindsight I should have talked to them more while they were here, but that is life!
Click on photos to enlarge, cursor over for caption:
