HISTORY AND PEDIGREE OF THE FAMILY

OF MARRIAN, FORMERLY DEPRÉ

OF SHROPSHIRE AND STAFFORDSHIRE

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction

The Ironworking Revolution in the Tudor Era

Marian Deprey and the Change of Name

The Midlands

Farming at Bobbington

The Great Industrial Towns

The Family Today

Sources of Information

References - in numerical order

INTRODUCTION

This is, we believe, the first attempt at setting down a comprehensive Pedigree of our family for the whole period of its English life, together with an account of our history, in so far as we know it.

The first member of the family to become actively interested in working out the genealogy appears to have been GEORGE BARNES MARRIAN (XIII. 38), who, before and during the first World War, interviewed many of the family then alive, and established the main framework of the Birmingham and London branches for the past five generations.

Subsequently, earlier records of the family have come to light, in the shape of Wills, Parish Register entries and other documents, the more important of which are now reproduced to support the Pedigree. For ease of reference, each generation is given a Roman numeral, and each individual an Arabic numeral, in his, or her, particular generation. As, no doubt, with most genealogies, we have a number of references in the earlier generations which cannot at present be accurately placed. The main line of descent, however, is reasonably clear.

It should be pointed out that our family has no connection whatever with the family of MARYON, established for many centuries in the counties of Essex and Hertfordshire. The spelling of the name, however, is quite arbitrary. In our own family of today it is MARRIAN or MARRION, though in former years many other spellings were found, as with almost all personal names.

Additions and corrections to the Pedigree will be gladly welcomed; and correspondents are asked to address their letters to:

S F Marrian

Ardmore

Upper Dunmurry Lane

Dunmurry

Belfast

F J Morton Marrian, Worcester

Horace J Marrian, Ayr

Stanley F Marrian, Belfast

Easter 1957

1.         The Ironworking Revolution in the Tudor Era

Before tracing our Family's descent from their arrival in England at the beginning of the sixteenth century, it is necessary to consider something of the history of ironfounding; for it was because of their traditional skill in working iron that our ancestors came over in the first place.

From prehistoric times, so far as is known, all ironworking throughout the world was carried on by the simple process of bloomery. But, probably at some period of the 14th century (though the exact date is not known), a new and much more effective method had been evolved: the blast-furnace. Exactly where the first blast-furnaces came into being is not certain, but it was apparently in one of the countries close to the Rhine: Belgium, Eastern France, Burgundy or Western Germany.

By the middle of the 15th century, the blast-furnace had become well established in north-west Europe (particularly in the Liège district) and in Italy, but had not yet reached England. It is not until the year 1492 that we find the first positive record of the new process of manufacture at Buxted in the Sussex Weald.

With the opening of the 16th century, blast-furnaces and power-forges began to spring up throughout the Weald, principally in Sussex, but also in Kent, and eventually, to a smaller extent, in Surrey. The industry grew apace, and the output of wrought iron so far exceeded anything produced by the bloomeries of former times.

Up till about 1560-1570, the new methods of manufacture seemed to have been confined practically entirely to the Weald. But they then spread elsewhere, in particular to what are now the Industrial Midlands and to Sheffield. Eventually, (though not for many years), coal  superseded charcoal as fuel, thus putting an end to the iron industry of the Weald, which lacked easy access to coal.

In order to make a clear definition between the two processes, bloomery and blast-furnace, the following passage is quoted from "Wealden Iron", by Ernest Straker (Bell, 1931).

"The first, the direct or bloomery process, produced from the ore in one operation a comparatively small mass of wrought iron, sometimes of a steely nature, fit for immediate forging into tools, weapons, bars and other small products. This survives today only among savage races. It required simply manual labour, with but few tools and appliances, and was usually carried on as a domestic or nomadic industry.

The second, the indirect or blast-furnace process, even in its earlier and simpler forms, needs buildings, power and plant, and therefore was a highly capitalized industry carried on in permanent quarters. This has now developed into the huge establishments of the present day, which, with their manifold dependent industries, have become the main element of our present-day civilisation.

Unlike the earlier process, the blast-furnaces produce cast iron only, which, apart from its direct use as castings, requires working in a forge to convert it into wrought iron, or other operations to convert it to steel."

The blast furnace that was introduced into England was of Walloon type, and the men who worked the 16th century Wealden forges and furnaces were almost all Frenchmen, invited over to introduce the new methods by emissaries of many of the great landowners (the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Shrewsbury, etc), who had seen them employed in the ironworks of Normandy and Picardy. It may be noted, however, that though these foreign workers were known generically as "Frenchmen" they were more often than not of Walloon stock, by descent if not by birth.

