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Previous:     Section 15: ???. Chapter X xxxx

Section 16.B
Rame & Plymouth
1xxx-1xxx

Plymouth, the major port in Devon, sits on the east bank of the river Tamar and Devonport (which in modern times is a part of Plymouth) also sits on the east bank, a short way up river. The Tamar separates Devon from Cornwall. On the western bank is a peninsula bordered on the north by the river Lynher. Several towns on that peninsula have had a long Brush presence including notably St Germans (at the north end) and Rame (at the southern tip).

As far back as 1544 there were Brush families in the south east corner of Cornwall with St Germans the main location.  St Germans is about eight miles north west of Rame. That group is probably the predecessor to the Rame families but there is an unexplained forty year gap in records from 1711.  The St Germans story is in section 16.B

The first entry in Rame is the 1752 baptism of Peter(II) Brush, son of Peter(I) and Jane. Using my rule of thumb this gives an estimated birth date for Peter(I) of 1722. Peter(I) and Joan baptised five children:

Peter(II) baptised 14 January 1752, of whom nothing more is known.
William(II) baptised on 20 July 1753 at Rame.  He married Ann MAY at Rame on 31 December 1775 and they had seven children, two boys - Peter in 1781 and William in 1784 - and five girls.
Johnbaptised 24 January 1755 and buried on 9 June 1757
Mary 1756
Robert 1758

William Brush, a son of William Brush and Ann (nee MAY) is baptised at Rame in Cornwall on 2 September 1783. Citing 'PDHS' FWB says he was born in Cawsand in 1783.  On 16 May 1807 at Rame he married Mary HAWTON, wintnessed by a Peter Brush. {another marriage to a Hawton?} They had nine children, seven girls and two boys.  At the 1851 census he , and ??? , were living at 28 Duke Street in Devonport.  At some point he was a shipwright in Devonport dockyard. St the He died in 1862 in Stoke Dameral R.D.

The place names in the remainder of this section are confusing, with several layers of location naming. The following extracts from Whites Directory of 1850 may help. The BOROUGH OF DEVONPORT [is...] the most western of the three towns which form the port of Plymouth, is bounded on the east by Stonehouse Pool and Creek, on the north by Morice Town, and on the south and west by the spacious harbour of Hamoaze, to which Mount Wise, the great Naval Dockyard, the Gun Wharf, and the Government Steam Yard present their extensive sea walls and fortifications.....Devonport is in the parish of Stoke Damerel, and owes its origin as a town to the foundation of the Naval Dockyard, in the reign of William III., about 1690. .... The town ...now occupies all the extensive oblong space between the Dockyard and Gun Wharf on the west, and the lines of fortifications on the north, east, and south. The population within the lines comprises above 25,000 souls; but including the suburbs of Morice Town and the rest of the parish of Stoke Damerel, the total population of the municipal borough of Devonport amounted to 33,820 in 1841..... The municipal borough comprises all Stoke Damerel parish, and was incorporated by royal charter in 1837; but the parliamentary borough includes also East Stonehouse......

The eldest son, William Brush, is born 1819/20 at Devonport, according to later censuses, and is baptised on 23 July 1820 at Rame in Cornwall - just the other side of the Tamar.  On 5 January 1845 at Morice Street Wesleyan chapel in Plymouth he marries Jane PASCOE - witnessed by his brother Peter.  They have eight children, two sons and six daughters.

Jane 1845 Mary E 1847 William H 1849 Sophia 1852 Harriet 1860 Bessie 1862 Annie L 1864 Matthew E 1856

William seems to have had two occupations.  His trade was a hairdresser(1845 & 1881) but he also worked as a poor rate collector(1864).  By 1901 he was described as a retired rate collector.  He died on 8 November 1903, having lived at 17 George Street, Devonport.

There are two other Brush births and deaths listed in the GRO index books about which (without buying birth certificates) nothing more is known.  James Henry is born in 1853 in the Stoke Dameral RD and dies there in 1854. Alfred Peter is born in 1858 in the Stoke Dameral RD and dies there in the same year. The most likely fit seems to be that they were also children of William and Jane (in the eight year gap between Sophia and Harriett) but they could be illegitimate children of one of William and Anne's daughters. James Henry could be a son of Peter and Lydia (below) but it seems unlikely given the 1852 birth of James Hugh.

