Mentioned in 1851 Census Return for Northcott hamlet, Devon, England, aged 73, born circa 1778 at St Giles in the Heath, Devon:

The 1851 England Census for Northcott Hamlet in Boyton Parish, County and Parliamentary division of Northern Division of Devon, for Boyton Mill
John Oliver, Head, Married, age 76, [Farmer of 35 Acres employing 3 Ag Lab, born Tetcott Devon, England [circa 1775]
Grace Oliver, wife, Married, age 73, born St Giles in the Heath Devon, England [circa 1778]
John Oliver, son, Married, age 49, born Holsworthy, Devon, England [circa 1802]
Thomas Bate, Servant, Unmarr, age 16, Ag Lab
Able Werrey, Servant, Unmarr, age 13, Ag Lab
John Martin, Servant, Unmarr, age 12

Date of death from headstone in the "Church of the Holy Name Boyton" churchyard and found when Brian of nzolivers visited Devon and Cornwall in April 2008.

Originally is was believed that this Grace’s maiden name was “Brayley”. However, subsequent research in 2021 found that Grace’s maiden name was in fact “Lane”.

The historic record for Grace we showed here was:

1. Surname of Brayley from http://www.familysearch.org
Dax Eric Clayton Lloyd, (great-grandson of Jessie Bertha Oliver b.1876), believes this surname is correct.

2. Sarah Ferguson (nee Churton) gives date of birth as 9 January 1774. Sarah agrees with date of death of 1st February 1860.

3. Copy of death certificate from Dax Eric Clayton Lloyd (great-grandson of Jessie Bertha Oliver b.1876) in October 2013 shows died of “Old Age Atrophy Certified.” [Atrophy is partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body]. Date of death confirmed as 1 Feb 1860. However, age at death is shown as 84 years which place year of birth at 1776 if she had a birthday in January?

4. Brian Oliver of nzolivers.com (b.1950) to do more work confirming dates.

5. Date of birth of 9 Jan 1774 in Holsworth, Devon, England as per Amy Utting’s family tree advised by email on 4 October 2018. Reference
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M6Z5-FZ2 (Login required).
This date agrees with Sarah Ferguson (nee Churton). Amy Utting is the x3 great granddaughter of Francis Oliver b 1840.

Then, in July 2020 we found a:
1. Baptism record showed Grace Brayley’s father as “James”, mother “Ann”, baptism date and place being 9 January 1774 at Halwell, Devon, England.

2. Will of father, James Brayley that was dated 15 November 1814.

2. Record of marriage to a John Oliver on 18 Sep 1797 at Halwell, Devon.

3. Record of burial found in July 2020:
Name: Grace Oliver
Gender: Female
Burial Date: 2 Feb 1860
Burial Place: Boyton, Cornwall, England
FHL Film Number: 1545323
Reference ID: item 22 p 49

Grace Lane
In January 2021, Brian of nzolivers.com received revelations from Katia and Tim Oliver. They concluded Grace Brayley was not the wife of out John Oliver (1774-1852). In fact his wife was “Grace Lane”. This, after extensive and thorough research that included going through a myriad of new records that were scanned at the Devon Record Office as recently as 2020.
Tim Oliver is a x3 great grandson of James and Ruth Oliver, his grandfather being Ivor James Clark Oliver (1907-1989).

The 1851 England Census details, death certificate information, and the burial records above of Grace Oliver are for our Grace (nee Lane).

Summary of Katia and Tim Oliver’s research
In an email dated 4 January 2021 from Katia and Tim Oliver, they recorded their research. They started by writing down in chronological order from baptism records of children who were born from parents John and Grace Oliver from 1798 to 1822. Some of the children of John and Grace were baptised, and possibly born, within a few months of each other in 1808 and 1810 which raised alarm.

They then divided them by locations of baptism, and came up with two separate families. And, both families were headed by a John and a Grace Oliver!

The children from the first family were baptised in Ashwater and in Halwell, locations 5 miles apart in the County of Devon. The children in this family correspond with the names in the Will of James Brayley whose daughter was Grace Brayley and married John Oliver. And, Grace Brayley was born in Halwell on 9 Jan 1774, married John Oliver of Ashwater in Halwell on 18 Sept. 1796 and died on 1st February 1830.

