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The LANE Family with C18th Taunton, Somerset origins
Descendant families in C19th-C20th Bristol & Plymouth (SW England), Glamorgan (Wales), Canada & US

Origin of surname: Possibly Old Gaelic or Cornish, 'Llane', meaning a plain or barren sandy level lands, or simply a geographical reference to a family living in a lane.
The surname has a clear bias towards the south west counties of England.

General Synopsis - Updated March 2012:

The family has known early C19th origins in the Taunton area of Somerset, SW England. Ancestral families probably exist in the area in the C18th as there are numerous LANE references, with the name present in Taunton as far back at the C16th. However, records do not provide an integrated picture due to the common occurrence of many names such as John & Mary.

Until the C20th, the main family trade of the LANEs was iron or brass founding or moulding, so this long established tradition suggest the same in the C18th Taunton area through many sons into the early C20th. Some family members were linked with careers at sea with the Royal Navy and in the British Army in the C19th.

While some descendants probably remained in the Taunton area, my main family branch migrated first to the north coastal Somerset towns of Watchet (by 1860) and Dunster (by 1861), back to Taunton (1870/71) and then to the Bristol districts of Totterdown (1871) and Bedminster (1874 until the 1900's) and Easton in 1901. Other Taunton family members also migrated to Bristol, and due to the size of families a large numbers of relatives and their descendants will still live in the greater Bristol area and nearby industrialised Glamorgan, South Wales. One sub-branch is known to have gone to Plymouth & Devonport, Devon, and there may still be an extended family there. Several descendants have families in the US & Canada.

At some stage before 1904 my sub-branch of the family was in Walsall (STS) and then greater Birmingham by the 1930's. A distant family branch was also there at the same time, but there is no evidence the families knew of each other. Indeed, my grandmother LANE did not know of any relations except for a distant cousin in the STONE family (through her mother's BATEMAN line) and the daughter of her brother Fred.

Note on family names:

The LANE family, as many others in the Victorian period, often have the order of their first and second names reversed in census returns compared to their official birth registry, which can cause confusion when searching for them. It appears in life they were mostly known by their second names within the family.

Current heads of this LANE family tree are my 4xGGF John LANE, who was probably an iron moulder born c1775 in the Taunton area, and his wife Mary of unknown surname. John probably married one or both of Mary PHILLPOTT (6.10.1801) and/or Mary OXENHAM (22.9.1808) at Taunton St Mary. Baptismal records suggest there were two children born after 1808:

• William LANE (1809-89), whose career was at sea, heads the "Maritime branch" of the LANEs. He married a Susan of unknown surname (1810-88) from Lawhitton, Cornwall, sometime between 1826 & 1837. The marriage is not found in England, so may have occurred overseas or onboard ship. The birth records of their children provide the maritime connection. The family are not present during the 1841 census (their son John born on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic in 1840), whilst in 1851 East Stonehouse, Devon, William is away from his family, presumably at sea. He retired sometime before 1861. It is unclear if he was a seaman or a soldier with the marines. In 1871, William was a land-based smith, with the 1861 & 1881 census confirming his status as a Greenwich Pensioner. Admiralty records may reveal more history of William's career and where his family were in the period around 1840:

  • Jemima Elizabeth LANE (1838 Stonehouse, DEV), m. James PAVEY of Hambridge, SOM, a labourer/mason in 1857 Taunton. The PAVEY family settled in Gove, Kansas, USA;

  • John LANE (1840 Ascension island). In 1861, John was a gunner in the Royal Marine Artillery based at Portsea, HAM. By 1871 he was a stonecutter living in Whitchurch, DEVON, after which he disappears from all records. He may have rejoined the Navy, died on active service or emigrated;

  • Charles Robert LANE (1848 Stonehouse – 1931 Battersea, London). In 1871 Charles was registered as a seaman onboard RN vessel "Nimble" in Zanzibar. In 1875 Tavistock, DEV, he married Mary Elizabeth CRUSE (1848-92). They appear to have been childless. In 1881, Charles is recorded as RN Seaman, and a member of Ships Police, in Tranmere, Cheshire, whilst in 1891 an Admiralty Messenger living in Battersea, London. In 1901 Fulham, London, he was a messenger and confirmed Naval pensioner. In 1893 Wandsworth, London, widowed he married Fanny, widow COBB (1852-1915) of Stonehouse, Devon. Her son Leonard Francis COBB (1889) was recorded as adopted Francis L LANE in 1901. In 1916, Charles married Caroline CRUSE (1859-1930) presumably a close relation to his first wife;

