There seem to have been three Cropley brothers, all born in Little Bookham. They were as follows:

William 1855 lived Wyeth’s Road; James 1858 (2 Laburnum Road) and Charles c.1865 (lived 1 Laburnum Road). They were the sons of an agricultural labourer, but their elder brother, John, was a clerk of building works and I imagine that this is how they got into the trade. By 1881 all three boys were in Sussex (in different places), variously doing bricklaying and carpentry. I do not know if John was involved in the Epsom business, but he did become a builder: he died in 1904, then living in Leatherhead.

William married 1882 (Susannah) Augusta Barnes (c.1855-1929).

Child (one died before 1911) – Arthur (1887 Pimlico-1957).

Died 1941, then living Ewell Park.

James married 1880 Harriet Kersley Shepherd (1857-1933).

Children – Alice Mabel (c.1881 Handcross, Sussex-1939), married Edward William Bridgman; Nellie (c.1883 Handcross), married Lionel Gordon Crook; May Harvey (born and died 1886); Ethel (1888 Handcross-1950), married Clement Francis Cecil Priseman; Florence (c.1890 Handcross); Mildred Annie (1894 Walthamstow-1986?), married Frederick Haydn Norman; Leonard Eric J (1896 Walthamstow-1969), married Eveline Marion Lack; Dennis Harold William (c.1900 Walthamstow-1971), married Annie Polhill, daughter of local butcher Charles Polhill.

Died 2 May 1941, then living at 9 Laburnum Road.

Charles married 1892 Florence Charlotte Coles (1870-1953).

Children – Trefelyn Roland (1893 Walthamstow – killed in action 1917); Howard James (1900 Epsom-1979 Sutton district), builder and contractor, married Jessie Rhodesia Venus (1900-83).

Died 15 June 1949, then living at 11 Laburnum Road.

Cropleys (light coloured building on left)
Image courtesy of Bourne Hall Museum