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James Brush is enrolled as a quarter brother by the Goldsmiths company of Dublin in 1771. of the Jeweller and appears in multiple directories over the following thirty years or so at 7 St Andrew's Street, Dublin, trading later as James Brush and Son. A quarter brother is a sort of associate member of the guild - qualified but below a freeman of the guild. This brief history comes from a comprehensive thesis about Dublin goldsmiths by Breda Scott. ………………
The introduction of the quarterage system dated to the 1670s, when Catholics were no longer eligible for freedom, furthermore some Protestant craftsmen had little desire to pay the required fines or take on the responsibility of civic freedom.46 In order to maintain guild control over tradesmen of all denominations, quarter brothers were introduced. They were not obliged to take the oath of supremacy, instead paid a quarterly fine or fee to the guild, but were ineligible to participate in guild or civic office nor did they have the parliamentary franchise.47 As observed by Jacqueline Hill, the introduction of the quarterage system can be viewed as a method to include Catholics in trade.48 At least forty six quarter brothers were listed in the records of the goldsmiths’ guild between the years 1770 to 1784, when the lists end.
He was a prominent freemason This listing is from British Freemasonry, 1717-1813 Volume 5:
It seems probable that the specified dates are his masonic membership not his birth and death.: Multiple online sources repeat these dates, 1774-1812, as if they were his birth and death but this is clearly incompatible with his 1771 enrolment. He is in several places identified as James senior and there is at least one reference to James junior but the 1774 date is clearly linked to James senior. Even if he was just 21 ( newly qualified from an apprenticeship?) when he enrolled with the goldsmiths company his date of birth has to be no later than 1750, probably sometime in the 1740s.In the most comprehensive work on James, by Oliver Snoddy , he is said to have appeared in multiple editions of Wilson's Directory of Merchant and Traders of the City of Dublin from 1773 to 1793 as a Jeweller and Watchmaker at 7 St Andrew's Street, which is right in the centre of Dublin between the Castle and Trinity College. From 1794-1801 he appears as a Jeweller and Madeira Wine merchant. From 1802 to 1812 the business is listed as James Brush and Son. Several examples of James's work, or work from his business, can be found online as shown in Appendix 1.
Marriage to Barbara Mitchell 1773 licenceAt 12 Nov 1787 James BRUSH of the City of Dublin, jeweller witnesses a property transaction between MITCHELL and JACKSON .
In 1792 he was involved in founding a "Society for the Schooling of the Orphan Female Children of Distressed Masons", which led to the foundation of the Masonic Female Orphan School", an institution to which he was to become Treasurer. {source historic medals}
In what is said to be a rare example of an elaborate trade card, dated as 1802, he refers to himself and his son as "Masonic Jewellers to the Grand Lodge of Ireland", also advertising "Jewellery Work in the most Correct and Elegant Stile" and "Medals for Farming and other Societies done with Taste".
The same source records that that he was also listed as a seal engraver and as a Madeira wine merchant. Scott's thesis considers the Mmadeira trade in more detail:
Several jewellers offered customers a range of services such as engraving and jewellery repair, while others diversified into areas such as haberdashery, millinery, sponges and Madeira wine. For over thirty years James Brush ran a successful jewellery business from his premises on Andrew Street. Brush established his firm as early as 1774. James Brush decided to go into the wine trade in 1794, using family connections he imported Madeira wine from ‘the House of Richard Brush & Company … via the West Indies’. Customers could also choose to purchase ‘imperial Tokay’ wine. He continued to act as a jeweller and Madeira wine merchant until at least 1810. Brush cleverly brought together two very different but mutually compatible products. A customer who ventured in to purchase jewellery from Brush might be encouraged to sample a glass of wine and then to place an order for a case. Brush and [others] decision to stock Madeira, [and other products] points to a retail strategy aimed at attracting male customers. By offering additional luxury goods, the prospect of making one or more sales to a customer increased. .... James Brush also offered haberdashery: Anna Brush & Sisters, conducted a haberdashery business from his premises in 1791.
This last detail provides a clue to his family links which is confirmed by the published index to marriages reported in the Hibernian magazine This records the Oct 1791 marriage on the island of Madeira of 'Rhd' BRUSH, merchant. It adds two superb pieces of detail. First, that his wife Margaret ROGERS of London had a fortune of over £20,000. And secondly that Rhd was "bro to Mr.,of S.Andrews St". Such a gem of a record surely befits a jeweller. Richard BRUSH of Madeira (the subject of section 17.F) appears in at least three other sources including one recording his stocks of Madeira wine. The most relevant here first is the 1778 will of 'the infamous' Crean BRUSH (section 37) who names his cousin Richard BRUSH of Madeira as a beneficiary. A 1791 marriage indicates a likely birth pre 1770. The AHB tree shows a Richard as a son of Rev.James with a birth date of 7.5.1783 but this is completely out of line with the other listed children and would be incompatible with a 1791 marriage. Maybe 7.5.1753?
According to the Gale family history produced by Alison Stewart , Susanna Brush, the second daughter of James Brush of St. Andrews Street, Dublin, married Samuel GALE in Dunleckney, Carlow, on 9th January 1803. She quotes 'Saunders Newsletter', 11th January 1803.as the source for this.). She also mentions that James was a Madeira wine merchant and suggests that James the jeweller may have been the son of James BRUSH of County Down and a brother of George BRUSH who had been apprenticed to the Dublin Goldsmith Robert Calderwood.
These suggestions certainly seem possible. A birth date in the 1740s would sit neatly with the births of other children attributed to the Rev James BRUSH of Garvaghy and Dromore. It also fits neatly with Richard of Madeira being a brother. George Brush is said by AHB to have been born in 1749 and is recorded as having been apprenticed in 1764, with his father named as James.
But… James is not included alongside George and Richard in the long list of those identified by AHB as the children of Rev James. The Goldsmiths' apprenticeship listing of George only names his father as James, not as Rev James or as James of County Down ( as suggested by one source? ) . It seems possible that George could have been a son of James the Jeweller rather than a brother though this would push James's birth back to the early 1720s which may be stretching things a little. Oliver Snoddy's article also mentions that between 1812 and the 1813 edition of Wilson's Dublin Directory the business at 7 St Andrew's Street had changed to "Brush (Mary and Jane) Tea Dealers. They were still listed in 1820 but no longer by 1830. Based, apparently, on the change of name from James Brush to James Brush & Son, Snoddy suggests that James senior died or retired from business sometime in the period 1800-1801 but the masonic dates indicate that he lived until at least 1812. Which fits with the dramatic change of business in 1812. There is a burial of a James Brush at St Paul's Church in Dublin on 7th or 8th May 1807 . As unhelpful an entry as you could wish for; it gives simply his name within a list of others. Could this have been the death of James the younger, with James senior dying in 1812 as the masonic record suggests? However, a James Brush owned land at Rathfarnham on the South side of Dublin in 1825. : http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004625711/004625711_00033.pdf One other possible family link may be Samuel Brush of Australia. He is known to have originated from County Down but married in Australia in 1847 and traded as a jeweller in Sydney and in Melbourne. His birth in the 1820's might place him as a grandson of James the jeweller, or a great nephew. The register of St James (catholic) church in Dublin for July 1756 include the following entry on the 6th. Ancestry's transcription of this says it records the baptism of John Brush, son of James & Jeane. Is this right?