Three Generations of the Lane Family

1819 to 1970

Easthorpe Mill in the 1940s
Easthorpe Mill in the 1940s

Introduction

The Bottesford ‘church list’ of WW1 Servicemen includes the names of three soldiers who share the surname of Lane. Our investigations confirm that they were part of the extended family which is traced back to William and Elizabeth Lane, who lived in Claypole, Lincolnshire.

William and Elizabeth had two sons, Trophimus and Marshall, both of whom moved to live in Easthorpe. The men on the ‘church list’ were all grandsons of Marshall Lane. Marshall and his wife Sarah (nee Billings) had a large family which included three sons and eight daughters. The sons were named William Billings Lane, Francis Lane and Marshall Lane. The daughters were Mary Elizabeth, Jane, Sarah Ann, Julia, Emily, Ada, Kezia and Rose.

William Billings Lane and his wife Elizabeth (nee Musson) had three daughters, Florence, Clara Edith and Ida, and a son named Billings Joseph Marshall Lane (more usually Billings J.M. Lane). Billings J.M. Lane was an electrical engineer who was working in Hamburg when WW1 broke out. He spent the entire war in an internment camp, returning the Britain in 1918, and was prevented from joining the British army during the war.

Francis Lane and his wife Betsy (nee Robinson) had two sons, Wilfred and Lawson, and three daughters, Frances, Lily and Freda. Their youngest daughter, Freda, was born after the end of the war and lived until 1997 when she passed away in Bottesford. Lawson Lane was one of the WW1 Servicemen named in the ‘church list’.

Marshall Lane, the second to hold this name, and his wife Anne Elizabeth (nee White), had a daughter Florence, who married farmer Herbert Daybell in 1913. They also had two sons, Marshall (the third) and Harry William, who are the other two named on the ‘church list’.

In an attempt to avoid confusing the three generations of Marshall Lanes, the convention of referring to them as Marshall Lane (I), (II) and (III) is adopted here.


Trophimus Lane (1819 – 1894)

Trophimus Lane, whose unusual Christian name was variously spelt Trophemius, Trophimius, Trophimus or Trophimes by different census enumerators, was born in Claypole in 1819, the elder son of William and Elizabeth Lane.

He married Jane Harvey at Kneesall on Christmas Eve, the 24th December 1840. He was a miller, following in his father’s footsteps, and in 1851 employed three millers, two millers’ boys, a waggoner, a nurse and a general servant, at Easthorpe Water Mill, Bottesford. The census record from 1851 also indicates that in addition to Trophimus and Jane, there were their first son, John Trophimus (b.1850) and daughters Mary Elizabeth (b.1844) and Jane (b.1849). In addition, the household at Easthorpe Mill in 1851 included his brother Marshall Lane, a ‘retired police officer’, and his wife Sarah.

In 1861, Trophimus and Jane were still at the mill with John, now aged eleven, and another daughter, Kate, aged seven. However, the 1871 census records that the family had left the mill and lived in a cottage in Easthorpe, where Trophimus’ occupation was gardener, the mill having passed to William Hickson. ‘Trophemius Lane’ was still at work as a gardener in 1881, as was his son John. Their address was recorded as Belvoir Road, Easthorpe (now Castle View Road).

In 1891, Trophimus, Jane and their daughter Kate lived in a house adjoining the Bull Inn in Bottesford. He had ceased work and was ‘living on his own means’. Trophimus Lane died in 1894, aged 75, and was buried at Bottesford on the 22nd December. His wife Jane was also buried at Bottesford a mere week later, on the 29th December, 1894, her age recorded as 79.


Marshall Lane (I) (1824 – 1886)

Trophimus’ brother Marshall was born in 1824 in Claypole. However, the 1841 census indicates that by this time Marshall Lane and his parents lived in Bottesford, on Bridge Street near to Flood Lane and Blue Bank, Bottesford, and that his father worked as a miller.

Marshall Lane married Sarah Billings, born in 1830 at Marston, Lincs. The ceremony took place at Newark in June, 1844, and the couple lived with Trophimus and his family at Easthorpe Mill in 1851.

They went on to have eleven children: Mary (b.1851), William Billings (1852), Jane (1852), Francis (1854), Sarah Ann (1856), Julia (1858), Marshall (1860), Emily (1864), Kezia (1865), Ada (1869) and Rose (1871).