• Robert LANE, the son of Robert & Mary, (1811-71) was c. 30.6.1811 at the Octagon Chapel, Taunton. [Note: Another Robert LANE, child of Robert & Hannah LANE c. 3.3.1813 at Taunton is confirmed through research as a different descendant family, however the parents of both Roberts (John & Robert) may be related]. Robert LANE, Ironfounder, and my 3xGGM Elizabeth LOCK (1809-72) m. 21.7.1831 at the C15th Church of St Mary Magdalene, Taunton. They appeared to have had at least six children according to baptismal records and census returns. They were in Taunton throughout their lives:

  • Anna Mary LANE (1832). Not on 1841 census, so presumed to have died young;

  • Walter William LANE (aka William Walter LANE, 1835 Taunton -1907 Bristol) my 2xGGF. His separate story is below;

  • Jane Maria LANE (1836-40);

  • Mary LANE (1838-1931 Taunton). In 1841 she is recorded with member of the LOCK family. She married Edwin John Beaton SULLY (1832-85) in 1858 Taunton and continued to live in the town;

  • John LANE (c1843 Taunton – after 1901). His separate story is below;

  • Charles LANE (1848 Taunton - 1899 King's Norton, Birmingham). Charles was an Ironmonger's clerk in 1871 Bedminster (Bristol) and was shortly afterwards involved in the iron trade (as a commercial traveller) based in Birmingham. In 1875 Birmingham he married Sarah Ann HALEY. The couple were childless and lived in Edgbaston until their deaths;

William Walter LANE aka Walter William LANE, my 2xGGF, Iron Founder & Iron Moulder, married Emma COTTRELL on 31.12.1855 at St Mary Magdalene, Taunton (the Mary LANE witness could either be his sister (as it took place a couple of years before her own marriage in 1858) or his mother). Both were of Church Square, Taunton. Their known children, with an extensive extended family in the Bristol area, are:

• Emma Josephine LANE (1856, Appley/Stawley SOM - 1932 Bristol), m. 1879 = Thomas George CHAPMAN in Bedminster. The CHAPMAN family were in Bedminster in 1901;

• Eva Lavinia LANE (1860 Watchet SOM – 1933 Bristol), m. 1881 = Thomas Charles THATCHER at Bedminster. The THATCHER family were in Bristol St. George;

• Mary Elizabeth LANE (1862 Dunster, SOM – 1939 Bideford, DEV), m. 1889 = Frank GOLDSWORTHY at Bedminster. The GOLDSWORTHY family were in Bedminster in 1891 & 1901;

• Walter Robert LANE (1863 Dunster - 1940 Birmingham), my GGF - see his family below;

• Francis Herbert LANE aka Herbert Francis LANE (1865 Dunster). In 1891 he was a private in the Ordnance Corps at the Anglesea Barracks, Portsea, Hants. Based on unclear family stories, he is likely to be one of two brothers who may have been killed in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) as he is missing from subsequent records. He may be the F LANE killed at the Battle of Paardeberg on 18 Feb 1900;

• Henry Frederick LANE (1867 Dunster - 1951 Bristol), m. 1892 = Amelia Emma BIRD at Barton Regis:

  • George Frederick LANE (1893 Barton Regis - 1977 Cheltenham, GLS), m. Daisy Florence TURNER (1887) in 1923 Cheltenham. Child:

    • Margaret Rowena Shergold LANE (1927), m. Derek H F FORBES in 1953 Cheltenham;

  • Reginald James LANE (1895 Barton Regis-1995 Cornwall), m. 1922 = Alice Victoria CARVETH (1901-87). Children:

    • Donald Henry LANE (1924 Bristol), m. Norah Myfanwy Mary HOWELLS in 1952 Bristol. Children:

      • Patricia Myfanwy Mary LANE (1953 Plymouth), m. John G BRYCELAND in 1973 High Wycombe, BKS;

      • David C LANE (1958 Plymouth);

    • Jean Carveth LANE (1927 Bristol – 2007 Cornwall);

    • Malcolm Reginald LANE (1932 Bristol - 1966 Slough, Berkshire), m. Madeleine BRAY in 1955 Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Children:

      • Christina Madeleine LANE (1957 Banbury, Oxon);

      • Jeremy Gordon Malcolm LANE (1960 Colchester, Essex), m. Helen B DER AVEDISSIAN in 1984 Bracknell, Berkshire;

        • Oliver Kieran LANE (1988 Bracknell);

  • Clifford Pullin LANE (1901 Bristol, d. Canada), m. Janet SUTHERLAND c1925 in BC, Canada. Child:

