Since the publication of my original web page on "Some Copus Family Lines" in March 2007, in which I bemoaned the fact that, of the many people who have contacted me about the Copus surname over the years, so few have proved to be demonstrably related to me, I have been both surprised and delighted to be contacted by no less than three previously unknown people who are researching families clearly related to my own. Not only that, but their interests (and connections to myself and my family) lie in quite separate branches of the extended family, though in each case the connection can be traced back to the Lambeth and Marylebone areas of London (Surrey and Middlesex respectively) in the 19th Century.

Unlike the Cawse and Eaton surnames, that of Anley has been well known to me for a very long time, as I helped my grandfather and father in their research on the Anley family, to the best of my ability, at quite a young age. This does not mean, though, that there were no surprises in store. The first was that a previously unknown descendant of the Anleys, Pauline Frances Packham, made contact with me, having fortunately found and read one of my web pages on aspects of the Copus family, mentioning them. As indicated in those notes, my great-great-grandparents were Cyrus Copus and his wife Louisa, née Anley. Pauline had established that her own great-great-grandparents were John Anley (Shoemaker) and his wife Eliza, née Wood, who were the parents both of John Anley junior (Pianoforte Maker), Pauline's great-grandfather, and of Louisa Anley, my great-great-grandmother.

The younger John Anley's first wife Rosina, née Childs, died in 1881 at the age of just 34, after which (in 1882, at Marylebone) he married Frances Randall, widow, née Dash, Pauline's great-grandmother. Frances died in Marylebone in 1898 at the age of 47, while John died in hospital in Fulham in 1900, aged 59, the informant being his sister M. A. Warren, of 34 Cornwall Street, Fulham. This was a street name which was familiar to Pauline. I had previously tried and failed to find Mary Ann Warren there in the 1901 Census - the simple explanation being that by 1901, she and her husband William Warren had moved to Kensington. It was somewhat difficult tracing this couple in Census returns, but this was made easier by their being shown in 1891 in Cornwall Street, next door to Mary Ann's sister Maria (listed as "Marion" in this 1891 Census entry) and her husband Edward Spivey. Fortunately, Spivey is a much more unusual surname than Warren.

My father Geoffrey knew Mary Ann Warren well when he was young. She was affectionately known in the family as "Auntie Polly". Sadly, having lived to the ripe old age of 90, she was killed during the Second World War, again in Fulham. On the other hand, Pauline knew not of "Auntie Polly" but of the Spivey family, as well as much family history in Cornwall Street and elsewhere in Fulham and nearby. More recently, in March 2008, Diane Fox (née Spivey) contacted me. Though not herself related to me, she had been interested to happen upon the passing mention of her maiden name (in the original version of this present page) on my website. Diane's own website has a great deal more information on the Spivey and connected families - see www.foxspivey.co.uk/famhist.html She was also familiar with the name of Cornwall Street, Fulham, having come across this in the course of her research, as a family address from the fairly recent past, although before her own time; and with the Anley surname, even though in her case, this is not an ancestral surname. Having myself become aware of the Spivey connection, I later noticed that Maria Spivey and Mary Ann Warren were mentioned in the Will of Cyrus Copus (husband of Louisa née Anley), made in 1919, as two of the testator's sisters in law. Mary Ann Warren's funeral in 1940, like those of a few of the Anleys at much earlier dates, was also organised by the Copus family undertaking business and appears in its ledger, the total cost being £21 5s. This contrasts with the £9 cost of the funeral of John Anley (the Pianoforte Maker) in 1900. The funeral of young John William Anley, early in 1872, is recorded as having cost £2 8s. That of Robert Alfred Randall, of Gees Court, Oxford Street, in 1874 (the GRO indexes suggest that he was just one year old), cost £2 12s. However, it may be that he was the child of a friend of the family (if not related in some way through the Randall connection), since there is a lengthy scrawled (and almost illegible) note that only 30s was received, "the rest worked out Hatching Machine 2 baking dishes and fixed on Gas" (as far as this can be deciphered). The funeral was fairly elaborate, with coach and pair and other expenses.