Sarah lived at Marston in 1861, working as a grocer, with children Jane (12), Francis (6), Sarah Ann (4), Julia (2) and infant Marshall (5 months old). Sarah was still in Marston in 1871, living at the Wesleyan Chapel that also served as a shop where she was a grocer and baker. Her daughters Julia, Ada and Rose lived with her at this time, but her husband Marshall lived in Eton Street, Grantham, where he worked as a baker, accompanied by sons William and Francis, who were working as ‘mechanic fitter iron rocks’, and daughter Sarah Ann, classed as a scholar.

In 1881, Marshall and Sarah were no longer at separate addresses. They lived in Chapel Street, Bottesford, where he continued to work as a baker. With them were children Ada (aged 12) and Rose E (10) and 2 grand-daughters Emily J Deiters (2) and Florence G Lane (2).

Marshall Lane died in June 1886, aged 62. After this, Sarah lived ‘on her own means’ in Chapel Street, Bottesford, with Florence G Lane, her grand-daughter, then in 1901 with her daughter Ada Hambling (nee Lane). Sarah Lane died in 1907, aged 77.

Marshall and Sarah had three sons, William Billings Lane, Francis Lane and Marshall Lane. All three sons had families, from which came three men who served in WW1 and survived, and a fourth who spent the entire war interned inside Germany.


William Billings Lane (1852 – 1900)

William Billings Lane was born in January, 1852, at Bottesford, the oldest son of Marshall Lane (b.1824) and Sarah Billings (b.1830). He has no entry in the census for 1861, but in 1871 William was living in Grantham with his father Marshall Lane.

William Billings Lane married Elizabeth Musson (born in Grantham in 1853) in March 1874 in Grantham. They had four four daughters (Flora, Clara, Edith and Ida) and one son, Billings Joseph Marshall Lane.

In 1881 he was working as a blacksmith. He and Elizabeth lived at 62 Commercial Road, Grantham. Joseph and Elizabeth Musson were also there as well as Florence Elizabeth, Clara Isabell and Edith Anne. William was working as a blacksmith.

In 1891, William and Elizabeth Lane had moved to Chapel Street, Bottesford. His children were Florence E (aged 10, already a dressmaker’s apprentice); Clara, Edith, Billings J.M. and Ida. William Billings Lane was working as a baker on Baker Street/Chapel Street. He died in 1900 in Bottesford aged 48.

The only son, Billings Joseph Marshall Lane, had been born on 12th July 1886. In 1901, he lived with his mother Elizabeth and his sisters Clara and Ida in Chapel Street.


Francis Lane (Frank) (1854-1946)

Francis Lane was born in 1855 at Denton, Lincs. His parents were Marshall and Sarah Lane. In 1861, Francis lived in Marston with his mother Sarah, but in 1871 he was in Spittlegate, Grantham, with his father Marshall Lane at 3, Elton Street, with his elder brother William (19) and sister Sarah Ann (14). Both boys were working as ‘mechanic fitters’ at the town’s iron works.

In 1881, Francis had become a baker, like his father, and was married to Betsy, neé Robinson, who was born in Grantham in 1857. They lived in Commercial Road, Spittlegate, with their infant son Wilfred, who was born in 1880.

Francis Lane does not appear again in the census of 1891 or 1901. The family emigrated to Australia by means of a series of passages in both directions, which include the following records.

Late in 1885, Frank (Francis), Betsy and son William Lane set sail on the ‘Duke of Westminster’ from London to Brisbane, arriving on the 11th January, accompanied by their oldest son, Wilfred.

In 1903, Francis Lane sailed back, from Fremantle to London on board the ‘Ormuz’. The ship left in March, calling at Sydney, and arrived in London on the 11th April. On this voyage, he was accompanied by Betsy, and the children Wilfred, Lawson (born in 1884, died in 1938), Francis (born 1891, died 1957) and Lily (born 1894). Lawson Lane did not return to Australia after this journey.

In 1907, Francis Lane, aged 52 (occupation given as ‘farmer’), returned from London to Fremantle, departing 31st May 1907 on the ‘Omrah’.

Francis must have returned to England again, because in 1910, Francis Lane (labourer), accompanied by Mrs Lane, Miss Lane and Miss L. Lane, travelled out to Australia once more on the ‘Ormuz’, departing from London for Fremantle on the 29th April that year. After this, Francis and Betsy stayed in Australia for the remainder of their lives.

There is a later record of a Francis Lane (labourer), who departed from London to Sydney aboard the ‘Pakeha’ on the 19th September, 1911. This may have been Francis junior (born 1891), sailing out to join his parents and sisters.

Francis Lane died in 1935 aged 67, his death registered at Plantagenet, Western Australia. Betsy Lane died in Albany, Western Australia, in 1939. Wilfred Lane died in 1938 in Victoria Plains, Western Australia. No military records have been found (so far) for him.


