Life History

7th Jul 1693	Married Mary Barnes in Laneham, Nottinghamshire
1694	Birth of son Robert Drewry in Lincoln
1696	Birth of son John Drewry in Lincoln
1699	Birth of son William Drewry in Lincoln
1700	Birth of son Joshua Drewry in Lincoln
1702	Birth of daughter Mary Drewry in Lincoln
1703	Birth of son Edward Drewry in Lincoln
1705	Birth of son Samuel Drewry in Lincoln

Notes

John's Other Children:

William Drewry, 1695-1695, Christened at St Martin, Lincoln
Mary Drewry, 1698, Christened at St Martin, Lincoln

It is a little strange that the first born should be Robert and not John after the father.
Perhaps there was an earlier John who died. Though that would conflict with the probable marriage between John and Mary Barnes.

It is noteworthy that John's children were educated. His son Robert was an Alderman and Mayor of Lincoln as was Robert's son Robert junior.
John's son Samuel was an Alderman in Derby, and a grandson of Joshua was 3 times Mayor of Derby [see in John Drewry (1766-1840)].

John himself held office in Lincoln:
" John Drewry, who filled the office of chamberlain of Lincoln in 1696." (John Titford)

John's sons, "Robert, John and William, were made Freemen of Lincoln in 1727, followed by Samuel in 1728. Each is described as being 'son of John'. [Lincolnshire Archives, LI/5/2, pp.247,252,260]". (John Titford)

John the Carrier:

John is described as 'Carryer' - in a number of his children's birth records.
This is very interesting in respect of what we know of John's grandson Robert's business. It also makes it likely that John's son Robert was also involved in the 'Carrying' business.

"A carrier was a highly responsible job requiring a high degree of honesty, and potentially extremely dangerous in view of the less settled state of the country in the 18th century." [Redroger in Rootschat]
See also: The Carriers Cart.

And of course it was long before the days of tarmac.

"In 1754. the 'flying' coach ran between Manchester and London in four and a half days, at a maximum speed of five miles per hour. This tardiness was not the fault of the horses or their drivers, but of the road surfaces. The ruts were often so deep that the coach would sink to its axles in mud and water, making progress almost impossible. Country roads (and most town ones) were alternately mud or swirling dust, and for centuries it was the practice to lay' the summer dust by watering the road surface." (Yesterday's Countryside by Valerie Porter)

Being a 'Carrier' meant that John was mobile in a time when the majority of the population rarely if ever travelled further than they could walk in a day.
The fact that two of his sons were apprenticed to ship-builders suggests that his business might have included or at least been involved with overseas trade. As the apprenticeships started after John's death, it could be that his son Robert was expanding the business into that area.

The Drewry/Drurys of Lincoln appear to have had kin in London and it is very likely that John's carrying trade included journeys between Lincoln and London.

The 'Inventory' of the estate of Robert Drewry (John's grandson) describes Robert as being: "in partnership with him this Exhibitant [William Fenton] and Thomas Freshney in the Business of Carrying for Hire Goods Wares and Merchandizes of such persons as are pleased to employ them from Lincoln to London and from thence to Lincoln and other places and upon that occasion they necessarily had in that Employ jointly their property a great many Horses Wagons and Carriages and they were also jointly possessed of diverse Quantities of Hay and Corn bought for the maintenance of the Horses used in that Service".

It seems likely that the business passed from John to his son Robert and then to Robert's son Robert.

Lincoln in the 18th Century

"By 1700 the population of Lincoln had probably grown to about 4,000, still considerably less than it had been in the Middle Ages. Lincoln remained a small and quiet market town.

For the well off in Lincoln life grew more comfortable in the 18th century. A theatre was built in 1732. In 1744 assembly rooms were built for card games and balls. Lincoln gained its first newspaper in 1784.

From the mid-18th century, Lincoln was helped by improving communications. The Fossdyke was deepened in 1744. Grain and wool were taken along from Lincoln to the North. Coal and cloth were brought to the town. From the middle of the century turnpikes were built. These were privately owned and maintained roads. You had to pay a toll to use them."

From 'A Brief History of London ..' by Tim Lambert

"London was also a huge market for the rest of the country's produce. In 1720 someone wrote that people all over England were employed to 'furnish something and I may add the best of everything to supply the city of London with provisions. I mean by provisions, grain, meat, fish, butter, cheese, salt, fuel, timber and cloth, also everything necessary for building'."

