Gerrard Family

Gerrard is my wife's (Christine) maiden name, initially we knew almost nothing about her father's family other than that they were a local family. I was able to obtain some oral history from my wife's aunt, but this did not carry us back as far as the 1881 cenus. With the 1901 still not available on the internet I visited our local library and used their microfiche copy. I was able to link up the oral history with the 1901 census and the 1901 census with the 1881 census. Reaching back to Richard Gerrard born about 1835 in Hindley.

During this process I made contact with Jeniffer Pearson (maiden name Gerrard) who is also a decendant of Gerrards living in, or near, Hindly in Lancashire (now a suburb of Wigan). Her search has reached William Gerrard and Alice Simpson born approximately in the 1820's.

Using the 1881 census and www.familysearch.com I was able to find a Gerrard family located in Abram and Hindley (two communities near each other separated by Platt Bridge) documented by Elsie Burns of New South Wales, Australia. Elsie genealogy goes back to Peter Gerrard 1759 born about 1759 in Hindley, Lancashire.

With these three Gerrard genealogies located in a the same small area of Lanashire and in a similar time frame it does seem likely that they are related. The 1881 and 1901 census show many families named Gerrard and the records of St.Peter's C.of.E Parish Church in Hindley show many christening of children named Gerrard.

However, Gerrard is a very old name (Anglo-Saxon for "Spear Carrier") recorded in the Doomsday book. It is particularly common in Lancashire and Cheshire, and Hindley is in South Lancashire not far from Cheshire. The Gerrards listed in the census records are mostly coal miners and as such would have moved from mining community to mining community. Thus it is possible that these Gerrard's living in a small area around Hindley are not directly related to each other.

South of Hindley, where Leyland Avenue now is, in 1849 was complex of building marked on the map as "Gerrards". Go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk select "co-ordinate" on the search and cut and paste " 362006,403011 " in to the search string. Then zoom in. It looks like it was a house of some sort, possibly a farm house, but for all I know it was a coal depot! If you pan East there are lots of coal-pits.

It was at a point where a road/track crossed the Railway line, London and North Western Railway; Manchester, Eccles, Tyldesley and Wigan Line.

From http://www.lancstowns,co,uk/aspull.htm "....The earliest historical reference to Aspull is 1212 ... ... these tenants were the de Lathorns, Inces and Gerrards ..." "...until Tudor and Stuart times, when the Bradshaighs and the Gerrards were quarrelling over the coal pits of Aspull ...."

Descendants of Peter Gerard and Isabelle Strangeways
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/myersfamily/gerard.htm This site gives a family tree starting with Peter Gerard born 1407 died March 26, 1447 who married Isabelle Strangeways (born 1409) this Gerard family are associated with "Kingsley and Bryn".

http://www.joyce.riddick.btinternet.co.uk/afew.htm gives details of Bryn Hall, home of the Gerrards.
"..... Brynne (Bryn) Hall in the early days of the fourteenth century when the lordly Gerrards of Brynne held sway in their domain ...."
".... The Fitz Gerrards of Brynne who boasted an ancient ancestry going back to Alfred the Great ...."
".... It was the seat of the Gerrards by virtue of marriage between William Gerrard about the year 1250 with the daughter and sole heiress of Peter de Brynne ....."

There is a Gerrard's Bridge on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at Crankwood near where Bickershaw Colliery used to be.

There is a Gerrard Arms in Aspull. And another one in Colyton near Exeter in Devon!

Details of the Baron Gerrard AccessGenealogy and the coat on arms of the Gerrards can be found at Arms- Argent, a saltire, gules. Crest-A monkey statant proper, chained round the loins, or Motto-En Dieu est mon espérance. Seat-At Gareswood Hall, co. Lancaster.

For details of the book written by Jan Kuplis on the Gerrard family click here.