Marshall Lane (II) (1860 – 1919)

Marshall Lane’s birth was registered in October 1860 in “Nottingham”, though later census records indicate that he was born in Claypole Lincolnshire. He was the third son of Marshall Lane, born in Claypole in 1824, and Sarah Lane. In the 1861 census, Marshall junior, five months old, was with his mother, who was a grocer in Marston.

Marshall junior does not appear in the census of 1871, but it is not clear why this should be the case. At this date, his mother, Sarah, was still a grocer in Marston, while his father Marshall Lane senior was a baker who lived in Spittlegate.

In 1881, Marshall Lane (II), his wife Annie Elizabeth and their seven-months old daughter Florence, lived on St Ann’s Street, Somerby. They were lodging with her parents, William and Ann White. Annie Lane (neé White) was born at Brompton, near Chatham, in 1860. Marshall Lane was working as a blacksmith at the ironworks owned by Messrs. Hornsby. Their marriage was registered in Grantham in the third quarter of 1880. Their first child, Florence E.J. Lane, had already been born, in Hull, on the 5th July 1880. Annie’s father, William White, was a Yorkshire man, described in 1881 as a ‘Pensioner Sergeant, Chelsea’ working as a garden labourer. Annie White came from Easton, Hampshire.

By 1891, Marshall and Annie Lane had moved to West Street, Erith, Kent, with the Whites. Marshall Lane was still a blacksmith. Florence was aged 10. Their son, also named Marshall Lane, born in 1887 in Grantham, was now 3 years old.

Then, in 1895, on the 15th of August, Marshall Lane sailed aboard the ‘Borneo’ for Calcutta. The entry in the ship’s passenger list states that Mr and Mrs Marshall Lane together with a child aged 14 and another aged 7. Their second son, Harry Lane, was born in 1897 at Dumdum, Calcutta, India.

On the 9th September 1899, after four years in India, a Sergeant Lane aged 40, Mrs Lane (39) and a boy sailed on the ‘Manora’, destination probably back to Britain. The ages of these passengers suggest that they were Marshall and Annie Lane, returning to England with one of their sons, probably infant Harry.

Marshall Lane died on 11th November, 1919, at home in Belvoir Road, Bottesford. His obituary in the Grantham Journal said that he was an “ardent sportsman, a keen footballer and a clever boxer”. He was also a very good vocalist. There were other articles in the Journal describing concerts in Bottesford, which commented on the quality of his bass voice. The obituary said that he had spent 20 years in India, had worked at the Government Small Arms Factory near Calcutta, and had retired in about 1915. This agrees with his first travelling to India in 1895. He had arrived back in Bottesford in June 1916, after an absence of about 8 years, suggesting that he had returned to India in 1907. There is a record from 1908 of an unaccompanied gentleman named M. Lane, sailing 2nd Class from London to Calcutta aboard the ‘Mombassa’, which may record his return.


The WW1 Servicemen

Three of the grandsons of Marshall and Sarah served in the British army in the First World War. They were named on the Bottesford ‘church list’ of WW1 Servicemen.

Harry William Lane, son of Marshall (II) and Anne Lane.

Marshall Lane (III), son of Marshall (II) and Anne Lane.

Lawson Lane, son of Frank and Betsy Lane.

Brief service biographies of these men are given in accompanying pages of this website – follow the links.


Billings Joseph Marshall Lane (1886 – 1970)

Another grandson was Billings J.M. Lane, son of William Billings and Elizabeth Lane. Though born in 1886, and therefore aged 28 at the outbreak of the First World War, he was unable to enlist and serve in the forces because at the start of the war he was working in Hamburg. He was interned and spent the entire war in the prison camp at Ruhleben, near Berlin.

Billings Joseph Marshall Lane was born in Bottesford on the 12th July 1886 and baptised at St Mary’s on the 26th September. In the census of 1891, his parents William Billings Lane, a baker, and his wife Elizabeth lived on what was then called Baker Street, Bottesford (probably Chapel Street, the bakery was probably the old bakery at the corner with Devon Lane), with four daughters, Florence E (aged 15), Clara J (12), Edith A (10) and Ida F (5), and one son, Billings J.M., aged 4.

William Billings Lane died in Bottesford in 1900, aged 47. In the 1901 census, Billings junior (aged14) and his sisters Clara (22) and Ida (15) lived on the High Street in Bottesford with their widowed mother Elizabeth Lane. Her husband, William Billings Lane, had died in 1899, and their eldest daughter Florence had married Henry Wortley, from Doncaster, in August 1899. Edith Annie had moved to West Bridgford, where she was at work as a dressmaker, before getting married in 1905.