Like the blast furnace, the forge (which may have contained one or more 'fineries') was always situated on a river or stream, and derived its power from a great water-wheel, which operated the tilt-hammer. In charge of the forge and its many workmen was the master-finer, or hammerman, who had to ensure the perfect quality of the iron barred. But, though in a responsible position, the finer never acquired the same status as the 'maitre-de-forge' of the French and Belgian ironworks. Seldom, if ever, did the immigrant Frenchmen possess their own ironworks in 16th century England, but stood in the relationship of managerial experts to the English owners.

2.         Marian Deprey and the Change of Name

The Family-name since about 1700 has remained fixed as MARRIAN (for descendants of JOHN MARRIAN (VIII. 2.)) or MARRION (for those of his brother RICHARD (VIII. 3.)).

But before that date we find it recorded as MARRIAN alias DIPPERY, DIPPERY alias MARRIAN, or sometimes simply as DIPPERY. There are many variants: DIPPRAY, DEPPERY, DEPRYE, DIPPLIE, etc. And our researches have now made it quite clear that DIPPERY was an English corruption of the French name DEPRÉ, and that indeed DEPRÉ (probably originally DESPRÉS) was the true family-name, - a name, moreover of great antiquity.

Our genealogy is well supported by documents from the year 1564, when the marriage of RICHARD DEPRYE to ALICE SAINSBURY is recorded in the parish-register of Worth, in Sussex. Before then, however, we have to rely largely on inference, so scanty is the written evidence that has come down to us. There exist no 16th century wills for our family, unfortunately.

We claim that our original ancestor in this country was a Frenchman named MARIAN DEPREY (I), whose name is recorded for naturalization in the Westminster Denization Roll of 36 Henry 8 (i.e. 1544). The actual position of his name on the Roll indicates that he was one of a group of Frenchman to be made denizens for the ironworks of the Weald. And this theory is borne out by the analogy of a similar family of Wealden iron-finers, the DEPROWNES of Etchingham. For the Etchingham parish-register of the late 16th century clearly shows that the son of a certain VALENTINE DEPROWNE was known as JOHN VALENTINE alias DEPROWNE, suggesting that the name VALENTINE afterwards superseded DEPROWNE as that family's surname in England.

So we deduce that, in a similar manner, the name RICHARD MARRIAN alias DEPRYE must have been derived from MARIAN DEPREY. The reason for the change of name seems to have been simply that the French surnames were unfamiliar to Sussex ears; and so they were commonly called by their Christian names. Even in official documents we find such expressions as "GYLES the founder", "LAURENCE the Frenchman", "ADRYAN the Frenchman", etc. And so the true French surnames sometimes survived as an alias, or perhaps in a corrupted form.

In addition to the name of MARIAN DEPREY, the Westminster Denization Roll of 1544 contains the names of two more Frenchmen who would seem to belong to our family: RICHARD MARIAN (II) and MARYON DUPRÉ. These two names appear next but one to each other on the Roll.

RICHARD MARIAN, who is recorded as being aged 42 in 1544, having been born at Dieppe, and having been in England since he was one year old, we regard as being the son of the above mentioned MARIAN DEPREY, this belief resting mainly on the fact that the name of RICHARD MARRIAN has appeared in every generation of our family until very recent times. MARYON DUPRÉ is regarded as being probably a close relation; it will be noted that he was younger than RICHARD MARIAN (II), and came to England considerably later.

As for the French or Walloon antecedents of MARIAN DEPREY, we know practically nothing as yet. The male Christian name MARIAN is very rare in France; yet a number of the other French families in the Weald of the 16th century bore the name also, viz: MARIAN LAMBERD, MARIAN PREDOME, MARIAN PAVY, MARIAN RUSSELL, and many others. So it seems probable that MARIAN was an anglicization of the much more common French Christian-name MARIN.

The name DEPRÉ and DESPRET are well known in the history of metallurgy in north-west Europe. Different branches, both in Belgium and Northern France are recorded as 'Maitres de forges' or 'forgerons' by various authorities, notably a family that owned forges for many generations near Chimay in Belgium. ("Verriers, maitres de forges, metallurgists et soldats: La famille Despret, 1512-1929" par L'Abbé Emile Trelcat, de Crespin. Societé d'Etudes de la Province de Cambrai. Recueil 30).

And it would seem likely that the home of all of these branches was originally in the Pays de Liège, where extremely early references have been found.