    • Donald Frederick LANE (1927 Canada), m. Vivian McINDOE in Canada. Child:

      • Pamela LANE (c1950's Canada);

  • Vera Doreen Minnie LANE (1905 Bristol - 1974 Poole, Dorset) m. Arthur Clifford WARREN (1903-92) in 1931 Bristol;

• Oliver Cromwell LANE (1868 Dunster), d. unmarried in 1893 Bristol, aged 24;

• William Ernest LANE (c1.1871 - Q3 1871 Taunton);

• Beatrice LANE (1872 Totterdown, Bristol - 1893 Bristol);

• Reginald LANE (1874 Bedminster, Bristol). At home in 1891 but not found on 1901 census. Based on uncertain family stories, he is likely to be one of two brothers who may have been killed in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) as he is missing from subsequent records. He may be the R LANE killed at Lydenburg on 1 Mar 1901;

In 1901 census Walter William & Emma LANE were in Easton, Bristol at 31 Church Road. Walter was the home-based employer of an iron foundry.

My GGF Walter Robert LANE (1863-1940) married Emily BATEMAN (1863-1941) in Barton Regis, Bristol in 1884. The family moved from Bristol c1895. In 1901 they were already at 90 Rutter Street, Walsall, STS, with two surviving children of their 17 year marriage to date; Fred LANE (1889-1926) and Adeline Elizabeth Bateman LANE (aged 9), both born Bristol. By 1911 in Regent Road, Handsworth the two surviving children were Fred & Nora (my grandmother), Adeline having died in 1910 aged 18. Walter was boarding in Chilvers Coton, Nuneaton in 1911, a newspaper advertisement canvasser.

Based on a single family picture and length of marriage, it assumed that the majority of children of Walter & Emily died in childhood and only Fred & Nora survived to adulthood, and then only Nora to old age. Many infant deaths are recorded for LANE in the Walsall & West Bromwich RDS with possible naming patterns. A Walter William LANE in 1899-1900 Walsall could suggest the family were there by that time, however a distant LANE family was also present in Walsall and perhaps were known to each other.

A key reference photo is show below. Taken in the period leading up to 1910, it appears to show Walter & Emily with 5 children. The girl standing is assumed to be Adeline, who died shortly after this picture was taken. It is not clear whether the oldest son, Fred, is in the picture (sitting left, or taking the picture), however there are two other sons and two daughters. The girl sitting right is the spitting image of Nora, however she would have been only six (maximum in 1910) and she would have to be a look-alike older sister. Other family photos suggest the youngest girl sitting would be Nora. By 1911 only Fred & Nora will be alive. It is also possible that the photo is after 1910 and shows Nora visiting unknown relatives sometime in 1920's (these could be LANE, BATEMAN or STONE). My grandmother recalled finding at least a couple of her siblings dead in bed, however the detail was never obtained before her death and the internal detail of the family remains a mystery:

• Unknown 7^th child in period 1884-1911 (based on number of children born alive and subsequently died declared on the 1911 census);

• Fred LANE (1889-1926) married Ada SMITH in 1917 West Bromwich. BMD suggests the following possible children (the history of only one is known):

  • Edith LANE (Aston, 1918);

  • Betty June LANE (King's Norton, 1921), was the niece and bridesmaid at my grandmother's wedding in 1927 and married Reginald Geoffrey CLARKE (1921-97);

  • George E LANE (King's Norton, 1922);

  • Sheila M LANE (King's Norton, 1923);

• Wilfred LANE (1890-91 Bristol);

• Adeline Elizabeth Bateman LANE (1891-1910);

• Wilfred LANE (1895-95 Bristol);

• William Walter LANE (1899-1900 Walsall);

• Elsinora Alicia Patricia LANE, (1904-85) my grandmother, was born in Rutter Street, Walsall in the West Midlands and married William Sanders GRACE in 1927. They had only one child, my father.

