In Part 1 we followed the Woollam silk dynasty of St Albans through strategic marriages into the Townsend family, eventually reaching a diplomat, an admiral, and a celebrity photographer of the Rolling Stones. Now we trace the Eyres line backwards — from imperial service and Norfolk estates to its origins in 18th-century London commerce.
The Eyres Brothers: Diplomat and Admiral
Harry Charles Augustus Eyres (1856–1944) and Cresswell John Eyres (1862–1949) were brothers who married sisters from the Townsend family — Penelope Louisa and Rose Nankivell Townsend respectively.
Harry became a distinguished British diplomat, serving in various postings before being recalled from retirement to act as Britain’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the newly independent Albania in the 1920s. Cresswell pursued a long naval career, rising to the rank of Admiral and earning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and CBE.
Their Father: Rev. Charles Eyres of Norfolk
The diplomat and admiral brothers were sons of the Reverend Charles Jubilee Eyres (1809–1876), born at Lynford Hall near Mundford just weeks before the Golden Jubilee of King George III. Charles served as a clergyman at Great Melton in Norfolk for many years.
In 1851 he married Henrietta Maria Bullock at St Mary’s, Bryanston Square, London. Henrietta was the daughter of Lt. Colonel Jonathan Bullock (1773–1860) of Faulkbourne Hall, Essex. Jonathan was a respected member of the Essex gentry who inherited Faulkbourne Hall and its 600-acre estate near Witham in 1809 following the death of his uncle, Colonel John Bullock (1731–1809), the long-serving MP known as “Father of the House of Commons.” Jonathan served as High Sheriff of Essex in 1837, JP, and Deputy Lieutenant of the county.
Charles and Henrietta had three sons and three daughters. Their third son entered the clergy. Two daughters remained unmarried. Their daughter Rose Alice married Reginald Eden Johnston, a Brazil merchant (coffee imports) who later became Governor of the Bank of England (1909–1911).
George Robert Eyres: The Norfolk Landowner
Rev. Charles’s father, George Robert Eyres (c.1774–1851), was the pivotal figure who firmly established the family among the Norfolk gentry. In 1805 he purchased Lynford Hall near Mundford. He was also closely associated with Cavenham House in the parish of Wereham, which 19th-century directories described as “the ancient seat of the family of Eyres.”
George Robert married Louisa Grace Parker, granddaughter of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, thereby linking the family to one of England’s leading naval dynasties (the Parker baronets of Melford Hall, Suffolk). While the Eyres owned and resided at Cavenham House, they did not hold the lordship of the Manor of Cavenham itself.
George Robert and Louisa had several children, including two notable sons who continued the family’s military tradition:
- George William Eyres (c.1801–1865) served as a Captain (later Lieutenant-Colonel) in the Grenadier Guards before becoming Chief Constable of the West Suffolk Constabulary (Bury St Edmunds area) in the early 1850s. He retired from the post in February 1852. He married Louisa Elizabeth Rushbrooke, daughter of Lt. Colonel Robert Rushbrooke. Their daughter Sophia Georgina Eyres (1847–1911) married Admiral Sir George Digby Morant(KCB, RN) in 1866.
- Harry Eyres (1802–1860) served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He married Ellen Jane Parker in 1838 but the couple had no children. After Harry’s death, his widow remarried Rear Admiral George Thomas Gordon in 1865 at St George’s, Hanover Square.
In 1826, George Robert’s daughter Sophia Eyres (1806–1855) married Nathaniel Clarke Barnardiston at Wereham Church. The couple raised their nine children at The Ryes, a handsome Georgian house in Little Henny, Essex.
George Bolton Eyres: East India Company Major-General
George Robert’s father was George Bolton Eyres (c.1735–1797), who had a highly successful military career with the Honourable East India Company’s Bengal Army. He rose to the rank of Major-General after approximately 35 years of service. He married Anna Harris (in India) and had at least one son, George Robert, who used the family’s accumulated wealth to establish the Norfolk gentry branch.
The London Merchant Roots
The story begins in the commercial heart of East London. George Bolton Eyres was the son of George Eyres (1712–1755), a wine merchant of Ratcliff (Stepney), whose memorial inscription survives in Barking Church.
The family history here becomes more nuanced. George the wine merchant married Sarah Field in August 1740. However, George Bolton was born around June 1735 — five years earlier. Sarah’s 1772 will leaves the substantial sum of £1,000 to “Captain George Bolton Eyres” but uses relatively formal language and directs her primary bequests toward her own Field family relatives. This evidence strongly suggests that George Bolton was an acknowledged son born to George Eyres before his marriage to Sarah, possibly with a mother surnamed Bolton (which would explain the middle name).
At the head of the direct male line stands Robert Eyres (c.1679–1739), a London vintner of St Botolph Aldgate / Stepney. A mid-18th-century portrait traditionally identified as “Robert Eyres of Cavenham House, Wereham” survives, reflecting long-standing family tradition linking the London merchant line to the later Norfolk estates.
Social Mobility Across Generations
The Eyres family’s journey — from London wine merchants, through the opportunities of East India Company service, to Norfolk landed gentry, and onward into high-ranking naval and diplomatic roles — exemplifies 18th- and 19th-century social mobility. The pattern of military and public service, reinforced by strategic marriages into naval and gentry families (Parker, Rushbrooke, Bullock, and others), is particularly striking.
Conclusion: Threads Across Centuries
From the wine vaults of Ratcliff to the silk mills of St Albans, from Norfolk estates to the courts of diplomacy and the decks of the Royal Navy, and finally to the camera lens of 1960s Swinging London, the intertwined Woollam–Townsend–Eyres–Sivewright families demonstrate how talent, opportunity, resilience, and well-chosen marriages could shape destinies over two centuries.