Life History

16th Sep 1805	Born in Harlesden, Middlesex.
28th Nov 1805	Christened in St Marylebone.
11th Nov 1835	Married Laurentia Buschman in St Pancras Old Church.
1837	Birth of son William Tillotson Drewry in Marylebone, Middlesex.
Dec 1838	Birth of son Charles Stewart Drewry.
12th Jan 1841	Birth of daughter Edith Stewart Drewry in 11, Cambridge St., Hyde Park, London.
28th Jan 1841	Death of son Charles Stewart Drewry in 11, Cambridge Street, Hyde Park, London.
1843	Birth of son Charles Stewart Drewry in Notting Hill.
1845	Birth of daughter Georgina Drewry in London, Middlesex.
1847	Birth of daughter Laurentia Drewry in London, Middlesex.
1848	Birth of daughter Emily Drewry in London, Middlesex.
Mar 1875	Death of Laurentia Buschman in Kensington.
3rd Sep 1881	Died in 1, Westbury Terrace, Paddington.

Notes

Shown as barrister on birth certificate of Edith, living at 11, Cambridge Street, Hyde Park. Charles Stewart Senior seems to have been an extremely able man, working as an engineering draughtsman in his early twenties on the plans for Clifton Suspension Bridge and then in his forties becoming a barrister at 77, Chancery Lane, London.
Died aged 76 (GRO number:  1a 3)

The parents entered here come from IGI records for the birth of Chas. Stewart Drewry on 16th Sept 1805 and christening on 28th Nov 1805.

Father's name also confirmed by Mike Chrimes in 'A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland', by A. W. Skempton
ISBN 072772939X

Mike Chrimes says that:Charles "was the author of the first textbook in the English language on suspension bridges, and indeed the only textbook devoted to the subject to be produced in the British Isles before the Second World War." (See below.)
Chrimes goes on to say: "It is unclear what prompted Drewry's work on suspension bridges. When he joined the Institution of Civil Engineers as an Associate in 1827 he was described as an engineering draughtsman and as such he helped Brown with his plans for Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1829 and dedicated his book to him. He had been educated at the Brussels Lyceee and had the education and intellectual capacity to come to terms with the mathematics involved. Soon after writing his work he must have begun legal training, being enrolled at the Inner Temple on 10th Jume 1836. He resigned from the Institution in 1842, presumably because of his legal career."

The dates could suggest that Charles' early interest in engineering may be due to his (admired/beloved) eldest brother's career in the Madras Engineers, and that his change of career is related to his brother's death. Whatever the reasons, it does appear that Charles was a most able man who was successful and almost certainly influential and respected in two completely separate careers.

In the 1851 census Charles and family are living at: 4, Park Row Kensington.
He is 45, a barrister, born in Willesden.
Laurentia is 43.(Born: 'West Indies Surinam')
Also in the house are

• William T Drewry, 14
• Edith Drewry, 10
• Charles S Drewry, 8
• Georgiana Drewry, 6
• Laurentia Drewry, 4
• Emily Drewry, 2
• Amelia Buschman, 48, Laurentia's sister. (Born in 'Surinam West Indies')
• and 3 servants: Ellen Holland, 23, Margaret Holland, 25, and Mary Wyatt, 28.

In the 1861 census the family is living at 12 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, and consists of:

• Charles S Drewry, 55, Chancery Barrister in actual practice.
• Laurentia Drewry 53
• Edith Drewry 20, SCholar Private Education
• Georgina Drewry, 16, ditto
• Laurentia Drewry, 14, ditto
• Emily Drewry, 12, ditto

In the 1871 census Charles and family are living at 16 Cottage Road, Paddington parish

• Charles S Drewry, 65, Barrister
• Laurentia Drewry, 63
• William T Drewry, 34, Clerk
• Edith Drewry, 30, Author
• Georgina Drewry, 26, Reader at Newspaper Office
• Laurentia Drewry, 24, ditto
• Emily Drewry, 22, Pianist

In the 1881 census the family is living at 1 Westbury Terrrace, Paddington

• Charles is 75, a widower and a 'Barrister Not Actually Practicing'
• Edith S. Drewry, 40, Novelist & Press Writer
• Georgina Drewry,36, Novelist & Press Writer Author Corrector Of Press
• Laurentia Drewry, 34, Author Corrector Of Press
• Amy Drewry, 32, Pianist Professor Of Music (has changed her name!)