The Family of John LANE (my 2^nd Great Granduncle) & Fanny PROCTOR of Taunton:
[Taunton until c1870, then Bristol (1881), Plymouth (1891) & Devonport (1901)]

John LANE (c1843 Taunton – after 1901), Iron Moulder, & wife Fanny PROCTOR (1844 of Wellington, Somerset – after 1901) married in Taunton in 1864. BMD & baptism records show that the couple had at least 13 children, suggesting significant descendants in the SW of England and possibly overseas. This is unconfirmed by 1911 census details as both are missing. 5 of their children were baptised on the same day in 1886 at Redcliffe St Mary, Bristol. The couple last confirmed appearance in the UK is on the 1901 Plymouth census. As no clear death records are indicated it is possible they left England to join family overseas before 1911 (noting a son emigrated around 1901), however stories in one family line suggests John may have died in the Workhouse, and therefore in England:

• William Robert LANE (1865 Taunton – 1945 Bristol), Iron moulder m. 1883 Bristol = Eliza Jane WHITROW. Both sons, Iron moulders, were lodging separately in Twerton, SOM. Children included those deceased by 1911 census:

  • Unknown child #1 LANE (n. after 1883, d. by 1911);

  • Unknown child #2 LANE (n. after 1883, d. by 1911);

  • Unknown child #3 LANE (n. after 1883, d. by 1911);

  • William George LANE (1884 Barton Regis – 1971 Bath), Iron moulder, m. Martha Ann COLLINS in 1905 Bath. Bristol children:

    • William George LANE (1908-76), Iron Moulder, m. Martha Ann COLLINS in 1905 Bath. Family settled in East Twerton, Bath for all their children:

      • Florence Annie LANE (1906-1955) = George Arthur CANE;

      • William John LANE (1907-29);

      • Thomas James LANE (1909-10);

      • Violet May LANE (1910-95) = George HUNTLY;

      • Alfred E LANE (1912-13);

      • Rose Evelyn LANE (1913-95) = Henry Herbert F HANCOCK;

      • Nellie I LANE (1917) = Clarence Henry J GAIT;

      • Emily M LANE (1918) = Kenneth Angus LITTLE;

      • Frederick Henry LANE (1920-2005);

      • Doreen P LANE (1924) = John Albert BELLINGHAM, then William G HALL;

    • Thomas LANE (1911);

    • Frederick LANE (1914);

    • daughter LANE (1918);

    • Mabel M LANE (1919);

    • Stanley D LANE (1921), m. Minnie E LUCAS in 1941 (no known children) & Doreen B DERRICK in 1946 Bristol. Children:

      • Michael D LANE (1949);

      • Robert J LANE (1950);

    • Raymond LANE (1923-90);

    • Dorothy V LANE (1926), m. Thomas H COOPER in 1946;

    • Arthur LANE (1928);

  • Thomas Edward LANE (1885 Barton Regis – 1976 Bristol), Iron Moulder, m. Julia LLOYD (1885-1927) in 1910 Bristol. Children include (post 1911 BMD):

    • Irene Falmouth LANE (1915-2004) = Thomas BATT;

    • Evelyn M LANE (1921), m. Ivor Emmanuel MARSHALSEA in 1941;

    • Violet Joan LANE (1924) = Percy William HURLEY;

  • Alice Maud LANE (1887);

  • John James LANE (1892-1979);

  • Emily A LANE (1896- <1911);

  • Rose LANE (1897-1964 Bristol);

  • Frederick Charles LANE (1898-1983) = Sarah A CREWS in 1921:

    • Graham Clive LANE (1922-2006) = Minnie Eileen ATWILL (1922-2006):

      • Jacqueline N A LANE (1944) = Anthony J J WILLIAMS;

      • Camellia R J LANE (1947-2006) = John L WHITE;

      • Stuart H LANE (1950);

      • John C E LANE (1953);

    • Maureen A LANE (1924) = ODY;

    • Bernice Marguerite LANE (1026-2000) = Ernest Arthur Edmund SEARING;

  • Henry Arthur LANE (1900);

  • Robert Alfred LANE (1902);

  • Florence Mabel LANE (1907);

• Walter Charles LANE (1867-1937 Taunton), brassfounder , m. 1897 in Camborne, Cornwall = Annie WILLIAMS. The couple were living with the WILLIAMS family in Camborne with:

  • Lilian Maude LANE (1900);

• Fanny Elizabeth LANE (1869 Taunton). Nothing is known after 1881;

• Florence Helena LANE (1870 Taunton – 1916 Bath) m. 1892 Plymouth = William Henry CLEMENTS. The couple were resident in Widecombe in the Moor, DEV in 1901;

• Rosa Louisa LANE (1872 Bedminster - c1934), m. 1900 in Plymouth to Thomas EDENS;

• Henry John LANE (1874 Bedminster – 1920 Walsall) – Ironmoulder, married Emily Elizabeth PLUMB in 1901 Swindon and was with their children in Walsall, STS in 1911:

  • May LANE (1903, Reading);

  • Charles Henry LANE (1908, Swindon – 1978 Sandwell, West Midlands)