Also in 1905, as reported by the Grantham Journal on the 8th July, Billings J.M. Lane was 1st in the B.Sc. examination held at Armstrong College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, gaining a distinction and a prize. He had previously won a County Junior Scholarship in 1899, and a Senior County Scholarship from Sedgebrook School in 1904. Then on the 22nd June, 1908, the Journal reported that Billings Lane of Armstrong College had been awarded a Durham University Fellowship, adding that Walter Baines of Downing College, Cambridge, had been awarded a Foundation Scholarship, “both were scholars at Sedgebrook School”.

By 1911, Elizabeth had moved to a house on Easthorpe Lane, which she shared with John Trophimus Lane, her late husband’s cousin. Both were in their sixties. Her children had all moved on. Billings JM Lane was one of nine boarders living at 84, Wolverhampton Road, Stafford. The head of the household was Kenneth Lisle Murray, 30, an architect employed by the County Council. The boarders, who were all apprentice electrical engineers, were unusual in that they came from as far afield as Mexico City, Cape Colony, Germany and Russia as well as from Gainsborough, Croydon, Nottingham, Shropshire, and Bottesford.

Billings must have completed his university studies and decided to become a professional engineer. He was evidently progressing well when war broke out. At this time, as reported by the Journal on the 12th June 1916, he “held a very responsible position in Hamburg”, but had been interned and imprisoned at Ruhleben Camp, in Germany. On the 22nd January 1916, the Journal again reported that he was still held at Ruhleben. It was not until November, 1918, that there was a report that “Mrs Lane received a telegram from Copenhagen saying that her son Billings Lane who had been an internee in Germany for the duration of the war was en route for England” (Lest We Forget, p.218).

Ruhleben internment camp was a civilian detention camp located in Ruhleben, 10 km to the west of Berlin. The camp detainees included male citizens of the Allied Powers living, studying, working or on holiday in Germany at the outbreak of World War I. The camp varied between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners, most of them British. Quarters were cramped; the stable blocks averaged 27 stalls each housing six men; the stable block lofts each housed about 200 men. The German authorities adhered to the Geneva Convention and allowed the camp detainees to administer their own internal affairs. Gradually, a mini-society evolved in the camp.

In 1923, aged 36, he married Mary Tierney, who came from Middlesex, in St Clement Danes, on the Strand in London.

In the 1939 register, Billings J.M. Lane and his wife Mary were at 45 Glenthorne Avenue, Croydon. He described his profession as a “Chartered Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, buyer for Angle-Iranian Oil Company”.

Elizabeth, his mother, died in Bottesford in 1928 and was buried on the 25th May, aged 75. Billings himself died in 1970 at Worthing, Sussex.

This page was added on 19/04/2017.

Comments about this page

  • This is a most interesting read as I am the Gt Grand-Daughter of Francis Lane. Just a couple of things of interest. When Francis and Betsy came out to Australia in 1985-86 they had their two sons with them Wilfred and Lawson. All the family went back to Bottesford in 1903 and lived there until 1910, I have been told they lived at Beckingthorpe House. When they came back to Australia, Francis (Frank) used to go back to England from time to time to give lectures on the opportunities for farming in Australia. The only family that Francis and Betsy had were Wilfred, Lawson, Frances my Grandmother and Lily.

    By Hazel Meiklejohn (22/04/2017)
  • Hello Hazel, thanks for getting in touch and adding more information. I hope you don’t mind, but I changed the house name to ‘Beckingthorpe’. Can you tell us a little about where Frank lived and what he did in Australia? With best regards, Neil Fortey

    By Neil Fortey (23/04/2017)
  • Hello Neil, I have made a mistake and put 1985-86 and of course should be 1885-86. Frank was a farmer in Australia firstly in Queensland for a short time then he went to Northam in Western Australia and sold up there to go back to Bottesford in 1903. From newspaper clippings here he was giving lectures in Rutlandshire around 1907 to entice people to come and farm in Australia. When he came back to live in Australia 1910 he farmed around Albany in Western Australia. From our records over here from 1922 to 1931 he classed himself as a engineer. Whilst in Bottesford as well as living in ‘Beckingthorpe” he also had the Acacia House. This information came from Pat Bassett who is Freda Dunwell’s daughter who lives in Bottesford. Freda is the daughter of Lawson Lane, Frank’s son. I see on Bottesford History, you have another article on Frank Lane with a kangaroo he took back to Bottesford in 1908.
    My father used to talk a lot about him and seems he was a interesting character. I only wish I had taken in all he said as it was only later that I got interested in the family history but none of the older ones are here now to ask. Regards Hazel Meiklejohn