Nothing further can be said about MARIAN (or MARIN) DEPREY at present, except that he was probably born before 1480, came over to England from Normandy at an early stage of the new developments in ironworking (1502-1503), and seems to have been working at one of the forges in the Sussex village of Mayfield at the time of his naturalization. This is indicated by the fact that, with four other Frenchmen, he is recorded in the Westminster Denization Roll of 1544 as being "made denizen by Eystred widow". Now "Eystred widow" we can surely identify as JOAN ISTED, widow of RICHARD ISTED of Mayfield, a well-known Sussex ironmaster.

Indeed, we have the reference in a Sussex Lay Subsidy Roll for the year 4 Edward VI (1550-1551) to a JOHN MARYAN being among aliens employed by JOAN ISTED at Bibleham, within the parish of Mayfield. Bibleham Forge was well-known.

A word must be said here about the Family's religion. So far as we know, they were Protestants ever since their arrival in England. And the large number of Huguenot refugees named DESPREY, DEPRÉ and DUPRÉ, who came to England in the late 16th and 17th centuries, rather indicate that Protestantism was the religious faith of most branches of the Family.

Yet there is no reason whatsoever for believing that MARIAN DEPRÉ came over as a Huguenot refugee. At that early date, the persecutions had not reached the savage state that they did later; and no doubt he came to England solely on account of his work. Nevertheless, if later on he or his son ever contemplated returning to the Continent, they may well have been deterred by the increasing violence of the Huguenot persecutions.

We have yet to bridge the gap between MARIAN DEPREY (I) and his son RICHARD MARIAN (II) on the one hand, and RICHARD MARYAN alias DEPRYE (III), the iron-finer of Ardingly (Sussex) on the other. It seems likely (though by no means certain) that these two RICHARDs were father and son, for there is a reference in a Lay Subsidy Roll of the Rape of Lewes for the year 1550 to a RICHARD MARION, alien, in the Hundred of Street, who might be identical with RICHARD MARIAN, son of MARIAN DEPREY. And the Hundred of Street included the parish of Ardingly, which apparently contained the only iron-works within the Hundred at that time.

The genealogy of the Sussex period is further complicated by the presence of other families with the surname MARRIAN. Some of these may have been of our family; others certainly were not. There are a number of entries of the name in Mayfield parish-register, for instance, from 1572 to 1625, which very likely belong to us. On the other hand, we cannot be sure; and, in as much as they do not affect the main line of descent, they are omitted from the present history.

However, it is almost certain that another DIPPERY family (though lacking the MARIAN alias), who were iron-founders and freeholders at Waldron (Sussex) in the 16th and 17th centuries, were also of our family, though the exact relationship is not yet known. It is noteworthy that the furnace at Waldron supplied Bibleham Forge, although the two villages were some miles apart.

This Waldron family of DIPPERY survived in Sussex until 1791; and its genealogy has been recorded by W H Chellen in Sussex Notes and Queries, Vol 12, Nos 4 and 5.

Similarly, a Wealden ironworking family with the name PRAY was no doubt yet another branch; it is of interest that a certain QUENTIN PRAY (possibly from Frant, in Sussex) and RICHARD PRAY are recorded as full-time ironworkers at Saugus, north of Boston, Massachusetts, about the year 1650.

With the baptism of BARTHOLOMEW (IV. 1.), son of RICHARD MARYON of Ardingly, in 1565, the genealogy and history of our particular line becomes much clearer. Like his father, BARTHOLOMEW was an iron-finer; and we are fortunate in knowing enough salient facts about him to connect the family's life at three widely separated forges: Ardingly, Bromley, in Staffordshire, where they worked for LORD PAGET from 1573 to 1589; finally to the Lizard Forge, which lies on the parish-boundary between Shifnal and Tong, in Shropshire, where we find them by the year 1593, working for the EARL OF SHREWSBURY.

3. The Midlands

During the late 16th and 17th centuries other members of the family were actively engaged at forges in what are now the Industrial Midlands (in particular LAURENCE DEPRÉ at Wednesbury), and between 1573 and 1580 are even found as far away as Sheffield, where the EARL OF SHREWSBURY owned ironworks. But none of these branches has left descendants to the present day; and it is solely with the branch at the Lizard Forge that we are concerned.

When the family first arrived at the Lizard, they lived in the hamlet of Drayton, on the Shifnal side; but in the course of years they became established at Tong Norton, where they remained continuously until 1886. Tong, therefore, may be regarded as the English home of the family, modest though it was.

