Mary Annie Lucas and William Grierson Beall

Mary Annie Lucas (b.1845) was the younger sister of William (Cloudsley) Lucas who emigrated to South Africa in 1872.  Mary Annie married William Grierson Beall and they lived in Billericay where they had four children: three sons, and finally a daughter. The three sons eventually emigrated to South Africa, presumably as single men around the turn of the century, while the daughter, Janet Mary, remained in England.  She married Archibald Leighton Richardson in 1910 and remained in England until her death in 1931.

William Grierson Beall was a corn merchant  and born in Mountnessing, Essex. In 1881 they were living in Billericay, Essex, with three children at home and one yet to be born. By 1901 they had moved to Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, on the east side of the county, but not really near Billericay. The eldest two sons had left for South Africa, and the two children remaining at home were Lawrence, aged 23, listed as a Joiner, and Janet, aged 17. There is a discrepancy in the age of William between the two censuses. In 1901 he has aged 10 more years than he should have so one of the two figures is wrong.

This is a link to a pdf file of their family group sheet.

The three Beall boys who came out to South Africa as young men would have had an uncle and aunt already living in there for at least 25 years, and lots of Lucas cousins their own age. [Check to see if they would have gone out in some connection with the Boer War.]

The eldest, Reginald William Lucas Beall, married Louisa Stewart in 1902. She was born in South Africa so this is why I’m assuming that they all came out as single men. Another factor is the Boer War, which occurred around this time, and so it is possible that they came out with the army, and then stayed after they were discharged. Haven’t done any investigation into the army side of things yet.