Mary Ann Mears

Mary Ann Mears, 1905, age 90

Mary Ann Mears, daughter of Nicholas Mears (1791-1831) and Mary Ann Browning (1796-1883), was born in Kent County, England on February 20, 1815. She was christened on March 20, 1815 in Ashford, Kent, England.

Kent County, United Kingdom

Mary Ann married Giles Bartholomew Smith Ray on October 5, 1835. The couple had nine children together. Their children were well-educated and proper.

Mary Ann joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1854. Her daughter, Mary Ann Ray joined in 1860, and her son, William in 1865. A year later, William, his wife and sister, Mary Ann Ray, left for America.

Giles died in 1864, leaving Mary Ann with several young children and she remained in England. At 65 (about 1880) she remarried a 63-year old man named Abraham Mannering.

Mary Ann Mears Mannering died June 23, 1906 in Chilham Lees, Kent, England ath the age of 91.

Giles Bartholomew Smith Ray

Kent County, United Kingdom

Giles Bartholomew Smith Ray, son of William Ray (born 1781) and Elizabeth Smith (born 1770), was born in 1807. He was christened on October 25, 1807 in Faversham, Kent, England.

In 1835 at the age of 28, he married Mary Ann Mears (1815-1906). At this time he was a mariner. The couple lived in several towns in Kent County including: Preson, Brent Town, Faversham and Whitstable. At Whitstable, he worked as an Oyster Dredger.

Giles and Mary Ann had nine children. (Click HERE for post on his daughter, Mary Ann Ray.)

Giles died on December 26, 1864 in Faversham, at the age of 57.