The funeral of Charles Anley of Gees Court, who died in 1901, aged 52, on the pavement in Duke Street, Oxford Street, where he was working as a Shoe Black, having been "formerly a Lithographic Printer", according to his death certificate, cost as much as £8. Sadly, he must have fallen on hard times, but there is no indication that this remained unpaid. It was a pleasant surprise just how little duplication there was in the certificates which Pauline and I already had, even though we were for so long unaware of each other and of our mutual interest in the Anleys. This led to a fruitful exchange of copies of certificates and notes; for instance, having found the entry in the ledger, I had bought a copy of the death certificate of Charles Anley, brother of John (junior) and Louisa Anley, details of which were previously unknown to Pauline.

However, the biggest surprise was that Pauline had a copy of the Will of William Anley (father of John Anley and grandfather of John Anley junior, Louisa Copus née Anley, Mary Ann Warren née Anley, and Maria Spivey née Anley, among others). This was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in 1851, and William left considerable sums to his heirs. An Affidavit attached to the Will mentioned several addresses where William Anley had lived, starting with Gee's Court, progressing to nearby Gilbert Street, and ending up at 22 Henrietta Street, Marylebone.

Like Gee's Court (more commonly found spelt "Gees" Court), with which the Anleys had a very long association, Henrietta Street was certainly a familiar address, having also cropped up frequently when researching the Copus family as well as the Anleys. In fact, when George Copus (brother of my ancestor Charles Copus) made his own Will in 1850 (later also proved in the PCC), his address was given as 3 Henrietta Street, Manchester Square. From copies of old maps supplied by Pauline Packham, it does seem likely that this was the same Henrietta Street, given its proximity to Manchester Square, Gees Court and Oxford Street. Pauline also notes that while Gees Court still exists, Henrietta Street has disappeared under modern buildings.

Pauline kindly supplied a copy of the original parish register entry showing the marriage of William Anley and Mary Wilson (1797, Marylebone) and copies of the death certificates of William Anley (1851) and his widow Mary Anley (1858), both of whom died at 22 Henrietta Street, each being said to be aged "84" at death. On the death certificates, William Anley was said to be a "Shoemaker" (this, or sometimes "Bootmaker", having also been his stated occupation in other references to him).

In the 1851 Census, though, William Anley (or "Anly"?), aged 84 and said to have been born in Devon, was described as "Proprietor of House". His wife Mary was stated to be aged 78 and to have been born in Northampton. Their daughter Elizabeth, and their son Frederick, with his wife Sarah and their family, were also shown living with them at 22 Henrietta Street, while one of two other households in the same house was that of a Shoemaker, James Couper (his son, another James Couper, being also a Shoemaker). One may idly speculate that possibly the two James Coupers may even have been continuing the shoemaking business for the Anleys - at any rate, Frederick Anley's occupation is given as not a "Shoemaker" but, much more grandly, a "Proprietor's Son"!

Although I had not previously had a photocopy of the marriage of William and Mary Anley, I had already found this entry in the IGI and looked it up on microfilm of the relevant original register, as also the baptisms of some of their children, all at St. Marylebone. The baptisms, being only those which could readily be found via the IGI, unfortunately do not include that of John Anley, born probably about 1815 and probably also in Marylebone (Pauline Packham's ancestor as well as my own). Hence William Anley's PCC Will, which I did not know of before, mentioning as it does both John Anley and several other children of William and Mary Anley, is a vital piece of the jigsaw and I am really very grateful to Pauline for having provided me with copies of this and some other interesting and useful items, including those mentioned above.

In memory of Mary Ann Warren, née Anley (1850-1940), affectionately remembered by my father as "Auntie Polly".

Matthew Copus
307 Dale Street
Chatham
Kent ME4 6QR

Email: info@mcopus.co.uk
Web Site: www.mcopus.co.uk