Direct Ancestors of Barry Creevy

(With special thanks to Margaret West for details of Barnaby Creevy and his family)

James Creevy  c 1789 - 1836 Based on current research, James is thought to have been the third child of Barnaby and Catherine Creevy. Barnaby was born c 1765 and died on 6th October 1807 aged 42. Catherine was born c 1766 and died in 1836 aged 70. Barnaby & Catherine Creevy - likely children Born Married Died Mary c 1784 - after 1851 Catherine c 1786 - 1803 James c 1789 1811 1836 John c 1790 ? 1826 Henry c 1796 1828 1850 James married Ann Edwards at Saint James' church, Westminster (Piccadilly) on 22nd August 1811 and they were together for almost 25 years. They had three sons and a daughter. Children In 1822 James was a cowkeeper (a person who kept cows usually for their milk, which was sold door to door) and lived in Drury Lane, London. The family seems to have been heavily involved in the dairy trade for at least fifty years as the following references show : -  - Barnaby - dairyman - trade directory 1802 - Henry - cowkeeper and dairyman - trade directory 1820 - Henry - cowkeeper - baptism record for son Michael 1829 - Michael - (Henry's son) - dairyman - trade directory 1839 - Mary - dairy - census and commercial directory 1841 - Henry - dairyman - death certificate 1850 - Mary - dealer in milk and cream - census 1851 The dairy appears to have been located at 250/1 Tottenham Court Road, London as this address is frequently given in trade directories and census returns. By 1835 James was a carman (a person who drove a vehicle used to transport goods) and also a wheelwright (a maker and repairer of wagon wheels). He died aged 47, on 11th April 1836 and Ann was named as Executrix and sole beneficiary in his will which was dated 2nd June 1834. The will was proved in London on 13th May 1836.	Saint James' church c 1830 above and  below, as it is today
Ann Edwards  1785/6 - 1848 Ann was born 1785/6 and whilst it is not known where, it was not in London. The 1841 census stated that she was 'not born in county' (Middlesex). After the death of James in 1836 the family appears to have continued his business. Trade directories for 1839 and 1841 list Ann as a wheelwright and as a carman and wheelwright respectively. The 1841 census also lists her occupation as wheelwright. This is somewhat surprising as it is not the sort of job a woman would normally take on as it requires considerable strength. Her sons Samuel and John were also listed as wheelwrights on the 1841 census so maybe she just oversaw the work. She died (of natural decay) in Hardwick Street, Clerkenwell on 21st August 1848 at the age of 62, twelve years after the death of her husband. Her death is registered as Creevey but all previous references to her are shown as Creevy.
Children of James Creevy & Ann Edwards Born Married Died George Barnaby 1814 ? 1834 Samuel 1817 ? after 1846 John Edward 1820 1851 1893 Catherine 1822 - 1826  ? after 1841
The three boys were baptised together on 24th April 1822 and it appears that Catherine was born subsequently. She appeared on the 1841 census, her age being shown as 15. No further references to her have been found. Samuel was listed in a trade directory in 1847 but no further references to him have been found either. Neither Catherine nor Samuel appear in the register of marriages or deaths for England and Wales.

John Edward Creevy  1820 - 1893

John was the third and youngest son of James Creevy and Ann Edwards. He was born in London on 12th January 1820. In the 1850s he was described as an auctioneer and collector and is known to have been a merchant and general shopkeeper. The 1864 PO Directory lists him trading in St. Mary Axe, London as John Edward Creevy and Co. Later, he moved to the north London suburbs of Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill where he traded and then to Tottenham. It was in these latter areas (plus Hackney and Walthamstow) where his family established roots for many years.

In 1851 he married Eliza Carpenter who was almost 25 and they had two sons, John and David. In later life the family seems to have fallen on hard times. John died in Tottenham on 5th November 1893, aged 73.

Eliza Carpenter  1826 - 1899

Eliza was the daughter of David Carpenter a watchmaker, and (Sophia) Maria Tosland and was the third of their ten (possibly eleven) children. She was born in Islington on 16th April 1826 and her three brothers and six (possibly seven) sisters were born between 1822 and 1844. On 20th February 1851 aged almost 25, Eliza married John Edward Creevy at West Hackney parish church and they were together for almost 42 years. She died in the Edmonton Union Workhouse, Tottenham on 7th June 1899, surviving her husband by five and a half years. She was 72.

