Grinyer is an occupation name, derived from the Old French word "grenier" - for a worker at a mill or granary. Historically the names is found only in Sussex - which could indicate a single progenitor. There are several different spelling found in records Greenyer, Grenier, Grynyer and Greenyear. The name first first appears in records in 1549 which coincides with the beginning of the Walloon and Hugenount migrations that followed the banning of heretics in France from 1535. There is the following reference - but we have no proven links to this family)

The surname of this Huguenot family was Grenier, a corruption of Garniero; pointing to Italian ancestry. The senior branch was represented as late as 1829 by the late César de Garnier, Marquis de Juliers. The junior branch were the Greniers of Languedoc, eminent in the Huguenot civil wars; a member of the family was created Comte de Fonblanque by Henri IV., Fonblanque being a fief in the Forêt de la Gresine, near Bruniquet. (Protestant Exiles from France Volume 2 - Book Third - Chapter 18 - Section XIII)

Current research identifies our line of the Greenyer family first appearing in records in Sussex in mid 1500. The earliest confirmed member of our Greenyer family is Phillippe Greenyer  - who eldest son is baptised in Stanmer in 1577, however limited information is available about the family until his 6 x great grand-daughter Frances Greenyer married Josiah Bashford in 1784. It is their son - George William Bashford - who emigrates to Australia around 1865

The Greenyer ancestry goes back 15 generations and biographies exist for some members as indicated by links below

• Phillippe Greenyer ~1548 - ~1595 married Katheren
  • Peter Greenyer 1577 - ? married Elinor
    • Edward Greenyer 1605 - ? married Margaret Peckham
      • James Greenyer 1633 - ? married Mary Mihell 
        • Michael Greenyer 1676 - 1722 married Mary Russell
          • James Greenyer 1713 - 1762 married Elizabeth Dumbrell
            • John Greenyer 1747 - 1788 married Ann Burfield
              • Samuel Greenyer 1781 - 1858 married Elizabeth Austin
                • Frances Greenyer 1803 - 1875 married Josias Bashford
                  • George William Bashford 1840 - 1893 married Sarah Ann Starkey Fullelove
                    • /wiki/spaces/HFHW/pages/2523599 married James Cairns Bain
                      • James Bashford Bain married Eva Mary Yates
                        • Doreen Bain married Douglas James Hardie
                          • My father