Sir John Gray's statue in O'Connell Street, Dublin in 1961. Note that Nelson's column was present still in the background.

This page contains a summary of the basic facts about my grandparents’ families in the 19th and early 20th Centuries in various parts of the British Isles. It is an introduction, for the benefit of anyone who might be related and might wish to enquire further. Enquirers are invited to comment below or to email me at pjrw2008 at gmail.com (where “at”  is represented by @ in the usual way).
In my genealogical research I have looked at the families of all four grandparents. Comparatively little information has been confirmed by certificates, wills or other documents that would constitute an acceptable standard of proof but a lot of additional information is available that is not included here.

WILLIAMS
My WILLIAMS family can be traced back to Chester by the mid-19th Century. Prior to that they appear to have come from the Holywell district of Flintshire in North Wales where William WILLIAMS lived with his wife, Elizabeth. Their son, Thomas has been described as a “smith” and an “engine smith”. He was born in 1818 in Holywell and died in 1883 in Chester. He marrieed Sarah Gerrard who died in 1886 in Chester.
Thomas and Sarah had a son, George Henry WILLIAMS b1847  Chester, m Martha Helen URMSTON b1849 Woodchurch, Wirral.
Their son was Albert Lightfoot WILLIAMS b1879 Chester, d1946 Liverpool, m Winifred Mary BRIDGER b1880, d1942 Liverpool.

BRIDGER
Little is known about the BRIDGER family apart from the fact that John Henry BRIDGER, d1882, Liverpool, was in the Coastguards in Ireland. As a Chief Officer he was stationed at Crookhaven in County Cork in the 1860s and 1870s and probably retired from there to Liverpool.  I have inherited a faded document which reads as follows:
“Crookhaven, March 1867.
 ”We, the Undersigned Masters of Vessels have pleasure in bearing testimony to the admirable manner in which the lives of the Crew of the Barque ‘Wolverine’ were saved on Sunday, March 17th, 1867 during a furious storm from the S.E. by the exertions of Mr Bridger, Chief Officer of Coastguards, and the men under his command at the Rock Island Station.
“The Rocket apparatus was managed with great skill and judgement and was the means of saving the lives of the Crew and bringing them all safely ashore at the Crookhaven Lighthouse.
“Signed:  
J. Stavers Brig ‘Durham’
J.Cooper Barque ‘St. Angelo’
 August Rudin Ship ‘Sverige’
A. A. Braburg Barque ‘Waino’
S. M. Kulints Ship ‘Victor
Emmanual’ Chas Evans Ship ‘Her Royal Highness’
Isaac Notter, Ship Agent, Crookhaven
John S. Sloane M.R.I.A. Superintendent of Lighthouse Works etc.”

Just to confuse us, John Henry’s son was also John Henry BRIDGER,  b1853 Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. d1938 Liverpool(?). He married Mary(aka Polly) Anne MACKAY b1856, d1941. Their daughter was Winifred Mary BRIDGER, b1880, d1942 in Liverpool, who had three brothers and four sisters.

SHANNON
Even less is known about the SHANNON  family (sometimes spelt Shanan)  of my maternal grandfather. The earliest indication is that they might have been from County Cavan, Ireland, where my great grandfather, Robert, is said to have been a farmer with around 25 acres of land. His son, Farrell SHANNON was born c.1856 in County Cavan and joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1875, serving in various counties until he left the service in 1900. We know that he was married to Honoria Prendergrast (b1865 Castlebar) and had children with her, who were Patrick (b.1890), Gertrude (b.1892), Francis (b.1894) and Eleanor (b.1898) but Honoria  is presumed to have died in the late 1890s. In 1900, Farell SHANNON married Eleanor Charlotte GRAY (B1876, Castlebar, Mayo, d1951 Ballina, Mayo) who had one brother.
Farrell and Eleanor had four children of whom the first was Richard (also known as Dick), born in 1901. He went to New York early in the 20th Century, married and I believe that they had a daughter.

GRAY
The GRAY family are well documented thanks to a few very prominent individuals . “My” line is as follows:
Andrew GRAY b1720, Ballybay, Monaghan, Ireland, d1774, m Agnes FLEMING.
Moses GRAY b1747 d1826.
Joseph GRAY b1778, Claremorris, Mayo, Ireland d1858, French Park, Castlebar, Mayo.
*Richard David GRAY b1822 Westport (?), Mayo, d1897. m Matilda Sarah Jane BOLE b1833 d1909.
Eleanor Charlotte GRAY b1876 d1951 Ballina, Mayo.

*Richard David Gray, my great grandfather, was a cousin of Sir John GRAY and of Moses Wilson GRAY.
Sir John’s son was Edmund Dwyer GRAY, and his son was Sir Edmund John Chisholm DWYER-GRAY. These names are linked to other web pages which give additional information about these individuals. I would be interested to hear from anyone who can add to the published information about these individuals in Ireland, the USA, Australia or New Zealand.

I would like to hear from, and exchange information with, anyone who has reason to believe that they might be related to anyone mentioned above and I can be contacted either by commenting below, or by using the email address in the first paragraph at the top of this page.