The earliest will that has come down to us is that of JOHN DIPPRIE alias MARYAN, iron-finer of the Lizard Forge, dated 1617. He mentions several other members of the family, though the relationships are by no means clear. It is evident, however, that he was in partnership with BARTHOLOMEW (IV. 1.), who may have been his first-cousin, or perhaps a half-brother. He speaks of his house and lands "granted by the late Earl of Shrewsbury deceased", which he clearly received by virtue of his employment as the Earl's finer. Another small freehold, owned by the descendants of BARTHOLOMEW (IV. 1.) at Tong Norton until the late 19th century, was probably also granted by one of the EARLS OF SHREWSBURY early in the 17th century.

Exactly how long the family worked as finers at the Lizard Forge is not certain. After BARTHOLOMEW (IV. 1.), two successive generations, RICHARD (V. 2.) and his elder son BARTHOLOMEW (VI. 4.), are known to have been finers; but the next in line, RICHARD (VII. 4.), is believed (though not conclusively proved) to have been the son of BARTHOLOMEW's younger brother JOHN (VI. 5.), about whom little is known. Incidentally, it is with this sixth English generation that the original family-name, DEPRÉ, finally passed into oblivion.

Naturally, several members of earlier generations must have moved away from Tong to make homes for themselves elsewhere. For example, a branch at Bitterley in Shropshire in the late 17th century was probably linked with another branch, spelling the name MERRION, who lived at Tenbury Wells from 1745 to 1798. But none of these has survived to the present, as far as we can tell.

It is from the two eldest sons of RICHARD (VII. 4.), yeoman of Tong Norton, that all living members of the family are descended: those with the modern spelling MARRIAN from JOHN (VIII. 2.), who was a farmer, and moved from Tong Norton to Bobbington (Staffs) at some date between 1740 and 1754; and those with the spelling MARRION from RICHARD (VIII. 3.), who remained at Tong Norton as a weaver.

4.         Farming at Bobbington

Seen in the perspective of the whole of our family's life in England, the period of farming at Bobbington appears as something of a pastoral interlude. On their arrival in this country in 1502/3, they evidently looked back on a considerable earlier history as industrialists abroad. And with the great Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries they were to be industrialists again. Yet there remained a farming-branch at Bobbington for approximately 170 years - right up to the outbreak of the First World War.

In all, they tenanted three farms there: Blacklands, Blakelands and the Hay Farm. When JOHN MARRIAN (VIII.2.) first arrived at Bobbington from Tong, he farmed at Blacklands, while two of his sons, JOHN (IX.1.) and WILLIAM (IX.5.) held the others. A third son, FRANCIS (IX.2.) was to farm at Chelmarsh, near Bridgnorth, later in the century.

From the will of WILLIAM MARRIAN (IX. 5.), we know that, at any rate at Blakelands Farm, they did their own milling and brewing. Indeed, there is evidence that the family had a long tradition of home-brewing; for we have a reference to as far back as the year 1586, during the Abbots Bromley period. Such brewers and innkeepers in the late 18th and 19th centuries as JOHN MARRIAN (X. 4.), FRANCIS MARRIAN (X. 5.), THOMAS MARRIAN (XI. 12.), WALTER MARRION (X. 13.) and BENJAMIN MARRION (XI. 34.), were thus following a very old family tradition.

Eventually, Blacklands and Blakelands Farms passed out of the MARRIAN's hands. But they retained the Hay, the last member of the family to farm there being EDITH LONGVILLE MARRIAN (XIII. 32.), the sixth generation in the line of Bobbington farmers.

5.         The Great Industrial Towns

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, several of the family began  to move away from their country homes at Tong and Bobbington, and form branches in the large towns, where, in most cases, their descendants have continued through several generations to the present day.

Thus, JAMES MARRION (IX. 11.) became apprenticed in 1743 to a Wolverhampton locksmith; and his descendants have been traded down through several generations of locksmiths and master-colliers at Wolverhampton, Tettenhall and Bilston, to the majority of the MARRIONs who live in Wolverhampton today. However, it must be recorded that the link between Generations X and XI of this branch is not yet conclusively proved, owing to numerous references to the name in the Wolverhampton Parish Register of the late 18th century, some of which we are unable to place. These unplaced references are omitted from the accompanying Pedigree.

Later on in the 18th century, a nephew of this JAMES MARRION, JOHN MARRION (X. 18.), left Tong for the rising Shropshire industrial district of Oakengates, and set up as a builder in the parish of St George's. His sons remained in that part of the country, and were also in the building trade, though BENJAMIN MARRION (XI. 34.) became proprietor of the Caledonia Hotel at Oakengates as well. Both he and his brother, WALTER WATKINS MARRION (XI. 30.), have present-day descendants.

