Hi Wima - don't give up on this or even put it in the too hard basket for a while
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Just remember that there have been many ways found to skin a cat and even though the cat don't like it much he plays the game if he thinks it is for a good cause! ;D
We have some information so let's look at what we have and form a plan of attack around it.
We have the name Tobias Lanyon Gray and there is a record in FamilySearch for the baptism of Tobias Lanyon Gray at Redruth 24th October 1779 to parents John and Sarah.
I would consider it fairly unusual for 1779 to see two Christian names. Usually I would associate that with an illegitimate child or perhaps with someone of means but there are other options.
If you search what FamilySearch/IGI has to offer you will find that there were more children baptised to John and Sarah Gray at Redruth:-
Sarah bp. 10th May 1772
Ann bp. 11th April 1774
John bp. 10th August 1777
John bp. 23rd June 1782
The first John was buried at Redruth 17th January 1780 and recorded as 'child of John'.
From this we now know that Tobias Lanyon Gray was the fourth of five known children which would seem to rule out the illegitimacy option and as he was the only child with two Christian names I don't think the family was quite 'of means and standing'.
But before getting too carried away perhaps we should think about the parents of these children.
I have enough resources to have been able to find:-
John Gray and Sarah Battral, both of Redruth, were married 4th February 1771 at Redruth
Witnesses were Wm. Smith and
Richard GrayNow we have a nice little family and we also have some clues to work with.
Perhaps the best clue here is the fact that one of the witnesses was a Richard Gray and it would be reasonable to expect that Richard might be either the father or a brother to John.
John Gray was not an uncommon name in the area so a bit of work might be involved but at least it might be possible to narrow the list down without too much difficulty.
The marriage occurred in 1771 so I would consider setting some parameters to work within. You can always expand the search later if necessary.
I would start with allowing John to be as young as 18 and perhaps as old as 40 when he married so you would need to search between about 1730 and 1753.
Make a list of all John Grays you can find baptised within those years and note the names of the parents.
If you find a John with Richard as the father make sure you highlight the entry.
Then you need to check for a baptism for Richard Gray. If John was son of Richard then there is a good chance he would also have a brother Richard so that would be a good way of cross-checking.
Once you have compiled the list check for possible marriages to see if perhaps the name Lanyon is involved.
But don't forget Sarah and also don't forget that her surname (Battral) is probably a variation of Bottrell.
I am more inclined to think that this is where a Lanyon connection might be found but you need to explore all possibilities.
At least the number of baptisms for Sarah Bottrell (var.) should not be as large as that for John Gray.
A time-span for a possible baptism for Sarah can be reasonably set so that no expansion is necessary.
I always work on the probability that a woman would have been no older than 48 when her last child was born.
The last known child was baptised in 1782 so subtract 48 and we end up with 1734 as the earliest reasonable time to expect Sarah to be baptised.
Allow for her to be as young as 16 when the first child was born (1772) and we end up with a search span from 1734 to 1756.
Once again check for possible Lanyon connections with the parents marriage.
Now - if no Lanyon connection is found at this point there are two options to consider - 1. the connection may actually be one generation further back or 2. it is not a direct family connection at all.
It may be that Tobias Lanyon was a godfather to John or Sarah or he may have been merely a good family friend.
That should give you quite enough to keep you occupied for a little while.
But there is always the option of tracing a couple of generations of any Tobias Lanyon around that time. You may find a Lanyon family living in the same area as the Grays or Botttrells over a long period and that might provide the answer for the name.
CT
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