David James Creevy  1854 - 1912

David was born in Churton Street, Westminster (Pimlico) on 6th November 1854, the second son of John Edward Creevy and Eliza Carpenter. His elder brother was John Carpenter Creevy. In 1874 he married Martha Louisa Miles who was aged 22 and they had ten children (six girls and four boys) between 1875 and 1895. Children

In 1872 David was a tobacconist in Stoke Newington, then a merchant's clerk (possibly working for his father) but for most of his life he was a carpenter/joiner/journeyman. He died in Tottenham on 13th December 1912, aged 58 and is buried in an unmarked public grave in Tottenham cemetery.

Martha Louisa Miles   1852 - 1939

Martha was born in West Hackney on 21st February 1852. She is believed to be the third of the six children (3 boys and 3 girls) of Charles Miles a cordwainer/shoemaker, and Joanna Bullen. She married David James Creevy at Walthamstow parish church on 17th September 1874 and lived most of her life in Tottenham. She died, aged 87 in 1939, outliving her husband by 27 years. Martha's elder sister Joanna Sarah Miles, was the wife of John Carpenter Creevy, the elder brother of Martha's husband.

Walter Thomas Creevy  1895 - 1968      

Walter (Art) was the youngest of the ten children of David James Creevy and Martha Louisa Miles. He was born in Tottenham on 23rd January 1895, almost 20 years after the birth of his eldest sister, Wilhelmina. He married Alice Maud(e) Tanner in 1915 and they had five children

Primarily he was a tiler by trade but had also been a bus conductor and a painter and decorator. In the First World War he joined the Royal Field Artillery and during the Second World War served in the RAF in balloon barrage units. His balloon unit would be sent around the country, often to wherever the bombing was heaviest and as such he spent a lot of time on Thames barges. His war ended when he was discharged due to recurring stomach ulcers and whilst he had been an acting Crown Flight Sergeant, on discharge he reverted to his established rank of Sergeant. As a young man he was known as 'Darkie' due to his black hair and in later life was generally known as Art. For most of his life he lived in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.

Alice Maude(e) Tanner died in 1958 and some eighteen months later he married Gladys Edith Maud Blick, the eldest sister of his daughter-in-law, Winifred Constance Blick. He died on 9th March 1968 at the age of 73 and Gladys died on 7th January 1994, aged 89.

Alice Maud(e) Tanner  1889 - 1958 

Maud(e) Tanner was born at Buckhurst Hill, Essex on 28th November 1889. She was the daughter of Emily Griggs and subsequently assumed the surname of her step-father, George Tanner. She was known as Maud(e) and was part of a large family as George and Emily had ten other children. She first met Walter Thomas Creevy when she worked in a shop in Seven Sisters where he bought his cigarettes and they were married at Edmonton Register Office on 24th April 1915. Maud died on 19th May 1958, aged 68.  

Walter George Creevy  1915 - 2006

Walter (Art) was born at Buckhurst Hill, Essex in 1915, the eldest child of Walter Thomas Creevy and Alice Maud(e) Tanner. In 1938 he married Winifred Constance Blick who was aged 24 and they have three sons born between 1939 and 1949.

As a member of the Territorial Army since January 1932, he was called up early in the Second World War and served as a Sergeant in the Essex Regiment, Eighth Army. He saw service in Cyprus, Palestine and Egypt but his war ended in 1942 when he was wounded at El Alamein. He eventually returned home via South Africa and was discharged on the 18th August 1943 as he was unfit for further military service. Including his time in the T.A, his service amounted to 11 years 210 days with the war accounting for 3 years 351 days. His military conduct throughout the entire period was listed as exemplary.

In early life he worked as a butcher but also had periods as a lorry or van driver and for many years was chauffeur to Lieutenant Colonel A.C. Newman, V.C., chairman of the Buckhurst Hill based builders, W & C. French Ltd.

In the army he was generally known as Joe but within the family he is known as Art (or Artie) like his father before him.  

Art died on 25th March 2006 at King George Hospital, Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex aged 90

Winifred Constance Blick  b 1914

Winifred was born at Walton-on-Naze, Essex in 1914, the youngest daughter of Frederick Arthur Blick and Alice Mary Divall. Her eldest sister Gladys and brother Jim both died some years ago and her elder sister Doris died in November 2004 aged 97. Win married Walter George Creevy at the church of St. John the Baptist, Buckhurst Hill in 1938 and were married for over 67 years.

Barry Creevy

Youngest son of Walter George Creevy and Winifred Constance Blick - Creator of this web site