This site contains information on the history of the Morley family descended from Henry Morley, a fisherman from Gorleston, Suffolk who was born in 1824. Use the links on the left to navigate to the various sections of the site. Please note that Gorleston is now in the county of Norfolk but I refer to it as being in Suffolk as that is how it is defined in Census and BMD records from the period.
When I moved from Pembrokeshire to Ipswich my Grandad told me that he was born in Gorleston which is about 40 miles up the coast. The Morley's can be traced back several generations as fishermen in Gorleston. They apparently owned a trawler and a fish shop in Gorleston where they sold the catch. My descent is from Henry Morley to Richard to Thomas (Tom), my great-grandfather, who moved to Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire where he married Jane Taylor. Tom seems to have moved between Gorleston and Milford a couple of times and died in Pembrokeshire in 1954.
Henry's father was also a Thomas Morley. My best guess as to his origins is that he was born in 1802 in Gorleston, son of Thomas Morley (b. approx 1775) and Susanna Woodrow. I suspect that Susanna died before 1816 (possibly during the birth of Caroline in 1815) when Thomas appears to have re-married to Nancy (or Ann ?) James – this marriage resulting in children Richard (b. 1818) and Eliza (b. 1819). This is based on some parish records, census info and other on-line family trees. If anyone can shed any light on this then please get in touch – my next move is to examine the Gorleston PRs in more detail. If you want to comment on this or provide any additional information then please contact me at
Update History 9 May 2008 - It's been a long time! Family Tree section updated with more info on all available censuses. More info on other families besides Morley. 13 Sept 2005 - Updated to include data from 1861 census and other new information. Some restructuring of the pages. 12 April 2005 - Various additional information added to the Ancestors, Descendants and All Relations pages. Diagrams yet to be updated to reflect these changes. 4 Jan 2005 - Additional preamble on this page. Gorleston, Oulton and Lowestoft PRs added to other records page. 17 Nov 2004 - Updates to My Ancestors, Descendants of Thomas Morley and All Relations. More detail on Spurgeon and Benefield families. Diagrams updated 29 Oct 2004 - Updates to 1841 and 1851 census transcriptions. 4 Oct 2004 - more detail added to Ancestors and Descendents pages (diagrams still to be updated). All relations link and pages added. 1 July 2004 - Other Records page added. 22 June 2004 - further detail and updates added to Ancestors and Descendents pages and diagrams 13th Jan 2004 - diagrams added
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