John's Marriage

From IGI

1. John Drewry
Marriage: 02 Jun 1685, Sculcoates, Yorkshire, England
Spouse: Mary Lawis

2. John Drury
Birth: About 1669
Father: Robert Drury
Marriage: About 1697, Saint Marys, Maryland [?]
Spouse: Mary Ford
Death: 1724

However the following from Nottinghamshire - Abstracts of Marriage Licenses looks much more likely:

07 Jul 1693. John Drewry, of Laneham, & Mary Barnes

Although in Nottinghamshire, Laneham is less than 14 miles from Lincoln.
And this marriage date fits well with the baptism date for the first child Robert.

Laneham is also interesting because it is only 3 miles from a place called North Clifton.
John's grand-daughter, Sarah Drewry, left a Will in which she bequeathed:

All my lands situated at North Clifton in the county of Nottingham

Were these Drewry family lands come down the line from John?

John's Death

It looks like John died before 1711 and his wife was left with 6 children ( 5 boys) between the ages of 6 and 17.
However, the family was not poor.

His sons John and William were apprenticed in 1711 and 1714.
The 1711 apprenticeship record show John's father as 'Carr' and deceased.
The other apprentice records also show John as deceased.
Joshua was apprenticed in 1716, and the record of that apprenticeship shows a fee of £12.
Measuringworth.com says that in 2009, £12 0s 0d from 1716 is worth:
£1,610.00 using the retail price index
£18,400.00 using average earnings

Birth Records of the children who died as infants

Also

Possible Family Tree: (See: Drewrys of Lincoln)

OR .... William Drewry of Nottingham

Malcolm and I have researched our lineage back to Lincoln We are 100% sure of the line to Robert Drewry (1694-1761) and sure that he is the son of John Drewry of Lincoln.
John Drewry (or Drury) could have come from any of the numerous Drury families in England. It is a strong possibility that he is descended from William Drury in Nottingham. If you know the story of Robin Hood, you know that Nottingham and Lincoln have a long, shared history.

We know that John was a ‘Carrier’, a seventeenth century delivery man, probably the man who organized and provided the delivery service. The two Roberts, John's son and grandson, were aldermen and mayors of Lincoln and also carriers. Robert, the younger, had many horses and wagons in the business of carrying goods from Lincoln to London.

Drury Hall, Nottingham

In 1620, William Drury a wealthy cordwainer and Alderman of Nottingham, bought Vault Hall (named for the huge rock cellars underneath the house), for the sum of £103. Alderman Drury renamed the house Drury Hall and had Vault Lane renamed to Drury Hill. In 1733, William Drury, gentleman, his grandson sold the house, which had been rebuilt, for £500. (nottshistory.org.uk)

Some Drurys of Nottingham

In Old Nottingham, its Streets, People, etc., James Granger says:

" ... The first mention I have observed of the name of Drury is in 1596, when two of the family were summoned before the magistrates, of which the record is as follows:

'Thomae Drewry, of Nottingham, cordwainer, and Fabian Drury of the same, cordwainer, to be bound to our Lady the Queen in £20, that the said Fabian shall not shoot with any piece at anything living.' (A cordwainer is a shoemaker –a ‘cobbler’ is a shoe-mender.)

"In 1633-34 William Drury was elected one of the Chamberlains. In 1635-36 he was one of the Sheriffs. In 1639-40 he was elected one of the Aldermen, and the succeeding year 1640-41 he was chosen for Mayor. He appears to have been in disposition similar to many others of the leading men in the town, whom I have mentioned; he was careful to take at least all that belonged to him, for even whilst he was Mayor (May 13, 1641), one of the presentments by the Middetom Jury is respecting:

'Maister William Drury, maior, for anoyine the stret in the Low paument with timbare, and carts’.

"The ‘Maior’ was fined two shillings, …” (A days wages for a skilled tradesman)

"The first notice of the Drurys' occurs in the last thirty years of the Records, in vol. 4, to 1625, and they are mentioned on numerous occasions, but always spelt as just above written; whilst in vol 5 it is found in several different ways, namely, Drewjie, Druery, Drewry, Drewery, Drewrey, Drurye, and Drury, which latter is, I believe, the name as now used to the old thoroughfare.çOn July 19, 1686, Master William Drury, who was probably a son [or grandson of the previous William Drury, is

'presented for laying wood on ye Loe Pauement, and setting waggons, and carts there; and also for anoying ye highway by ye Leeoe side with a dung hill.’

