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Where are they now? Help us trace present-day cousins.	St Augustine's Church, Northbourne
Beer

The family as we know it probably starts with Thomas Beer of Beaufield, who died in 1622 leaving a considerable estate including property in Whitfield, Guston and Dover. The early information is a little sketchy, being obtained mainly from the will of Thomas and from the Whitfield registers.

There is a gap of approximately 100 years before we get to the first confirmed ancestor, George Beere of Northbourne. It is the similarity of family names and the location that make us fairly certain that a direct link exists between these two men, but we have yet to find definite evidence of the intervening generations. However, the following evidence suggests a line of descent that we now need to confirm.

We have a baptism for a George Beer, son of George, at Barham, on 10 July 1645. This would fit in with the other information that we have relating to George of Northbourne, but needs to be confirmed. If we are right in this assumption, it could take us back another three generations (and another 100 years) to Thomas. This is the evidence to support this assumption:

George, son of Thomas, was baptised at Whitfield in 1587:

We have George marrying at Whitfield in 1609, aged 22:

We have a son, George, born in 1611, two years after his parents’ marriage. We know from the will of Thomas that he had a grandson called George, who was under 21 in 1622. We also know, from the same will, that George snr. was dead before 1622:

The assumption that we have to prove is that George (II) was residing for a time at Barham, before moving back to the family lands in Northbourne. He would have been 34 when George (III) was baptised at Barham:

If we are correct in our assumptions, George (III) would have been having his children at Northbourne between the ages of 32 an 41:

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Where are they now?

We are also trying to trace present-day descendants of some of the Beer families. The main areas of interest at the present are descendants of:

William John Thomas Beer:

William John Thomas Beer was the son of Edward James Beer and Ann (nee Nutting)

Billy Beer, as he was known professionally, was a pianist and entertainer. During the First World War, he became a Lance Corporal in the Royal Engineers, stationed for some time in Dover, where he gave a number of concerts for the troops.

He married Rosina Mary Herring of Folkestone and had two children: Albert and Vera; Vera was later to become part of his stage act. Where are his descendants now? We would love to contact them to find out more about this fascinating member of the family.  ** Thanks to an e-mail from one of Billy's grandchildren in Australia, we have now traced this family and visited another of his grandchildren in the UK.

Edward Albert Beer: c.1891 - 1917

Edward Albert Beer was the brother of William John Thomas. A 2nd Lieutenant in the RGA, he was killed in action in northern France in 1917. He left a wife and daughter in Australia. Again, we would love to contact any descendants of this member of the family, who died a hero of the Great War.  ** Thanks to a great niece of Edward we have now made contact with the family in Australia.

 

If you have any information that might help, or you can connect to this family, please e-mail:

bill<at>beer-genealogy.freeuk.com

Last updated 24/12/05