The Welsh Saints Project

Given Name: George
Surname: Obray

Gender: Male

Birth date: 1 September 1815

Birth place:
English Spelling: Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Welsh Spelling: Doc Penfro, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Death date: 13 August 1879

Death place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Burial date: August 1879

Burial place:

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Father: John Barnett Obray
Mother: Eleanor Allen

Siblings

Edwards, Mary (1815-1870)

Married 13 February 1836 in Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales* Penfro, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Children

Edwards, Elizabeth Mary Maria (1815-1870)

Married 13 February 1836 in Wales

George, son of John and Elenor Awbrey of Pater, St. Mary’s parish, Pembrokeshire was baptized 22 September 1816 by Wm. Phillips, Chaplain. His father, John was listed as a shipwright. No age was given for George; however, his death record suggests he was born about 1814.

In 1841, George Obray, age 25, joiner, resided on Clarence Street, at Pemboke Dock. In the household were his wife, Mary [nee Edwards], age 20; son John, age 3; and daughter, Mary, age 5 months. By 1851, George Aubrey, age 36, carpenter, was living near Merthyr Tydfil in Ystradyfodwg (Aberdare subdistrict) in the ecclesiastical parish of Llandaff, Glamorgan. With him were his wife, Mary, age 36, born in Carmarthenshire; John, age 12, smith; Mary, age 10, student; and Samuel, age 6. In 1861, George Obray, age 46, ship carpenter was living at Minster parish, Sheerness, Kent with his wife Mary, age 46 and four children: John, 23, blacksmith; Mary Jane, 20, nursemaid; Samuel, 16, blacksmith; and Ellen, 6, scholar.

Due to layoffs at the dockyards in England, the British government began helping people emigrate. George applied to the Toronto Emigration Office for assistance to travel to Canada. He, his wife Mary, and two daughters left London 29 July 1869 and arrived in Quebec on board the ship Medway the 14th of August. His wife, Mary died somewhere during the journey to Utah. We find George and his daughters in Salt Lake City in 1872 where Mary Jane and Ellen were married. Mary Jane became the plural wife of William Nash Thomas (see William Nash Thomas autobiography) and Ellen the wife of James Bishop. George’s two sons also emigrated: John and his wife Rebecca Skinner eventually located near Bear Lake, Idaho, while the youngest son, Samuel was living at Plattsmouth, Cass County, Nebraska with his wife in 1870.

On 10 March 1873, a Sarah Obray, plaintiff, petitioned the court for a divorce from George Obray stating a marriage between them had taken place 15 January 1873 at Paradise, Cache County, Utah Territory.5 George Obray died in October 1880 at Cache County, Utah at the age of 67, where he had been a farmer.