Comlay Records from the Census - 1881, 1901 February  2003
Details on this page are taken from the following sources
The UK Public Records 1901 Census site http://www.census.pro.gov.uk/
and the online 1881 / 1851 Census database at http://www.censusuk.co.uk
 
 
Comlay - 1901

The 1901 census shows a total of 16 Comlays in the United Kingdom, all of them located within the city of Portsmouth.  If your surname is Comlay, then the chances are that you are descended from one of these households and related to us. 

It seems likely that the previous generation either deliberately or inadvertently changed the spelling of the family name from Comley, a more common name across the UK at this time. (More on this to follow)

The Comlays in 1901 are listed below, divided between four Portsmouth households.

36 Railway View

Civil Parish - Portsmouth
Ecclesiastical Parish - St. Mary with St Barnabas
County Borough - Portsmouth
Ward - Fratton
Parliamentary Borough - Portsmouth
Town - Portsmouth
 
 Name
Relation
Status
Age
Where born 
Occupation
 James H Comlay
 Head
Married
53
Hants, Portsmouth 
 Shipwright
 Jane A Comlay
Wife 
Married
54
 Hants, Portsmouth 
 
 James H Comlay
Son 
Single
19
 Hants, Portsmouth 
Boilermakers apprentice
 Hannah J Comlay
Daughter 
Single
16
 Hants, Portsmouth 
Dressmaker
Jane J Comlay
Daughter 
Single
16
 Hants, Portsmouth 
Under clothing maker
Arthur T Comlay
Son
Single
15 
 Hants, Portsmouth
Plumbers apprentice
Victoria M Comlay
Daughter
Single
13
 Hants, Portsmouth
 
Florence L Comlay
Daughter
Single
12
 Hants, Portsmouth
 

(n.b. The Havant Comlays are descended from Arthur Thomas Comlay)

1 Northbrook Street

Civil Parish - Portsmouth
Ecclesiastical Parish - St. Mary
County Borough - Portsmouth
Ward - Charles Dickens
Parliamentary Borough - Portsmouth
Town - Portsmouth
 
 
 Name
Relation
Status
Age
Where born 
Occupation
 Albert Comlay
 Head
Married
43
 Hants, Portsmouth
Driller H.M. Dockyard 
 Annie Comlay
Wife
Married
35
 Essex, Colchester
 
 Daisey Comlay
Daughter
Single
12
 Hants, Portsmouth
 

59 Stamford Street (Which seems to have been a Tavern)

Civil Parish - Portsmouth
Ecclesiastical Parish - St. Mary with St Barnabas
County Borough - Portsmouth
Ward - Fratton
Parliamentary Borough - Portsmouth
Town - Portsmouth
 
 Name
Relation
Status
Age
Where born 
Occupation
 John Comlay
 Head
Married
59
Hants, Portsmouth 
 Shipwright
 Mary E Comlay
Wife 
Married
60
 Hants, Portsmouth 
Tavern Keeper 
Elizabeth Comlay
Daughter 
Single
18
 Hants, Portsmouth 
 

41 Shakespear Road 

Civil Parish - Portsmouth
Ecclesiastical Parish - St. Mary
County Borough - Portsmouth
Ward - Buckland
Parliamentary Borough - Portsmouth
Town - Portsmouth
 
 Name
Relation
Status
Age
Where born 
Occupation
 Ann A Comlay
 Head
Married
30
Hants, Portsmouth 
 Shipwright
Leonard J H Comlay
Son
Single
3
 Hants, Portsmouth 
 

Comlay - 1881 

Twenty years earlier, in 1881, there were just 5 recorded Comlays in the entire UK Census, a single family living at 7 Havant Road, Portsea, Hampshire, as recorded below. Intriguingly, none of these tally with the families present in Portsmouth in 1901. While there were only 5 Comlays in the UK in 1881, there were several hundred Comleys, and a few Comlys. However, initial attempts to cross reference the 1901 Comlay families with the 1881 Comley families have so far proved impossible. 

So, the earliest documented Comlay family looks like this:
 
 Name
Relation
Status
Age
Where born 
Occupation
 William Comlay
 Head
Married
41
Landport
Hampshire
 
 Margaret Comlay
Wife 
Married
43
West Indies 
 
 Margaret Ann Comlay
Daughter
Single
11
 Landport
Hampshire 
 
 William Comlay
Son
Single
7
 Landport
Hampshire 
 
Sarah Jane Comlay
Daughter 
Single
2
 Landport
Hampshire 
 

Comlay / Comley / Comely / Comly 
Vital Records, Births & Marriages - 1546 - 1901

Exploring the digitised records for the UK, shows just two Comlay records - two children born in the village of Cliffe Pypard (aka Clyffe Pypard or White Cleeve) in Wiltshire. 
 

Relationship
Name
Date 
Recorded in
Child
Jane Comlay
6 June 1830
Cliffe Pypard, Wiltshire
Father
James Comlay
(Christening)
Mother
Mary
 

 
Relationship
Name
Date 
Recorded in
Child
Jacob Comlay
5 May 1833
Cliffe Pypard, Wiltshire
Father
James Comlay
(Christening)
Mother
Mary
 

Neither child appears on the later 1881 and 1901 census, however a detailed search of the records available online shows a significant number of Comleys in Wiltshire. More remarkably, there are 110 registrations of birth for Comley in the Parish of Cliffe Pypard alone, starting with Anne Comley in 1778 (Daughter of William & Elizebeth) and finishing in 1874 with the birth of Charles (Son of Thomas and Fanny). By the 1901 census, the name seems to have died out in the village.

The village of Clyffe Pypard
as it appears on the map today

More Comleys on the OS map of Havant - 1853, above - 2000, below

 
Site Contents (layout) © Bob Comlay  2003
Contains data from
UK 1881 & 1901 National Census Records © UK Public Records Office, 
Vital Records © 1998, 2001 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Maps © 1853, 2000 by Ordnance Survey
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