Another child, Alfred, the son of Ann Brush, was born on 31 January 1857 at 30 Duke Street (next door to the Brush household in the 1851 census).  At 1861 Ann Brush age 30 and a four year old 'Albert' Brush, listed as a grandson, are both in the household of William and Mary at 12 Cherry Gardens, Devonport. There is no birth entry of an Albert Brush and no other census entry for Alfred so it may be a typo in the census.  Cherry Gardens later became York Street and is only about a quarter of a mile from Duke Street. At the 1871 census Alfred reappears as a 'Boy 2nd class' in the Royal Navy in HMS Squirrel , a training brig, at Plymouth harbour. His age is given as 15 which is a year older than we would expect to see. I can find no later trace of him.

The second son of William & Mary (nee Hawton) was Peter, born in 1827 at Devonport.  He married Lydia Jane KNIGHT in 1846 and at some point was a shipwright in H.M. Dockyard - following in his father's footsteps.  They had five children between 1848 and 1852 but Peter died in 1856, age 28 or 29.  His death is recorded in the Stoke Dameral Registration District, a very small district which sits between Plymouth and Devonport and includes Morice Town. All these places, and East Stonehouse, sit within a two or three mile circle. The four children were:

Thomas William, 1848
Peter F, 1850
James Hugh, 1852
Harriet Elizabeth, 1854
Kate 1856

Following his death, his widow Lydia registered the birth of Anna Louise BRUSH, born on 9 April 1859, in the Plymouth RD. She then moved to London where she appears in the 1861 census living at 7 Carnaby Street with three children, Peter, James and Annie.  She is a waistcoat maker. Thomas William and Kate are not with her. Thomas may have joined the Navy (see below) but Kate is with her Grandfather Thomas Knight and aunt Emma Knight at Clowance in the Devonport/Plymouth area.

In 1862 the birth is registered, in the St James RD, of William Daniel Kearnes, the son of William KEARNES, a tailor journeyman, and Lydia Jane BRUSH at 85 Wardour Street, Soho.  The birth of William (1862) is listed twice in the GRO index books, once as William Daniel Kearns BRUSH and again as William Daniel Kearns KEARNS, but both with the same reference.  Another child is registered in 1864 indexed only as Julia Emma KEARNES.  Again in the St James RD.

On 24 June 1868 at St Luke's church in Berwick Street, Soho, William Daniel Kearns, Julia Ann Kearns and Annie Louisa Norman are all baptised with the surname BRUSH, children of William Daniel and Lydia Jane of 2 Tyler's Court, a narrow alleyway between Berwick Street and Wardour Street in Soho.  The father's occupation is given as a tailor. { The register does not specifically say that the listed occupation is that of the father but it is clear from other entries that it is the father's occupation that is listed.}  The use of the extra forename Norman suggests that the father of Annie Louisa may have been a Mr NORMAN. There were certainly NORMAN families in the Plymouth/Devonport area at the time.  A few weeks later James Hugh, age 15 or 16, is baptised at St Luke's as well.

At the 1871 census William(1862) and Julia are both named as BRUSH. Their mother is listed as a widow and William KEARNS is not present.

No marriage of William Daniel KEARNS and Lydia Jane BRUSH has been found and he is not living with Lydia at the 1861 census.  It seems clear that they were a couple but that at some point between 1864 and 1871 (probably before the 1868 baptisms when the 'rebranding' as BRUSH begins) William KEARNS has left and over the next twenty years he is erased by Lydia and her children from the family history.  At his marriage in 1881 William(1862) names his father as William Brush, shipwright (Lydia's first husband Peter had been a shipwright) . At her marriage in 1886 Julia identifies her father as Peter Brush, deceased.

At 1881 Lydia, a tailoress, and ?? are at 29 Waterloo Road in Lambeth. Lydia dies in 1888, age 60, in the St Saviours RD - the Southwark and Newington parishes.

William Daniel KEARNES was born in 1821/2, which is obtained from the 1851 census when he is living in the Morice district of Plymouth (the adjoining district to Devonport).  He is listed as a journeyman tailor.  His birthplace is given as East Stonehouse (also within the Plymouth area) and his age as 29. He is married to Ann age 27 and has two children born in Devonport - Louisa in 1841. There was a marriage of a William Kearnes and Ann Burrowes in the St Thomas RD (Exeter area) in 1839.

