| 12. | George Impey was born on 21 May 1795 in Bishopsgate, England (son of William Impey and Sarah Deane); died on 9 Jul 1866 in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Other Events and Attributes:
- Name: George Impey 1844
- Residence: Whitby, Yorkshire, England
Notes:
GEORGE IMPEY (source 'Impey of Barton-in-the-Clay)
George IMPEY (1795 - 1866) of Whitby and South Africa, grocer, sailmaker, schoolmaster, Bank Manager, was the second son (and 5th child) of William-the-Baker' of Bishopsgate, London and Sarah DEANE his wife.
George moved from London with his parents to Stanstead when he was five and lost his father that same year. When he was ten school began in ernest for him at Ackworth Friends' School in Yorkshire at that time a very austere establishment of limited educational standard. The long stage-coach journey to the north would be made in company with one of his sisters, and later he would be in charge of his younger brother Joseph (Joe). It was customary to stay at school from September to the end of June in the following year and then go home for two months holiday. George spent five years at Ackworth and then when 14 was apprenticed to John Rowntree, a grocer, of Scarborough. On this occasion his home Monthly Meeting of Thaxted, Essex sent a note to Pickering Monthly Meeting which covered Scarborough notifying Friends of the apprenticeship and recommending young George (now doubly orphaned) to the affectionate regard and oversight of the Pickering Friends.
George was described as a youth of good abilities and three years after serving his time at Rowntrees he was able to establish himself independently as a grocer in The Flowergate, Whitby where he continued for 20 years. (His marriage Certificate describes George as a draper so there may have been a drapery side to the grocery - very common in those days).
In about 1838 George rather speculatively moved into a new business as a sailcloth manufacturer and flax-spinner at Hope Mill in the same town but this failed in 1842 leaving george without financial resources.
George had become more and more atively interested in Wesleyan Methodism and there is a record of a visit to brother William at Earls Colne where George, his fame having gone before him, preached at the local Chapel to a packed house.
Fanny, like her father, had a boarding school education at Ackworth Friends' School.
William, Samuel and Richard were at Bootham Friends' School in York where teaching and scholarship were both at a considerably higher level.
William, the eldest son, was ordained under Wesleyan Methodist auspices and went in 1838 as a Missionary to Bechuanaland in South Africa. After George's sailcloth business at Whitby came to its untimely end in 1842 he was invited by the Mission to re-open their mixed boarding school at Salem near Grahamstown, in the south-west of the Cape of Good Hope and decided to follow William to South Africa with the rest of the family. Following this momentous decision and with some monetary help towards fares from the Mission George and Ann prepared to set sail from London on the 31st December 1843 in the sailing ship HORWOOD.
Their party consisted of husband and wife, Fanny aged 23, unmarried (all expecting to teach at the Mission school), Sam aged 16, Richard aged 15 and Sarah nearly 10 years old, Ann and George (the twins) aged 8 and two maidservants who emigrated with them.
While the party was waiting in rooms at Wells Close Square, London Dock to embark George's sisters came up to say goodby, but determined to avoid introducing his erring brother 'poor Joe' to his young people. George went by train to Kelvedon to take leave of him.
The sea-journey to Port Elizabeth took 85 days. After about a week in Grahamstown our party went by ox-wagon to Salem and took up residence in the badly dilapidated 20 roomed schoolhouse which was to be their home for the next four years.
The School opened with 9 pupils, of which Sarah was one. In a years time there were 40 pupils and with staff and servants the household amounted to 56. When it was realised that a large part of what concourse ate, both animal and vegetable, had to be produced on the spot, some idea will be gained of how desperately hard George and Ann had to work in order to cope with the new regime.
In 1848 his worn-out wife died. It was decided not to re-open the school.
The family then moved to Grahamstown where George contrived to make a living as an accountant.
In 1849 three of his sons and a daughter, Ann, married.
George himself married again to widow Grace STEPHEN.
In 1850 a son was born to George and Grace. They named the infant H. Albright after the chemist brother-in-law recently acquired back in England.
In 1860 a daughter, Gracie S.C., George's 12th child, made her debut.
Described by her father as 'the sweetest child that ever was born' she grew up familiar with some dozen nieces and nephews who were all older than herself. George was already a J.P. and well settled in the Cape Colony when he made his final move to King William's Town on his appointment in 1861 to the British Kaffrarian Bank. As he crossed the threshold of this very fine new building as Bank Manager the bakery at Bishopsgate must have seemed a very long way off.
He died in 1866 aged 71 years.
Information received from Ellen Stanton 8 March 2005:
"I found a little snipped about the death of George Impey in one of my books so I transcribe it for you:
Transcribed from 'Christian Adventures in South Africa' by Rev. William Taylor, New York, Nelson & Phillips, 805 Broadway 1876 Chapter VIII, King William's Town Pages 99 - 101.
"I visited Mr. George IMPEY in his last illnes, the father of Rev. William IMPEY. The dear old man had been confined to his room for four years, suffering from paralysis. He had been a resident of the colony for twenty-two years, and of King William's Town for seven. He was for some years manager of the British Kaffrarian Bank, and was, as I learned from them, who knew him long and well, a consistent, cheerful Christian and a Wesleyan Local Precher of superior abilities. He was not able to converse much when I saw him, but was steadfast in faith and his victory over sin and satan complete.
I sang to him the dying sentiments of Bishop McKendree:
"What's this that steals, that steals upon my frame?
Is it death? Is it death?
That soon shall quench, shal quench this vital flame,
Is it death? Is it death?
If this be death, I soon shall be
From every pain and sorrow free,
I shall the King of Glory see!
Weep not, my friends, weep not for me;
All is well, all is well.
My sins are pardoned, pardoned I am free;
All is well, all is well.
There's not a cloud that doth arise,
To hide my Saviour from my eyes,
I soon shall mount the upper skies;
All is well, all is well.
Tune, tune your harps, your harps, ye saints in glory,
All is well, all is well.
I will reherse, rehearse the the pleasing story,
All is Well, all is well.
Bright angels are from glory come,
They're round my bed, they're in my room,
They wait to waft my Spirit home,
All is well, all is well.
Hark! Hark, my Lord, My Lord and Master calls me,
All is well, All is well.
Adieu, adieu, my friends, adieu,
I can no longer stay with you.
My glittering crown appears in view,
All is well, all is well."
All through the singing of this hymn, which has given expression to the triumphant joy of multitudes of dying Christians to whom I have sung it, the face of this dying patriarch was covered with smiles and streams of tears, and his hands were waving, as though, in the rapture of his soul, his dying body could not wait its appointed time, "to whit, the redemption of our bodies" but would fain mount up and fly, and at once accompany its immortal teneant to its "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!. For a time he seemed hardly to know whether he was "in body or out of body!, but his acute bodily sufferings soon reminded him that the mortal struggle was still pending. He then grasped my hand and with tears exclaimed:
"Oh, my brother, my dear brother, it will not be long! All is well".
He lingered a few weeks and then sank to peaceful rest".
George married Ann Frances Patton on 31 Mar 1817 in Whitby Parish Church, Whitby, Yorkshire, England. Ann was born on 5 Jun 1792 in Redcar, Yorkshire, England; died on 24 Jan 1848 in Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1886 - 
Rev. William Shaw, 1820 Settler was born on 8 Dec 1798 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland; died on 4 Dec 1872 in London, England. 
Ann Maw, 1820 Settler was born about 1788 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, England (daughter of Matthew Maw and Ann Garthside); died on 6 Jun 1854 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Methodist Cemetery, Grahamstown, South Africa. 
