The Yeo Society

Direct Descendants of William Yeo & Mary Weymouth, Coombeinteignhead, Torquay & Australia

Percy and Dorothy Yeo live in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Percy and I have been corresponding for many years and we are almost certain that he descends from the Rev. William Yeo of Totnes & Wolborough, but have yet to prove this

Percy's family

Notes by Percy, who also kindly sent me the photographs to include.

George (1775) appears in the 1851 census as a Greenwich pensioner aged 77 years, born at St Marychurch. His descendants in the U.S.A have him as having fought under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

George, jun., became a builder in Torquay and the 1851 census shows him as employing 12 men. Records show his address in Torquay as "Clairville" (1875), "Kent's Villa"(1880)until his death there in 1884. A brief note in the Torquay Directory shows him as being well respected, as he was 'followed to the grave by a long train of carriages filled with old and attached friends' This date of death was shown on the Memorial Plaque in the Babbacombe Street Wesley Church.

His son George Yeo was born in Torquay, Devon and first came to Australia some time prior to 1862 because on the 3rd March that year he married Mary Jane Manley, daughter of William Manley and Mary nee Hill. Mary must have died and George returned to Devon where he married Mary Grace Palk on the 14th October, 1865.

left is a photograph of George Yeo 1836 - 1915

right is a photograph of Mary Grace Yeo (nee Palk) 1845 - 1910

He was a partner in the firm of Yeo Bros, building contractors, of Upton Vale Terrace, Torquay until his departure for Brisbane, Australia in 1875. His brother Charles F Yeo, a chemist went with him and established a business in Brisbane, Australia. He died in 1898. George worked as a carpenter in Brisbane until 1890 when he took up a land selection in Wallumbilla, 300 miles west of Brisbane. He moved there by horse and dray, taking his youngest son Stanley, with him on the 3 weeks journey. He died in Wallumbilla in 1915 and is buried in that cemetry

left is a photograph of the wedding of Stanley (1883 - 1974) and Elizabeth Yeo (nee Muller) (1885 - 1975)

right is a photograph of the wedding of Percy & Dorothy (nee Hargens)

Direct Descendants of William Yeo & Mary Weymouth, Coombeinteignhead, Torquay & Australia

1 William Yeo 1721 -

.. +Mary Weymouth ...

......2 George Yeo 1775 - 1862

....... +Mary Sharland 1773 - 1857

.........3 George Yeo 1803 - 1884

............. +Elizabeth Fletcher 1811 - 1876

.............. 4 George Yeo 1836 - 1915

.................. +Mary Grace Palk 1845 -

.................... 5 Stanley Palk Yeo 1883 -

........................ +Elizabeth Maller

......................... 6 Percy Stanley Yeo 1924 -

Builders employed by R F Yeo (Richard Fletcher Yeo) pose amongst scaffolding with their delivery horse and cart during the building of the Church at Chelston Green, Torquay

Richard Fletcher Yeo was George's (1836 - 1915) brother..

Dear Sheila, I am descended from the Yeo's in Torquay, Devon. My great-grandfather was William Fletcher Yeo, who married Elizabeth Churchward. They Left England in 1869, and by way of Ontario, Canada, Michigan, and Nebraska, eventually ended up in western Oregon. They had a total of 14 children, one of whom died in infancy and another as a young man. I have some very limited information back as far as the William Yeo born about 1730. I have been in contact James Low (Ontario, Canada), Percy Yeo (Australia), Donald Goodrich (Oregon), and Caroline Johnston (California). Donald and Caroline are both second cousins. Percy is a cousin also, but without checking my records, I can't remember if he's a second cousin, or a second cousin once removed. Also have some information of Owen David (Australia) sent to me by Percy. I also contacted some Yeo's in Ontario several years ago, but haven't so far made a connection to their line. Also, my grandfather Lane was born on Prince Edward Island, but I haven't found a connection to that line either. Your name has been mentioned to me several times, but I have not contacted you previously - not by intent but just haven't taken the time. I have accumulated a lot of information by personal research as well as from the ones mentioned above. If you are interested, I would be glad to send an outline of the family as I have it, and if want documentation or further details on anyone, that could be sent on request. I know you are a very busy person, with all the contacts you have through your one-name society. Hopefully, you will have time for a reply. Anna May (Lane) Tetreau 81 Fairbairn Road Montesano, WA 98563-9740 USA e-mail: annt@olynet.com

Caroline's Tree

Caroline has done a tremendous amount of research on the William Yeo & Elizabeth Churchward branch. She has also been a very active transcriber for the 1891 Census Project. She came over to Devon a few years ago and we had a fantastic time tracing the family roots in Torquay and Coombeinteignhead. We lost contact and today, thanks to John Arnold Yeo connecting us, I received this e-mail

----- Original Message ----- From: caroljohn@sbcglobal.net To: 'Sheila Yeo' Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 1:11 AM Subject: RE: Hi Caroline Dear Shiela: I am so delighted to hear from you. I have been terribly remiss in doing any research. I think the last thing I did was after visiting Percy last year. The whole Australian Yeo bunch were so nice to us and we had a wonderful time. I have very fond memories of my visit with you. How much did I leave with you? I don't remember how extensive my chart was. I would appreciate your adding my name to your list of researchers. I will try to get some photos together to send to you. I do have quite a few more of sisters and brothers of William Henry that you probably don't have. I emailed John Yeo and am looking forward to hearing from him soon. I hope all this contact all at once will get me going again. I am in a computer/genealogy group now. They are very knowledgable and willing to help. My current problem is that all my prior work was on the Mac and now I have a PC and have been having difficulty getting to transferred. My Yeo's are done, however. Let me know what you can use. Caroline

1 William Yeo 1721 -
.. +Mary Weymouth
.. 2 George Yeo 1775 - 1862
....... +Mary Sharland 1773 - 1857
...... 3 George Yeo 1803 - 1884
........... +Elizabeth Fletcher 1811 - 1876
........... 4 William Fletcher Yeo 1839 - 1909
................ +Elizabeth Churchward 1840 -
............... 5 William Henry Yeo 1862 - 1920
.................... +Lena Martha Henrich 1874 -
.................... 6 Elsie Viola Yeo 1911 -
......................... +Wilbur Henry Elliott 1913 -
........................ 7 Caroline Easter Elliott 1933 -
............................+Richard Ellis Johnston

From: Margaret Hart To: Sheila Yeo Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 4:24 AM Subject: Making contact again. Hi! We have reconnected to the internet after all this time. We have a new address, amhart@dodo.com.au .We are both well. I hope you are well, also.Bye for now. Yes, you can add me to your researchers list. I'm having to learn all about the internet again, it is so long since we were on the net.

Margaret's tree
1 George Yeo 1803 - 1884
.. +Elizabeth Fletcher 1811 - 1876
.. 2 George Yeo 1836 - 1915
....... +Mary Grace Palk 1845 -
...... 3 Elsie Palk Yeo 1886 - 1951
........... +Albert Hewitt
........... 4 Myrtle Elsie Hewitt 1912 -
................ +Philip Henry Collins
............... 5 Margaret Collins