"On October 5, 1688, he is again presented 'for leading and sporeading manure in the Meadows, before Saint Luke's Day’.

In October, 1688, he is again reported ‘for anoying Low Pavement, with wood and stone.'

A family business?

William Drury, his son and grandson appear to be both pillars of society and miscreants! But the interesting thing in this account is their misdemeanors. Are the wagons, carts and dunghills outside their property evidence of involvement in the carrying trade?

Interestingly, 140 years later, in Pigot’s Directory (1828):

"Carriers: To Grimsby, Wm Drewry, from The Crown {at Saltfleet} every Wednesday afternoon"
(Saltfleet is on the east coast of Lincolnshire, about 39 miles from Lincoln). "

In IGI

ROBERT DREWRY
Spouse: KATHARINE HANSON
Marriage: 09 JUN 1707 Bottesford, Leicester, England
[Bottesford is about 30 miles south of Lincoln]

From Ancestry.co.uk

Samuel Drewry
Dates: 1701-1725
Location: Nottingham
Occupation: book seller book/paper/printing trades(s)
Source Info: Subscribed to A Supplement to the Great Historical, Geographical, Genealogical and Poetical Dictionary ... (1705)

John Drewry - b. abt 1666
Christened: 25 Jul 1666, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Mary

The children of Joshua Drewry/Drury in Duffield (from IGI records):

(According to John Titfield, Duffield may be the home of some of John's ancestors)

Christened	Name	Father	Notes
1681	Mary Drewrey	Joshua Drewrey
1682	Samuel Drewry	Joshuah Drewry	bookseller/printer in Nottingham in 1705? (above)
1684	Elizabeth Drury	Joshuah Drury	Twin; d. bef 1686
1684	Martha Drury	Joshuah Drury	Twin
1686	Elizabeth Drury	Joshuah Drury
1687	William Drury	Joshuah Drury	d. bef. 1692
1689	Sarah Drury	Joshua Drury
1692	William Drury	Joshua Drury

From Ancestry.co.uk

John Drewry
Christened: 2 Oct 1678, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Elizabeth

John Drewry
Christened: 25 Jul 1666, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Mary

Samuell Drewry
Christened: 10 Mar 1674, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Elizabeth

John Drewry
Christened: 13 Jan 1669, Walkeringham, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Joane

John Drewry
Christened: 6 May 1670, Clee, Lincolnshire
Mother: Charity

John Drewry
Christened: 2 Oct 1678, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry; Mother: Elizabeth

John Drewry, of Laneham, & Mary Barnes
Marriage: 07 Jul 1693, Nottingham
Collection: Nottinghamshire: - Abstracts of Marriage Licenses.

John Drewry & Elizabeth Day, both of Beckingham
Marriage: 01 Jan 1724, Beckingham, Nottingham
Collection: Nottinghamshire: - Register of Marriages, 1538-1837

John Drewry & Ann Tayler, both of Haxey
Marriage: 14 Nov 1751, Beckingham, Nottingham
Collection: Nottinghamshire: - Register of Marriages, 1538-1837

John Drewry
Christened: 21 Jan 1665, Harworth, Nottingham
Father: John Drewry;

Master's Name: Jno Drewry
Apprentice Name: Wm Ward
Residence Location: Derby, Derbyshire
Payment Date: 13 Dec 1783

Master's Name: Thos Church (Upholsterer)
Apprentice Name: John Drewry
Residence Location: Hull
Payment Date: 1 Aug 1757

John Drewry & Elizabeth Brown
Marriage: 24 Apr 1739, East Retford, Nottingham

John Drewry (Widower) & Elizabeth Barrett
Marriage: 29 Mar 1775, Shadwell, St Paul, Tower Hamlets

Master's Name: John Drewry, of City of Lincoln, Saddler
Apprentice Name: Gildon, son of Roger Hall
Residence Location: Lincoln
Payment Date: 1 Jun 1743

Name: John Drewry
Poll Year: 1710
Parish or Rectory: Innholders

Ann Drewry
Christened: 20 May 1663, Nottingham
Father: Thomas Drewry; Mother: Ann

A contemporary - with regard to the later Drewry involvement in printing:

In www.archive.org:

"Drury (Samuel), bookseller in London, Golden Lion and Lamb, Whitechapel, over against the Haymarket, 1702-3.
Dealer in theological books.
(His first and last entries in the Term Catalogues are in 1702 and 1703.)