Shivaun's Family Tree Website

Bryant family

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 Part 3: Elizabeth Bryant (1834 - 1868)

Elizabeth Bryant was the fourth of five daughters of Edward Bryant and Elizabeth Pearson. She grew up in Bristol, England, and for much of her childhood lived above the family shop at 43 College Street Bristol, England. Her father was a grocer and bonded stores merchant, mainly dealing with the busy local shipping industry. It is very likely that this was how she (and her sisters) met their future spouses.

Elizabeth, known as ‘Lily’, was born 15 September 1834 and was christened at the non-conformist Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel 05 October 1834. She married Norwegian ship owner Wilhelm Anton Schwartz (1825 - 1902) 27 June 1857 at the parish church of nearby Shirehampton, where the family lived at the time. Wilhelm was eleven years older than Lily. She returned with him to live in Drammen, Norway.

It must have been difficult adjusting to a new culture and language though she was probably lucky in that her mother-in-law was half-English and most likely bilingual. Her husband might well have had a flair for the language, too.

It was probably a happy marriage and in 1858, their first son Edvart (Edward) Hans Jørgen was born, followed by Marie (Maria) Cathrine (1859), Elisabeth (1861) and Johan (John) August (1864). (More information appears in the Schwartz family pages about them.)

Sadly, Lily died 25 July 1868, aged only 33. The cause of death was listed as 'krampeslag' – an old-fashioned medical term for convulsive fitting. Wilhelm remarried in 1870. Elizabeth was always referred to by her children and their half-siblings as 'Mama Lily'. [1]

Elisabeth 'Lily' Schwartz née Bryant.

It is possible the photograph was taken soon after Lily's marriage as the wedding band on her finger is very prominent.

'Mama Lily' with son Edvart 

Footnotes

[1] England and Wales Census 1841, 1851 (Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.com); General Registry Office (GRO) certificates; www.Familysearch.org; Norwegian digitised parish records (Norwegian National Archives http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read)