THE CHERRY FAMILY IN BEFAST
The Cherry family is thought to have come north from southern Ireland during The Troubles. This takes some guesswork though based on meagre references online.
Other online references show some of this name already in the north at the time so we cannot be certain about our Cherrys.
This source https://forebears.io/surnames/cherry#meaning gives more ancient origins and also indicates Cherry family in east Ulster which may be of some significance. Also of note are references to this name in Ayrshire which could indicate similar origins as our Crawfords in Ireland. But while these may lead us in a direction of research, we must not jump to conclusions without it.
Hugh Crawford married Anna Catherine Cherry (also known as Catherine Cherry, although subsequently known as Anna).
Anna's parents were :
- father - William Cherry
- mother - Elizabeth Cherry (nee Paton)
We pick up on her under CRAWFORD, ANNA.
At this point I have lost track of the Cherry family. Until recently when I was shown notes of Hugh Wells which mentions "Great Aunt and Great Uncle Cherry" - South Africa. This is a thread that I have not been able to follow up, but it appears that they had settled in Kentani once "Great Uncle Cherry" had retired from being a magistrate in Transkei. He is noted by Hugh as Anna's brother; her twin. But we don't know which brother and didn't, until these notes came to light, that she even had a twin. (It is said that Anna, my maternal grandmother came out to South Africa to nurse a sister. But was it a sister-in-law?).
"Cherry" is thought to derive from "cherise" in French, but for our purposes is English. Did they arrive in Ireland in a similar way to the Crawfords?
This website https://houseofnames.com/cherry-family-crest notes :
Cherry is a name that was carried to England in the great wave of migration from Normandy following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Cherry family lived in Lincolnshire. They are descended from the line of the House of De Cheries, Seigneurs of Brauvel, Beauval, in Normandy, near Avranches. The name Cherry is derived from the Anglo Norman French word, cherise, which means cherry,
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X) and was probably used to indicate a landmark, such as a cherry tree, which distinguished the location bearing the name.
Early Origins of the Cherry family
The surname Cherry was first found in Derbyshire, The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list William Chirie.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6) A few years later in 1284, the Assize Rolls of Lancashire list Rober Chyry. The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk list Richard Chery in 1524.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Later in that same website there is a tantalising reference to Sarah Cherry "alias Kerr", Scottish convict from Ayr, who was transported aboard the "Anna Maria" on October 4, 1851.. to Australia. (Just one of several who emmigrated by choice or force). Note the place of origin being Ayr. I am not suggesting that this Cherry is our ancestor, but that Ayr in Scotland is a possible origin and they may even have known our Crawfords if my guess that they also came from there. We don't know Anna Maria's crime, but do know that these were desperate times with even minor crimes eg stealing food could lead to transportation. Some may simply have moved the very much shorter distance across to Ireland to seek new opportunities.
As for William Cherry, we find a reference to him having a disability from involvement on the Western Front in the Royal Army Service Corps. (As the name is not that common, it is presumed a correct reference).
