St. Mary's Churchyard in Leigh, Kent, England

St Mary's Church in Leigh, Kent, England is where we found the following gravestones of our ancestors.

Gravestone of John Nye (1817) and wife Fanny
Son of Richard and Elizabeth Nye

Transcription of the stone of John Nye (1817) son of Richard and Elizabeth Nye and John's wife Fanny:

IN

LOVING MEMORY

OF JOHN NYE

DIED MARCH 15_____

AGED 68

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHICH______

ALSO OF

FANNY

Gravestone of Richard Nye (1809) son of Richard and Elizabeth.

Transcription of the headstone of Richard Nye (1809) son of Richard and Elizabeth. He never married.

TO

THE MEMORY OF

RICHARD

SON OF

RICHARD AND ELIZABETH NYE

OF THIS PARISH

WHO DIED AUG 25 185__

___ AND PRAY FOR Y____

_HEN THE TIME IS

Michael Bouy searching for Nye headstones.
The architecture of the present building suggests St. Mary's was rebuilt in the 13th century. It is still in use today.

We searched here for Nye graves. Most of the headstones had been destroyed over the many years by lichen and weather, but we were fortunate to find the stone of Richard Nye (1782) and his wife Elizabeth Avis. 

Gravestone of Richard and Elizabeth Nye (1782)

Transcription of the headstone of Richard and Elizabeth Nye:

RICHARD NYE

WHO OF PAR DIED THIS ___

OF ____ 22 _____

AGED _____

ALSO ELIZABETH

WIFE OF THE ABOVE

WHO DIED ________

AGED 76 YEARS

John Nye and Charlotte Osborne

Our ancestors John Nye and Charlotte Osborne were parents to seven children:

• John Nye
• Emma Nye
• James Nye
• Charles Nye
• Ephraim Hesmer Nye
• Stephen Nye
• Osborne Nye (born in Australia)

John Nye (b. 1807) was the son of John Nye (b. 1783) and Anne Randall. He was the oldest brother to Thomas Cotton Nye, Ann Nye, and Sophia Nye.

Charlotte Osborne was the daughter of Reuben Osborne and Charlotte Hesmer. Her sister Frances Osborne later married John Nye's cousin, William Nicholls (son of Grace Nye, who was the sister of John Nye b. 1783).

John and Charlotte Nye and the first six children left England to find a better life in Australia, landing in Portland, Victoria in 1851 after 3 months at sea. Osborne, their seventh child, was born at Mt. Rouse, Victoria where the family worked on a sheep station owned by Matthew Gibb.

During the Australian gold rush, the family leased a home in Warrnambool and a farm in Wangoom, Victoria and began hauling goods from the port to the gold mines in Ballarat and Bendigo, becoming quite prosperous.

Suddenly, in 1858, the family made the momentous decision to sell everything they owned and start walking to Sydney with a goal of migrating to the USA. Halfway to Sydney they became bogged down by the weather and spent the winter in Beechworth, Victoria. Misfortune befell them, the family split up, and some headed for South America while the others made plans to go to California.

Two years later the family was reunited near San Francisco, California, and travelled by wagon train to Utah.

Their extraordinary adventures have been thoroughly researched and compiled in a compelling book. Readers have said they cannot put it down and descendants of the family should not be without their own copy.

Email my son Michael Bouy at michael.bouy@gmail.com for your copy. Many of our family members have bought extra books for their children as meaningful holiday or anniversary gifts, sharing the extraordinary journey of the Nye family from Kent.