Charles died that year.

Charles is reputed to have had something to do with Robert Peel in organising the english police force (created in 1829).

In the 1830's Charles developed and tested a design for a suspension bridge cable made from wooden links. ('Constructing a Bridge' By Eda Kranakis)

Charles Stewart Drewry, ' A Memoir on Suspension Bridges, Comprising the History of Their Origin and Progress, and of Their Application to Civil and Military Purposes' (1832)
This book is for sale at 'Bibliopoly' (Jan, 2007) for £680. The blurb says:
". The first comprehensive work on suspension bridges in English and one of the best sources on the early history of this type of structure. The major bridges built or projected, both in Britain and abroad, are described in detail from information supplied directly to Drewry from the engineers involved (he acknowledges Brown, Tierney Clark and I.K.Brunel)"

Some other writings by Charles Stewart Drewry, found on the Web::

Institution of Civil Engineers :File. Author: Drewry, C.S.
Account of a wire suspension bridge at Geneva - ref. O.C/136 - date: 1830?
And then:
A treatise on the law and practice of injunctions
London : S. Sweet, 1841.
A Treatise on the law and practice of injunctions
Philadelphia : J.S. Littell, 1842.
A concise treatise on the principles of equity pleading with precedents
London : Butterworths, 1858.
The law and practice of injunctions with a supplement containing the cases decided since 1841
London : S. Sweet, 1849.
The new practice of the Court of Chancery
London : Law Times Office, 1856.
Reports of cases decided in the High court of chancery : in 1850 [and 1852] by the Right Hon. Lord Cranworth [and Sir Richard Torin Kindersley Great Britain. Court of Chancery.
London : V. & R. Stevens and G. S. Norton, 1851-52.
Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, in 1852 [-1859] by Sir Richard Torin Kindersley, vice-chancellor Great Britain. Court of Chancery.
London ; V. & R. Stevens and G. S. Norton, 1853-60.
Supplement to the law and practice of injunctions containing the cases decided since 1841
Philadelphia : T. & J.W. Johnson, 1854.
Supplement to the law and practice of injunctions containing the cases decided since 1841
Philadelphia : T. & J.W. Johnson, 1854.
Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, 1859 to [1865] by Sir Richard Torin Kindersley, vice-chancellor.
By C. Stewart Drewry and J. Jackson Smale
Reports of cases decided in the High court of chancery, in 1850 [and 1852] by the Right Hon. Lord Cranworth [and Sir Richard Torin Kindersley.]
By Nicholas Simons [with some cases reported by C. Stewart Drewry].
Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, in 1852 [-1859] by Sir Richard Torin Kindersley, vice-chancellor.
By Charles Stewart Drewry Reports of cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, 1859 to [1865] ... by Sir Richard Torin Kindersley, vice-chancellor. Great Britain. Court of Chancery.
London, V. And R. Stevens, Sons, and Haynes, 1862-67.
The law of trade marks
London : Knight, 1878

GRO

Deaths Dec 1881 Kensington 1a 3 - Drewry Charles Stewart 76

Also found:

Deaths Jun 1888 - Drewry William 77 W. Ham 4a 33 (Would have been born abt. 1811, 5 years after Charles.)

Deaths Mar 1898 - Drewry William 81 Kensington 1a 71
This William Drewry would have been born abt.1817 - some 11 years after Charles.

Deaths Dec 1907 - Elizabeth Drewry 80 - Marylebone 1a 352 (born abt. 1827)

Marriage Date found in Pallot's Marriage Index via Ancestry.co.uk (Confirmed by Mike Chrimes in  'A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers'.)

Also:
A Stuart Drewry married Mary Cundell, 29 Sept. 1803, St. George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey, England.
(Found in familysearch.org - International Genealogical Index) Note that Edith and Laurentia are living in this parish in the 1901 census.