At the 1861 census daughter Louisa is identified as the step daughter of Mary E Kearnes (status married) which suggests that William has remarried.  But William is not listed and cannot be found either in Devon or in London.  The marriage was at East Stonehouse in 1857 to Mary Elizabeth HOOPER but no record of the death of Ann has been found.

At 1871 and 1881 William Kearnes, a tailor, and Mary Elizabeth, both born at Devonport are at Wimbledon in Surrey. His age is 49 and 59, which equates to 1821/22 as before.  He was buried on 20 January 1900 at Wimbledon, the death registered in Q1 1900 in Kingston RD.

The children of Peter and Lydia, and of Lydia and William Kearns:

Thomas William. I cannot find him at 1861 - age 13. He was not with mother Lydia or sister Kate. At 1871 he is a steward on board HMS Antelope at Constantinople. His age is given as 25 (overstated) so maybe he joined the Navy as a boy, befre the 1861 census. Married Emily Jane ?? and had two children

Peter F ??

James Hugh married in 1879 at Chertsey RD to Elizbeth STEPHENSON and had two children. At the 1881 census he He died in 1932, age 80, in the Bromley RD.

Harriet Elizabeth. at 1861 with her grandparents William and Mary in Devonport. Married in 1880 in Lambeth RD

Kate is born in 1856 in the Stoke Dameral RD. At the 1861 and 1871 censuses she is living with her grandfather Thomas Knight. In 1881 a Kate Brush is listed as a General servant/Parlour maid in London but her age is given as 29 which is around five years younger than we would expect. But her birthplace is given as Devonport and there is no other known birth of a Kate in or around this period. From this point the evidence becomes more complicated. At 1891 Freda K Hopewoods, age 5, is living with Thomas Knight age 94 at 14 Duncan Street in the St Aubyn district of Stoke Dameral RD. Freda Katie S Hopewoods had been born in Q1 1886 in the Newton Abbott RD. Also in 1891 Kate Hope-Woods age 33 born Devonport, a widow, is living in Tormoham, Torquay with her aunt Emma Knight (the daughter of Thomas Knight) listed as housekeeper. Isabel M Baker, widow, age 58 and Ernest E Baker age 20 are listed as visitors. At the 1911 census Ernest Edward Baker age 40, his wife Kate Baker age 48 born Devonport, Freda K S Hope-Woods age 25 (step daughter), Emma Knight, aunt age 78 and son Leslie Frederick Baker age 15 born Exeter are all living at St Blazey in Cornwall. Ernest and Kate are shown as married for 18 years, so around 1893. The marriage is indexed as Q4 1892 with Kate named as Kate Hope Woods. In 1901 they ( except for Emma Knight) had been living in Islington. In 1895 Leslie Frederick Montague Baker had been born in the St Thomas,Devon RD on 28 November 1895 and baptised at Heavitree, Devon on 31 January 1896. Everything points to Kate Hopewoods or Hope Woods, later Baker, being Kate Brush but no trace can be found of her marriage to Mr Hope Woods, or Hopewoods or Hopwood. Annie Louise. A tailoress in 1881, living at 29 Waterloo Road, Lambeth with her mother. Married 1885 in St saviour RD

William Daniel BRUSH marries Dorcas Strong on 29 May 1881 at St andrew's in Fulham. Their story continues in Section xx.x . Julia Emma BRUSH marries in 1886 in the St Saviour RD to .

Wikitree references: William (1820)Brush-1888

Next:     Chapter 16.B: ???

(1) back to text    xxx

(2) back to text    The Descendants of Thomas and Richard Brush of Huntington, Long Island. A Source Book. Compiled by Stuart C. Brush with the collaboration of Russell B.Brush. Gateway Press 1982. There are now 4 supplements to the original work. Supplements I & II published Gateway Press in a single volume 1995 , Supplements III ( by Stuart Brush) and IV (by David McDonald) published Gateway Press in a single volume 2005.

(3) back to text    American Colonies, The Settlement of North America to 1800. by Alan Taylor, Penguin Books 2001

(4) back to text    The Mayflower's trip to Plymouth had only been in 1620, Boston dates from 1630.

(5) back to text    This piece of detail, and others about New Haven comes from a History of the Colony of New Haven to it's absorption into Connecticut by Edward E. Atwater published in 1881 and available online at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ctcderby/books/honhct00.html and https://archive.org/stream/historyofcolonyo00atwa_0/historyofcolonyo00atwa_0_djvu.txt
This detail was at p163 New Haven 1881