    By Hazel Meiklejohn (24/04/2017)
  • Hazel, your comment about listening to your father rings a bell with me. There’s so much I wish I could ask about my own family in WW2 and so on, but there’s none of that generation left. As they say, “You don’t miss it till it’s gone”. Even so, you’ve told us a great deal, and reminded us of the kangaroo article, for which many thanks. With best wishes, Neil

    By Neil Fortey (27/04/2017)
  • It was great to read this story, as Kezia (not Keria) was my great grandmother. She married James William Robinson, a Bottesford man (older brother of John Daybell Robinson, featured on your website), on 23/12/1883 and 13 days later, they migrated to Australia, aged only 19 and 17. They were pioneers of the Gold Coast in Queensland. I have been researching the family and learnt from your story for the first time that Marshall had lived in India and that the first Lane child was Mary Elizabeth. I’d been unsuccessfully researching Elizabeth, who’d been known as Lizzie in the family. Thanks again for your research. I love your site. Its the best I’ve come across.

    By Sharon Burke (23/08/2017)
  • Hi. I have the Will of William and Sarah Lane who were parents of Joseph, Marshall,Trophimus, Francis and John. My great grandfather George Taylor Lane married Lizzie Rhodes of Tansley, Derbyshire. It has always amused me that a Lane married a Rhodes. He was the son of Trophimus Lane who was the son of Joseph Lane son of William and Sarah.
    I have a full administrative document related to the death of Elizabeth, John Trophimus and Katie Ann that my great grandfather dealt with, supported by Florence Daybell. This give names of beneficiaries and so more family links. I would be glad to hear from anyone from far or near.
    I am happy to discuss/share documents as the Will gives interesting detail regarding properties in Claypole, Bottesford, Easthorpe etc and names of other residents.

    By Liz Morris (02/05/2020)
  • Dear Liz, thank you for getting in touch. We are indeed keen to learn more about the Lane family, and the chance to learn what the will and administrative document have to tell us is not to be missed. According to the marriage records I have seen (courtesy of Find my Past), William Lane married Elizabeth Marshall, and they had two sons Trophimus and Marshall. However, your will is for William and Sarah, and they had five sons (including Trophimus and Marshall), the oldest being Joseph, who is your direct ancestor. This is a branch of your family we were not aware of. Joseph’s brother Marshall was the grandfather of the three Bottesford WW1 servicemen,Billings JM Lane who was interned through WW1, and also Florence who married Herbert Daybell. It is a complex family tree, but I am intrigued to know why William’s wife is called Sarah in your information but Elizabeth in the marriage records. Did she have both names (Elizabeth Sarah, or Sarah Elizabeth) perhaps? Whatever, we will be fascinated to learn more about them and their time in Bottesford. With best wishes, Neil Fortey

    By Neil Fortey (05/05/2020)
  • I would be very interested to have more information of this new family too. Are they another family altogether or the same father at least. Trophimus and Marshall are not common names, and the Marshall first name reflects Elizabeth Marshall/Lane’s maiden name. I am a descendant of Marshall Lane, their son.

    By Sharon Burke (29/05/2020)
  • HI Neil and Sharon,
    I am happy to send copies of documents or email scanned items for you to look at and once we are allowed to travel I am happy to meet up. If you can send a correspondence address I am happy to send copies to you. Regards Liz

    By Liz Morris (02/06/2020)
  • Hi Sharon and Neil,
    The names I have as benficiaries of the will via Marshall descendents are: Mrs Dinslage (his daughter)- her child Mrs Mills then also Mrs Jack Eaton,Mrs Francis Lane (Australia), Mrs W.J Wright (California), Mrs Sagebiel, Mrs Stockwell, Also Mr Billings Lane and 5 children – Ida Frederica Sheldrake, Edith Annie Homewood, Florence Elizabeth Wortley,Clara Isabell Waldram and B.J.M Lane.
    Also Mrs Lizzie Ochleford and 7 children – Mrs S.J.Griffith,Mrs L.M Horner, Mr J.M.Ochleford, Mrs M C Adult,Mr F.W. Ochleford, Mr G.D.Ochleford and Mrs R E Rodwell.
    Also Marshall Lane – 3 children: Marshall Lane, Harry Lane and Florence Daybell.Also Mrs U.D Walker and Mrs J.Robinson.
    The benficiaries on the Joseph Lane side are Mr Frederick Lane,Mrs Mary Flatt, Mrs Abbott -3 children Florence Annie Lovett, Mary Anne Browne and William Lane Abbott. Also Mr Trophimus Lane – one child George Trophimus Lane. Also Mr Charles Lane – 2 children Mrs Edith Hooker and Mrs Lily Bower. Also Mr John Lane – 3 children Florence Lane, Mabel Lane and Percy Lane .
    I think all the above names may produce some interesting conversations.
    This information is from the administrative account of the estates of Miss Kate Ann Lane, John Trophimus Lane and Mrs Elizabeth Lane.1933
    Administratrix was Florence Daybell.
    I am convinced we are talking about the same family.
    Regards,Liz