  • Ivy Gwendoline LANE (1912 - 2002 Walsall) = Emrys Thomas PHILLIPS (1906-1949) in 1934 Walsall, then Joseph A GILL in 1951 Wednesbury;

  • Frank E LANE (1914-15 Walsall);

  • Ruby D LANE (1918 Walsall) = Ronald JOHNSON (1916-2003) in 1939 Wednesbury;

• Albert Edward Proctor LANE (1875 Bedminster – 1973 Plymouth), m. 1898 Plymouth = Ellen Ann W FOLEY. Albert widowed in 1900 was with brother Arthur in 1901. He remarried in 1901 Liskeard, Cornwall = Elizabeth Jane HONEYWILL. Children include (Note: pre-1910 unknown as not found on 1911 census):

  • Winifred Beatrice LANE (1915-98 Plymouth), m. Frederick John H WAKEHAM in 1939 Plymouth;

  • Violet M LANE (1920-81 Plymouth), m. Reginald Allenby STALLARD in 1942 Plymouth;

• Frank Henry LANE (1876-1944 Bristol). In 1891 he appears to be a scholar "under detention" on the vessel "Formidable" in Redcliffe, and a labourer in 1901 = Rosa Elizabeth BEAKE in 1907:

  • Lily Rose M L LANE (1914-70) = Mervyn W NASH in 1934;

  • Dorothy R E LANE (1916-16);

• Arthur James Proctor LANE (1878 Barton Regis – 1957 Minnesota, USA), m. 1898 Plymouth = Louisa HEALY. The 1901 census in Plymouth had Arthur & Louisa LANE present with their ages but then a list of LANEs and an Elizabeth HEALY all crossed out (suggesting they incorrectly filled out all their living relatives even though not resident with them). In order, they were William, Walter, Fanny, Florence, Rose, Harry, Albert, Nellie, Ernest, Harold & Frederick, which match the age order of Arthur's siblings, excluding Frank. This was probably an error by Arthur to fill out his entire family as the siblings were elsewhere. It does, however, independently confirm the full list of his siblings. Why Frank was left out is unknown. Sometime after 1901 the couple emigrated to the US, as Arthur (with his full 3 names) is documented as drafted into the US military for WW1 (1917-1918), a resident of Stark County, North Dakota;

• Lillie Nellie LANE aka Nellie LANE (c1880 Barton Regis – 1925 Burnley, LAN), m. 1906 Plymouth to William John COBBLEDICK. However, family records confirm she had an illegitimate son Walter Thomas Edward BOWDEN in 1902 by William Thomas BOWDEN (1842-1910). Both parties went their separate ways and Walter is recorded as COBBLEDICK in 1911, with the much older William BOWDEN marrying widow Mary Ann L CROSS the same year as Walter's birth;

• Alfred Ernest George LANE aka Ernest LANE (c1882, Bristol – 1932 Plymouth), Butcher's Assistant, m. Maud Beatrice MILTON in 1906 Plymouth. Children include:

  • Ernest Alfred George LANE (1906-88);

  • Frederick John LANE (1908);

  • Doris LANE (1910);

  • Beatrice V LANE (1920);

  • Rosa D LANE (1924);

• Harold Edgar Proctor LANE (c1884 Bristol – 1973 Plymouth), m. 1906 Swindon, Wiltshire to Beatrice TRUMAN (1897-1969):

  • Florence May LANE (1907 Aberdare, Glamorgan – 1977 Coventry), = William Howell Whiting JONES (1908-66) in 1934 Wales;

  • Frederick C LANE (1911-12 Aberdare);

  • Elsie Mabel LANE (1913 Aberdare – 1998 Coventry) = Leslie Samuel MOTTON (1908-2000) in 1932 Newport, Glamorgan;

  • Jack LANE (1919-2004 Glamorgan) = Margot HORN (1920 Germany – 2010 Wales) in 1946 Germany:

    • Madeleine C LANE (1944 Wales) = David W CADWALLER in 1972;

    • Michael LANE (1951-2005);

• Frederick Thomas LANE (1886 Bristol – 1970 Spokane, Washington, USA). After 1901 moved to Canada where he married Rosena Victoria GRANT around 1918. The couple arrived in Washington State, USA from Calgary, Alberta in 1919 and were naturalized in 1928. Fred worked as an employee of the Great North Railway:

• Claude Elmer LANE (1919-2003 Spokane) = Peggy Alene SCHROEDER in 1946 Idaho;

• Norma J LANE (1921 Spokane);

• Roy S LANE (1922 Spokane, WA - 1982 King, WA);

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