Although the business of JOHN MARRION (X. 18.) and his sons kept them mainly at Oakengates, and later at Milleshall, they never lost touch with Tong; and his daughter JANE MARRION (XI. 32.) continued to live at Tong Norton, until her death in 1886 concluded the long family-line there. Her portrait, and that of her brother FRANCIS (XI. 31.) are still preserved.

The present-day branch of the family at Birmingham began in the year 1796, when FRANCIS MARRIAN (X. 5.) (whose portrait also exists) became landlord of the "Sea-Horse" Inn at Aston. He made it into a remarkable and very well-known hostelry, combining the functions of inn, club and concert-hall; and a chapter is given to it in "Old Taverns of Birmingham", by Eliezer Edwards (Birmingham 1879). WILLIAM MARRIAN (XI. 9.), his son, succeeded him as landlord in 1840; and the "Sea-Horse" remained in the family's hands for many years afterwards.

In addition, two breweries were owned by members of this branch in the early 19th century; MARRIAN & CRACKLOW, Ashted Brewery, Birmingham, in which JOHN MARRIAN (X. 4.), was a partner; and Burton Weir Brewery, Sheffield, which was founded in 1830 by THOMAS MARRIAN (XI. 12.), and eventually passed to his sons.

Mention may be made of certain other members of the Birmingham branch. JOHN MARRIAN (XI. 8.) was partner in a firm of stampers and piercers called MARRIAN & REYNOLDS; his brother, BENJAMIN JAMES PRATT MARRIAN (XI. 13.) was a brassfounder. In later generations, JAMES ROBERT MARRIAN (XII. 13.) became a Birmingham doctor, and WILLIAM LYON MARRIAN (XIII. 21.) founded the gold-pen manufacturing business of W L MARRIAN (PENS) LTD.

Other branches which sprang up in the 19th century, and still flourish, are those of Manchester, Baltimore (USA) and London. FRANCIS MARRIAN (XII. 7.), the first president of the Lithographic Artists' Association, left Birmingham to settle in Manchester, where his sons, ERNEST MARRIAN (XIII. 3.) and FRANCIS MARRIAN (XIII. 4.), were afterwards in business in the textile firm of LINDSAY & MARRIAN LTD.

The Baltimore branch was founded by JAMES ALFRED MARRIAN (XII. 10.), who emigrated in 1861 at the age of seventeen, and eventually became Town Clerk of Baltimore. He has descendants now living in Baltimore and New York.

Finally, JOHN MARRIAN (XI. 25.), of Bobbington, established a branch in London, which, by the end of the 19th century, had become the largest branch of the whole family. He was in business in the City as an Export & Import Merchant, living at Brondesbury House, Willesden. His son, JOHN MARRIAN (XII. 32.), succeeded him in the business; and mention should be made of two London firms of the next generation: FRY, MARRIAN & WELLS, merchants in trade with South America, of which CHARLES JOHN MARRIAN (XIII. 33.) was a partner; and MARRIAN, HARDWICK & CO., Insurance Brokers at Lloyds, of which FRANCIS WILLIAM WHITMORE MARRIAN (XIII. 36.) was principal. In more recent years, several of the London branch have become professional men, particularly in engineering and science.

6.         The Family Today

It has been impossible to speak of more than a few personalities among the very numerous members of the family in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the 110 living members in direct male descent from MARIAN DEPREY, we shall make no individual mention. The two World Wars have taken their toll of us, as of others. And the great changes of the present century have had the effect of spreading the family still more widely.

For instance, though branches still continue in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton and parts of Shropshire, some now live in various other places, including Ayr, Belfast, Bournemouth, Cambridge, Derby, Edinburgh, Kingston-on-Thames and Worcester. In addition, two branches have settled abroad, in Kenya and Natal.

Thus, we conclude this brief account of what we understand to be a small English offshoot of the large iron-working DEPRÉ family of Liège. The start of the 16th century saw our arrival in the Sussex Weald. The end of the 17th almost saw our extinction. After rallying in the 18th, we enlarged tremendously in the 19th, and, now in the 20th, are still in vigorous growth. Semper Floreamus!

Easter 1957                                                                                                                            FJMM

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The pedigree, as drawn out in charts A, B and C has been produced from the information contained in various documents and publications. Most of these references are reproduced in the following section, and they are listed here, generation by generation.

CHART A