    By Liz Morris (02/06/2020)
  • Dear Liz, as you know I have sent my correspondence address by separate email. Thanks for providing so much information. We’ll have our work cut out pulling it all together. With best wishes, Neil

    By Neil Fortey (03/06/2020)
  • Hello again Liz
    Thank you for this further detail and for offering copies of your information. I have researched many of these names that you mention. I’ll ask Neil to forward my email address to you so that we can email further directly. I’m so thrilled to be in contact with other descendants 🙂
    I am the great grand-daughter of the Mrs J Robinson (James) you list – Kezia Lane, who migrated in 1884 to Queensland,Australia where I live. I have some letters and photos for you too, and information about other family members. I was only aware of Marshall and Trophimus, not any other children. Be in touch as soon as I have your email.

    By Sharon Burke (13/06/2020)
  • Thanks so much for this information Liz. I have done further research and expanded my family tree as a result 🙂
    Here are the results of my research:
    William Lane was married to Elizabeth Marshall in 1816. He had remarried Sarah (Maiden name unknown) by 1856 (when he made the will). Elizabeth must have died before 1848, as I have found a marriage record and a newspaper report indicating that William Lane, a gentleman, married Sarah Ulyatt, widow of Mr Ulyatt, farmer of Algarkirke Fen (in Boston, Lincolnshire) on 11 July 1848. They would have been aged about 57 and 45. In 1851 Census, William Lane, a proprietor of houses aged 62, wife Sarah aged 48, born Holbeach, Lincolnshire and Mary Catlin, 15 general servant were living at130 West St, Boston.
    William Lane made this will on 25 Nov 1856. The will was possibly motivated to protect William’s children’s interests in his estate. He died in March 1858, being buried on 15 March – confirmed by newspaper notices about his estate.
    1871 Census Sarah Lane, annuitant, aged 68, was living at 130 West St Boston, Lincolnshire.
    1877 – Sarah, widow of William Lane of Bottesford, died at Peterborough, Lincolnshire on 6 April 1877 at the age of 74 (newspaper report and Death Index).
    I have been unable to locate William’s eldest son, Frank’s marriage records or birth records of the daughter who went to Australia and was never heard from again.

    Marshall Lane and Sarah Billings had 11 children – 3 sons and 8 daughters. All are mentioned in William Lane’s will, with the addition of Annie’s daughter, Emily Mills.
    1. Mrs Dinslage (his daughter) – Sarah Ann(Annie) – 1856-1928, married to John William DEITERS (1859-1888) in 1878 at 10 Upper Baker St Regents Park. He died in 1888. She then married Joseph Frank Dinslage about 1922 (with him in 1923 -1928 Census) at 40 Ashbourne Parade, Finchley, London.

    2. Her child Mrs Mills – Emily/Emylie Jane – 1878-1973, married Ernest Halford MILLS ( Oct 1874-1930), an undertaker in 1900.

    3. Mrs Jack Eaton – Rose Eleanor – 1870-1949 , married John Eaton

    4. Mrs Francis Lane (Australia) – Frank – 1854-1935 married Betsy Robinson (Mrs Francis Lane). They migrated to Australia, eventually settling in Western Australia (WA). They returned to the UK a few times, but settled finally and died in WA. Frank didn’t die until 1935? So why is his being left money and not Frank himself. He did have money issues at one stage when living back in UK so perhaps it was to protect the family money? Betsy died in 1939.

    5. Mrs W.J Wright (California) – Ada – 1869-?, married Ernest HAMBLING and later William John WRIGHT in USA, and they lived in California and Washington State.

    6. Mrs Sagebiel – Jane – 1848 – after 1911, married Frederick Conrad SAGEBIEL (1826-1898) on 23 Dec 1891 at Islington, Shropshire.

    7. Mrs Stockwell –Julia – 1858-?, Had Florence Gertrude Lane in 1879. Married Thomas Stockwell (1855-) in 1882, and had 8 children – Rose, William, Annie, Ada, Ernest, Sarah, Frederick and Violet.

