Leney family

Post date: Nov 27, 2015 1:35:16 PM

The following is a short summary of a family history paper prepared by Robert Colquhon in 2007 on the ancestry and descent of Abraham Leney (1783-1862). It is very professional with a dozen separate trees.

Thomas Layne (if e is pronounced sounds same as Leney), born in Picardy, and aged 34 years is recorded in the Huguenot Society's Letters of Denization and Acts of Naturalization for Aliens in England, 1509-1603. His wife was a Burgundian and they had 7 English born children. He worked in the King's Forge (i.e. iron manufarcture) at Newbridge, near Hartfield, East Sussex.

Some of the family moved the 10 miles to Speldhurst in Kent but kept in the iron trade, at least until its decline at the end of the 17th century,whilst others became farmers at this time back at Hartfield.

Abraham Leney (1783-1862) moved from Hartfield to Wrotham in 1815 and became the proprietor of a large boarding school. He leased Hognore Farm and became landlord at the Bull, a posting inn and brewery. He acquired this in 1833 when it was run by his sons Charles (c.1814- 1875) and Frederick (1818-1881).In 1836 he negotiated a lease on the brewery at Wateringbury, now run by Charles. This became the Phoenix Brewery in 1842. Frederick joined Charles there in 1847 but the two are said to have quarrelled and Charles left in 1859, the same year as his son, Alfred (1837-1900) bought the Dover Brewery.

Frederick's 3rd son was Augustus (1846-1915) who married Kate Green in 1874. Kate's brother Herbert Green became a director of Frederick Leney & Co, as well as being a director of his family paper-making business, J. Barcham Green & Son, Maidstone. Another director of the firm was Richard Tapply (1857-1927), younger brother of Harriet and William Tapply both of whom married Leneys. Richard joined firm in 1873; by 1889 was Brewery Manager, Director in 1896, Managing Director from 1918 until his death in 1927 when firm sold to Whitbread's.

Augustus' 6 children were Frederick Barcham (1876-1921), Leonard (1880 -?), Harold (1881-1909), Ronald John Barcham (1883-1965), Elinor Kate (1886-1973) and Bertram (1888-1918).