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Gee of Draycott

There were Gee in the Draycott/Cheadle area of Staffordshire from at least the mid-1600’s. This was a very early mining area, the surface extraction of coal here dates back to the time of Richard III. Copper extraction is less well documented, but certainly it began very early. The first transatlantic cable was spun from copper here.

There were Gee in the Draycott/Cheadle area of Stafford from at least the mid-1600’s. This was a very early mining area, the surface extraction of coal here dates back to the time of Richard III. Copper extraction is less well documented, but certainly it began very early. The first transatlantic cable was spun from copper here.

As we will see, descendants of Henry Gee d. 1545, Mayor of Chester, were at Wirksworth in Derbyshire in the late 1500’s/early 1600’s. They owned mines there, including a part of Bole Hill, at that time the largest lead mine in England.

Henry and his son Edmund were well to do merchants. Henry lived at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Roughly a quarter of all the land in England was suddenly available, and generally at rock bottom rates. Henry bought land and even manors in several locations.

He was trading iron by the ton in Manchester, which put him in touch with suppliers of iron and perhaps other metals. Quite possibly this line’s move to the Draycott/Cheadle area would have been around this time, this would fit the DNA evidence.

Henry’s wife second wife, was Elizabeth Sneyd. She was born in Bradwell, Staffordshire, just a couple of miles north of Stoke on Trent and not far from Draycott-on-the-Moors. Her family would have known that area intimately and would have been able to help find an investment for one of Elizabeth’s grandsons.

We know that she was young at Henry’s death, since she subsequently remarried, and that her son Edmond, also sheriff and mayor of Chester, died young and very unexpectedly. Her sister was Dame Jane Legh of Booths. Likely she would have had family help seeing to the financial security of her grandchildren.

The geology of Caverswall and surrounding area
Draycott and Caverswall are in the North Staffordshire Coalfield, which includes the Caverswall Field. At the time in question, mining would have been deposits on or near the surface. We know that some of the Gee of Manchester were living beside and possibly owned property where a coal seam surfaced at the bank of the River Tame, in Cheshire near Gee Cross.

The proximity to coal mining is possibly a coincidence but unusual. Fitting this with the DNA evidence, which shows two mutations difference between the two lines, suggests a common ancestor earlier than the mid-1600’s.

The earliest known ancestor of the participant in the DNA study is Thomas1 Gee, who with brothers Richard1 and John1 were born in the 1650's and subsequently appear in parish records in Draycott-in-the-Moors. Thomas1 married Mary Goodhall on 10 Feb 1684. Their son John2 was christened 24 Aug 1686 and married Rebecca ____ in Draycott. Their son John3 Gee was christened 22 Nov 1716 in Draycott. Their son Alexander4 married Ann Salt in Caverswall in 1750. They were living in Staffordshire, possibly in Cheadle or Draycott-in-the-Moors, when Philip5 was born on 29 Jan 1758.

Interestingly besides the Gee of Chester/Manchester connection, the DNA evidence shows a close relationship with a Gee family who moved to Maryland not long thereafter. Maryland was established during the reign of Queen Mary, and was designed to be a haven for Catholics.

The Draycott family was famously Catholic. Pursuing for a moment the Maryland connection and the idea that the Gee of Staffordshire may have been Catholic, then they may have been sheltering with the Draycotts to avoid religious persecution. For more information on this closely related line, see the discussion of Gee of Montomery Co., MD.

The DNA evidence shows an extremely close relationship between these lines, Gee of Manchester/Chester, Gee of Gee Cross and Gee of Virginia. They shared a common ancestor not long before mid-17C.


Place  Draycott-in-the-Moors 
Latitude  52.955359 
Longitude  -2.010389 
File name  Draycott-in-the-Moors St Margaret.jpg 
File Size  10.19k 
ID  76 
Dimensions  251 x 180 

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