    8. Mr Billings Lane (William Billings Joseph)- 1852-1900 and 5 children – Ida Frederica Sheldrake, Edith Annie Homewood, Florence Elizabeth Wortley, Clara Isabell Waldram and B.J.M Lane.

    9. Mrs Lizzie (Mary Elizabeth k/a Lizzie) Ochleford – 1845-? Married Thomas Henry Ockleford and 7 children –
    Mrs S.J.Griffith (Sarah Jane), Mrs L.M (Lucy Mary) Horner, Mr J.M.(John Marshall)Ochleford, Mrs M C (Minnie Coverley) Adult, Mr F.W.(Frederick William) Ochleford, Mr G.D.(George Deitiers) Ochleford and Mrs R E (Rose Eleanor)

    10. Marshall Lane – 1860-1919 and children: Marshall Lane, Harry Lane and Florence Daybell (Florence – 1880-1960) married Herbert Daybell – another cousin of mine through James Robinson, my gt grandfather’s mother and my gtx2 gm, Mary Daybell – 1833-1891).

    11. Mrs U.D Walker – Emily – 1863 – 1944, married Walter D Walker (1859- )-Mrs UD ?? Walker in will.

    12. Mrs J.Robinson. – Mrs James Robinson – Kezia Lane – 1866-1951 (my great grandmother), emigrated to Australia (Queensland) soon after marriage in London at age 17. 5 children – Richard Marshall k/a Dick(1885-1953), John Burleigh k/a Cecil (1889-1960), Ada Marrien (1891-1974), Rose Ilene k/a Eileen (1899-1978), and Esme Joan k/a Joan (1904-1980).

    By Sharon Burke (04/07/2020)
  • This is all amazing. May I add an additional small contribution about what records I have been able to unearth concerning Jane Sagebiel (nee Lane). Born in 1848, she lived past 80. She was married in 1891 to Frederick Sagebiel, a tailor who had emigrated to England from Hanover, but he died only eight years later. After that she remained a widow, gaining a living running a boarding house in Nottingham then as a domestic servant at Knipton. She seems to have passed her last years in retirement in Bottesford and then in Hallaton, where she died in 1930.

    Jane Lane was born in 1848 and baptised on November 2nd that year at Claypole, Lincolnshire, daughter of Marshall and Sarah Lane. Sharon records that Jane married Frederick Conrad Sagebiel (1826-1898) on 23 Dec 1891 at Islington, Shropshire. However, I wonder if this is exactly correct because in the UK census from the start of April 1891, Jane was already living with her husband Frederick Conrad Sagebiel, born in 1825 or 1826. Frederick gave his birthplace as Hohnsen, Hanover in Germany. They lived at 249 Nottingham Street, Marylebone, in London. Jane was 42, Frederick 65. He was a tailor, though it is not clear whether he had his own business. Frederick died in 1898, his death registered in 1899 at Marylebone Registration Office. The place of their wedding is said to have been in Shropshire, yet Islington is the name of a part of London, no distance from Marylebone. A search of Google Maps failed to locate an Islington in Shropshire, apart from a side road named Islington Close at Newport, Shropshire. Did they really get married here?

    In the 1901 census we find Jane living at 73 Portland Road, Nottingham, widowed, a 52 year old ‘boarding house keeper’. Then in 1904, Jane Sagebiel was recorded in Kelly’s Nottinghamshire Directory, living on her own at 73 Warwick Terrace, Portland St, Nottingham.

    In the 1911 census, she is listed as a 62 year old widow working as a servant in the house of Robert Walter Egerton, born in Lahore, a civil engineer with a pension from the Indian State Railway. On census night, there was also a visitor, Sebella Egerton, a 70 year old pensioner of private means from Gwalior, India, and also Catherine Thurlby, 18, a domestic servant from Woolsthorpe, near Knipton. The address is confusing. The census entry is definitely from Knipton, in the Vale of Belvoir, yet for some reason the address given is Stansty Lodge, Wrexham, North Wales. Today, we can locate a Stansty Lane in Wrexham, but the lodge is no longer standing. It is not clear why Egerton gave this as his address.

    Later on, electoral records show in 1921 Jane Sagebiel was living apparently on her own at an address on Bottesford High Street when she was aged 73, and then in 1929 she was living on the High Street at Hallaton, in the south of Leicestershire. Her death in the third quarter of 1930, at the age of 82 or 83, was registered in Blaby District, Leicestershire.

    I hope this adds a bit to the family tree.

