I am descended from Edward Garey (1777-1851), born in Stockbridge, Hants (sometimes spelled Geary or Gary). He moved to London and was a carpenter in the Shoreditch area. His son Henry William (born Bishopsgate1813) was a whip maker, and his son, also Henry William (1837-1901), a stick carver who moved to one of the new walking stick factories in the Stroud area from about 1870 to 1890. Brother Walter Eastmead Garey (1843-1867) was an ivory turner in London, and another brother, Richard Thomas, a stick carver who also went to the Stroud factory around 1870 and stayed there. He was my gg grandfather.
Another family of perhaps related Gareys descended from stick dresser William (born 1810), through son William Alfred (Shoreditch1837-1917), also a stick dresser, to his son (another William Alfred, 1860-1887), a walking stick maker again in Shoreditch, and brother Walter (1870-1938) a walking stick filer.
So it seems that a good basis of carpentry skills could be turned to more delicate objects such as whips, ivory, and dressed walking sticks. Richard Thomas's son Marcus George, my grandfather, was also a wood pattern maker at the Baker Perkins factory in Peterborough. So the line continued.
What I would like to know is whether these two families of stick makers are related. Can anyone help? Thanks
Laurence
