Derry Line — Emigrated to America

Thomas Derry Sr.

1808 – 1866

Needs research

Kyle DerryWyn DerryJack C. DerryErnest A. DerryAlbert M. DerryThomas Derry Jr.Thomas Derry Sr.

Life

Thomas Derry Sr. was born in 1808 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England — the son of Daniel Derry of Gresley Row. He was a farmer, like his father before him and his son after him. He emigrated from England to America, settling in New York, where his grandson Albert M. Derry was later born (Albert is recorded elsewhere in this archive as Thomas Jr.'s son). Thomas died in New York in 1866 — never making it to Michigan, where his son Thomas Jr. would eventually settle and die in 1901. A county history says Thomas Sr., his wife Mary A. (Johnson) and their son Thomas Jr. emigrated in 1854 and settled in Wayne County, New York. That is the pivotal journey that made the Derry family American. The sources found say only that he and his wife were natives of England; Lichfield, Staffordshire comes from family records and is unconfirmed. His death in 1866 in New York means he witnessed the Civil War years as a relatively new immigrant.

Timeline

1808
Born1808 — Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
1866
Died1866 — New York, USA

Claims in the record

Born Needs research1808 — Lichfield, Staffordshire, England

Died Probable1866 — New York, USA

Occupation ProbableFarmer

Father Needs researchDaniel Derry (~1782, Gresley Row, Lichfield, Staffs)

Son Needs researchThomas Derry Jr. (b. 1832, Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire)

Grandson ProbableAlbert M. Derry (b. New York; recorded elsewhere in this archive as Thomas Jr.'s son)

Migration ProbableEngland → Wayne County, New York, in 1854, with his son Thomas Jr. (1884 album)

Note ProbableDied New York 1866 — never reached Michigan where his family settled

Wife ProbableMary A. Johnson (1884 Gratiot County album; both natives of England)

Places

England — Hartle Origin Lichfield, Staffordshire, England Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire, England

Research next

The family left England in 1854 and lived in Wayne County, New York. Test his 1866 death: the 1860 US census for Wayne County and New York death records. In England: the 1841 and 1851 censuses and baptism registers. Cambridgeshire (where his son was born) may be the family's home rather than Lichfield.