    Best wishes, Neil

    By Neil Fortey (06/07/2020)
  • I am really enjoying this page and “meeting” relatives I didn’t know I had. I am the great-great grandaughter of Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie) nee Lane and Thomas Henry Ockleford. Their son George Deiters Ockleford was the father of my grandmother Rose Eleanor b,1908 .
    I find it confusing that Marshall Lane and Trophimus Lane both had daughters named Mary Elizabeth and were all at the same address. But I think I am right in believing that Mary Elizabeth b1845 was the eldest daughter of Marshall Lane I and Sarah Billings.

    By Margaret Wood (19/07/2020)
  • Dear Neil,
    I have done a bit more research on the Lane family and the Ocklefords, and added some musings of my own. When Marshall Lane married Sarah Billings in Newark in June 1844, she was 14 or 15 and he was 18, a miller and the son of a miller William Lane from Bottesford. Marshall may have been working at the mill in Claypole, and Sarah was from the next village Marston and may have been working at mill also. Claypole is an hour and a half’s walk to Newark. Although legally girls could be married at 12 and boys at 14, this required parental permission. However, if the Banns were read in a church and no-one actively objected, then the marriage could go ahead. It is likely therefore the couple travelled to Newark to be wed probably unbeknown to their parents. It is also likely that they falsified their ages.
    The following year (1845), Sarah gave birth to Mary Elizabeth Lane in Claypole. She was known as Lizzie and went on to marry Thomas Henry Ockleford of Grantham, who was the father of George Deiters Ockleford who was the father of Rose Eleanor Ockleford, b.1908, who was my grandmother.
    Sarah and Marshall Lane went on to have 10 more children: Jane (1848), William Billings (1852), Francis (1854), Sarah Ann ka Annie (1856), Julia (1858), Marshall (1860), Emily (1864), Kezia (1865), Ada (1869) and Rose Eleanor (1871).
    Marshall and Sarah and their children lived at Easthorpe water mill with Marshall’s older brother Trophimus Lane and his wife Jane nee Harvey and their family (Census 1851). Marshall and Sarah are buried together in graveyard of St Mary the Virgin Church in Bottesford. Their eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth k/a Lizzie married Thomas Henry Ockleford, b.1859, from Grantham. They moved to Grantham where Thomas Henry worked as an Inn Keeper and a farmer of 53 acres employing a man and a boy. Of their 10 children, 2 died young and one son Harry Lane Ockleford was killed in action at the age of 30 in WW1
    Sarah Jane b.1867 married Griffith.
    Lucy Mary b.1868 married Charles Herbert Horner: they had no children but Gladys Ockleford is listed as niece 9 years old (census 1911 for Camden Town).
    John Marshall b.1869 married Emelline Mary Minchley b.1892 Bottesford
    Minnie Coverley b.1872 married William Ault. Coverley was Thomas Henry Ockleford’s mother’s maiden name Lucy Coverley from Castle Bytham, Lincs.
    Frederick William b.1874.
    Thomas Henry b.1876 died in 1879 aged 2-3 years.
    George Deiters b.28.3.1880 married Annie Elvidge b.1884 in 1900.
    Rose Eleanor b.1882.
    Harry Lane Ockleford b.1883 died in 1914 aged 30 during WW1.
    Joseph Donson b.1887 died in 1898 aged 12 years.

    We have always wondered why Grandad Ockleford was called George Deiters, a german name, as although Ockleford sounds also like it may be a German or Dutch it is actually old English possibly meaning oak or horse ford.
    Most of the children of Lizzie and Thomas Henry Ockleford had middle names that were related to close family; Marshall, Coverley, William and Lane being examples. So, the use of Deiters is unusual.
    In 1878 Lizzie’s sister Sarah Ann b.1856 (known as Annie) married John William Deiters b.1859, a tradesman from London. His father of the same name b.1826 was a tailor from Germany specialising in ladies’ cloaks and mantles on Baker Street London. His wife, Caroline nee Hall had died soon after the birth of John William Jn known as William. It is possible that father and son worked as traveling tailors, living for a few months at a time in different locations and making clothes to measure for the wealthier of the area.
    Sarah Ann and John William married in Bottesford and had a little girl Emily Jane Deiters b.28/7/1878 who is with her grandparents Marshall and Sarah in the census of 1881.
    The next year 1879 Lizzie’s 2-year-old son Thomas Henry died. George Deiters was born in early the next year 1880. We can only speculate as to why he was named after his uncle by marriage. Did the Deiters’ show particular kindness to Ockleford family at a difficult time.

    By Margaret Wood (28/07/2020)
  • Neil, Sharon, Liz, Margaret,
    I have added a detailed comment on the Frank Lane page which also has some information related to this page. I’d be interested to hear if you concur with my findings. Cheers, Bill

    By Bill Pinfold (02/08/2020)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.