- 1798, Jan. 9 - William - Ashwater  
- 1800, Jun. 3 - James - Halwe(i)ll 
- 1803, Dec. 25 - Mary - Halwe(i)ll
- 1806, Jun. 23 - John - Ashwater  
- 1808, May 22 - Thomas - Ashwater
- 1810, Jul. 10 - Samuel - Ashwater 
- 1812, Mar. 22 - Ann - Ashwater  
- 1814, Nov. 26 - Margaret - Ashwater  

The second family (our family) were baptised in Holsworthy, St. Giles in the Heath, and Pyworthy. Holsworthy and Pyworthy are just over two miles apart. St. Giles in the Heath is a little further away at nine miles. However, we know, that the Grace that married our John Oliver was born in St. Giles in the Heath. This from the 1851 census. And, the children match those listed in our John Oliver's Will.

- 1802, Apr. 11 - John - Holsworthy
- 1805, Jul. 14 - James - Holsworthy
- 1808, Sept. 20 - Thomas - Holsworthy
- 1810, Aug. 5 - William - St. Giles in the Heath
- 1813, May 2 - Mary - St. Giles in the Heath
- 1817, Jun. 8 - Ann - Pyworthy
- 1819, Jul 18 -Samuel - Pyworthy 
- 1822, Apr. 8 - Francis - Pyworthy

So, the conclusion is, there were definitely two families headed by a John and a Grace Oliver. One based around the Ashwater and Halwill area. The other is our family, children baptised predominantly in the Holsworthy and Pyworthy area to the north.

For Grace Lane, Katia and Tim have found a baptism record dated 29 Sep 1776 for her in the Parish of St Giles in the Heath. Interestingly this birth date matches the age on our Grace Oliver's headstone in Boyton that reads, "Also of Grace his wife who died February 1st 1860 aged 84 years". Now, if Grace was baptised at the time of her birth, she would have been only 83 years old. However, if she was seven months old or more when baptised, she would have been aged 84 years at time of her death.

(In fact this would be the same for husband John Oliver who would of been only 77 if baptised at the time of his birth. However, if he was a couple of weeks old or more when baptised, he would match the aged 78 years on his headstone).

Note - the dates we had for Grace Brayley never matched. So, it is pretty convincing that Grace Lane is most likely the mother of our brothers James (1805-1886) and Samuel Oliver (1819-1873).

And, we now also have a record of the marriage between John Oliver and Grace Lane. This in a followup email from Katia dated 10 January 2021. The original entry from the Luffincott Parish Marriage Register Book shows the date of marriage as 1st April 1800. Luffincott is only five miles North of St Giles in the Heath where Grace was baptised.

Records for Grace Lane
Record of baptism as alerted by Katia and Tim Oliver In an email dated 4 January 2021:
First name(s): GRACE
Last name: LANE
Gender: Female
Birth year: 1776
Baptism year: 1776
Baptism date: 29 Sep 1776
Parish: St Giles in the Heath
Father's first name(s) -
Father's last name -
Mother's first name(s): Christian
Mother's last name: LANE
Relationship Base: Dau
Place: St Giles in the Heath
County: Cornwall
Country: England
Record set: Cornwall Baptisms

Record of marriage as alerted by Katia and Tim Oliver In an email dated 10 January 2021. This record was found in “A Marriage Register Book, According to act of Parliament 1754” Page 13 as scanned and held by the South West Heritage Trust for Somerset, Devon and the South West of England.
First name(s): Grace
Last name: Lane
Marriage year: 1800
Spouse's first name(s): John
Spouse's last name: Oliver
Spouse's Occupation: Thatcher
Denomination: Anglican
Parish: Luffincott
County: Devon
Country: England
Place: Luffincott
Marriage Banns Published: 02 Mar 1800
Marriage Banns Published: 16 Mar 1800
Marriage Banns Published: 30 Mar 1800
Marriage date: 01 Apr 1800
Archive: South West Heritage Trust
Please note that Luffincott is five miles North of St Giles in the Heath where Grace was baptised. The church at Luffincott was most likely "St James’s Church". The church stands near to the farmyard of Luffincott Barton, a mid-19th-century farmhouse and out-buildings which were part of the Tetcott estate. The church tower was was re-built in 1791, nine years before the wedding of John and Grace.

Died of “Old Age Atrophy Certified” from image of death register record attached to an email dated 8 July 2023 from Katia and Tim Oliver.

(Atrophy is a decrease in both the number and size of a persons muscle fibers causes their muscles to thin).

Confirmation of date of death, no maiden shown but assume is "Lane", from Death Record received from the 'General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales' in November 2023. Please see PDF for copy.
Name: Grace Oliver
When and Where Died: 1 February 1860, Boyton Mill, Boyton
Age: 84 Years
Rank or Profession: Widow of John Oliver, Miller
Cause of Death: Old Age Atrophy, Certified
Informant: John Cole in attendance, Northcott Hamlet