.
.

Section 36 : Worcester and Birmingham; 1718-1921

Chapter 36.A
Worcester 1718-1851

Unconnected early entries

The earliest Worcestershire entry for Brush is the marriage of John Brush to Elizabeth Saunders on 20 April 1718 at Claines, a small village a couple of miles north of Worcester.  There is a licence for this marriage dated 17 April.  It identifes John, a bachelor age 29, as being of St Mary Mounthaw in London and Elizabeth as being a maiden age 25 of Claines.  This detail comes from a printed record of marriage licences in the Diocesan Registry at Worcester.  This may therefore be quite unconnected to the later Worcester entries.  There are several Johns in London around this period and I have been able to connect the dots.

Eleven years later, on 16 June 1729, Sarah Brush marries Timothy Matthews at St Helen's Worcester. If, as suggested below, there is a link to Tewkesbury there are three possible births there in 1703/4, 1705/6 and 1706.

In 1759 at Martley, a few miles north west of Worcester, a Thomas and Elizabeth Brush baptise Elizabeth. It is possible this was Thomas [T104] who married Elizabeth Williams at Tewkesbury in 1753. There is no record of them baptising any chidren at Tewkesbury.

These two marriage entries and the baptism thirty years later seem quite isolated but they do seem to indicate at least an intermittent link to Worcester from Brush families further south and west in Gloucestershire and Herfordshire.

In 1773 a William Brush[W102] marries Penelope Roe[W102a] at Worcester.  More on this later.

There are two entries in the registers of All Saints, Worcester in 1774 and 1775. Both for the marriage of a Thomas Brush.  But not it would seem of the same man.

The first marriage, of Thomas[W100], was on 15 June 1774 is to Mary Lane. At his marriage Thomas [W100] is identified as being "of St Nicholas, Widmore". I am unsure where this quote comes from though I believe it was seen by FWB at the Worcester record office. The marriage registers for All Saints do not seem to be available online. I have no idea where St Nicholas, Widmore is.  Could the reference be to St Nicholas Warndon, on the outskirts of Worcester or to the parish of St Nicholas within Worcester itself?

Thomas[W100], a maltmaker, dies in or before 1779.  Letters of Administration are granted on 14 July 1779 for the intestate estate of Thomas with his widow Mary Brush , William Lane of St Peter's parish, a baker, and Martin Barr of St Michael's parish a mercer 'binding' themselves.  Mary is of the parish of All Saints.  It seems likely that William Lane was the father or brother of Mary. A Mary Brush dies at Bromsgrove in 1792 and there are no other obvious candidates.  Copies of Grant and Obligation plus transcripts held in wills file.  The burial of Thomas is recorded at All Saints on 13 July 1779 - just one day before the Letters of Administration! The timing of the two deaths tends (but no more) to support the idea that Thomas and Mary married later in life. Could Thomas[W100] be the Thomas who was in Martley in 1759 married to Elizabeth?

Ancestry lists the baptism of a John Brush on 21 Feb 1782 at St Alban's, Worcester.  However the transcript produced in 1896 for the Parish Register Society (from which Ancestry apparently drew the information) lists this not as a baptism but as a burial.  The St Alban's registers around this period do seem to follow the common convention that burials of children and married women identify parents or husbands.  In the absence of this it seems likely that John was an adult.  It could be the John married in 1718 at Claines but he would have to have been at least in his 80s, and to have not returned to London.  We are probably looking for another John.

Thomas - the start of the Worcester branch

The second marriage at All Saints, in 1775, was of Thomas[W1] to Elizabeth Peirce on 15 January 1775.  This represents the start of a coherent Worcester and Birmingham story.  They baptised two children in Worcester; Sarah on 24 November 1775 at St Clement's and Richard on 26 April 1779. (Ancestry and Find my Past both show this baptism as being on 25 April 1778 but the printed transcript of St Alban's registers does not support this.  Had there been a previous child who died? Nothing more is known of either Sarah or Richard.  The marriage was relatively short lived.  Elizabeth died in 1783, identified at her burial on 23 November as the wife of Thomas.  Thomas[W1] remarries in 1785 to Elizabeth Parker[W1b]. We return to Thomas's family after exploring his roots.

The Tewkesbury Connection

Where Thomas[W100] and Thomas[W1] came from is unknown.  The most likely possibility seems to me to be that Thomas [W1] was Thomas[T112] baptised on 20 May 1750 in Tewkesbury, the son of Thomas [T101] and Penelope.  There is no other trace of his marriage or burial at Tewkesbury.  And that Thomas [W100] was his father, Thomas [T101]. But there are wrinkles in this theory. Thomas [W1] is not involved in the 1779 Letters of Administration of the estate of Thomas[W100].  There are other 18th century references to Thomases in Gloucestershire.  The picture is complicated by another burial of a Thomas, also at All Saints on 24 January 1776.  Could this have been Thomas[T104] who also appears in the Tewkesbury records but with no recorded burial there?

The possibility of a Tewkesbury link is firmly reinforced by the 25 July 1780 marriage of Stephen Fletcher and Penelope Brush[W101].  The banns for this marriage were called at St Mary's Tewkesbury and both parties are there described as 'of this parish'. But the marriage is recorded at St Alban's in Worcester, with the couple named as Stephen Flatcher and Penelopy Brush. An Elizabeth Brush is a witness to this marriage - maybe the first wife of Thomas[W1] or the wife of Thomas [T104] - her aunt? The marriage lasted only a few years. Their daughter Nancy is baptised in Tewkesbury on 22 March 1784 but the burial of Penelope, wife of Stephen Fletcher, is also recorded at Tewkesbury - on the same date.  There seem to be two options for Penelope.  Penelope [T115] baptised in Tewkesbury in 1757 or Penelope[W102a] the widow of William[W102]. The baptism of Nancy strongly indicates Penelope[T115] rather than someone from a previous generation.

Penelope Brush[T115] was baptised in Tewkesbury in 1757, the daughter of William[T103] and Penelope.  As mentioned earlier William Brush[W102] married Penelope Roe[W102b] in 1773 at Worcester.  I believe this to be a second marriage of Penelope's [T115] father William Brush[T103] of Tewkesbury who married Penelope Fieldhouse of Newent at Oxenhall in Gloucestershire in 1745.  Penelope[T103a] the wife of William died in December 1766 and was buried on 12 December at St Mary's Tewkesbury.  So a remarriage in 1773 is certainly possible.

A Joseph Brush, son of William, was buried in Frome in 1786. This is mentioned here just in case the Somerset link goes back earlier than the 19th century entries for a later Joseph and William considered in chapter 36.B.

There was a burial of a Penelope at All Saints on 1 November 1776 - presumably the wife[W102b] of William.  But possibly the wife of Thomas[T101] who we speculated as being the father of Thomas[W1] although this would rule out his being Thomas[W100] who married in 1774.

The most likely scenario seems to me to be that William[W102] is William[T103] and that Penelope[W101] is his daughter[T115]. This would explain why the marriage to Stephen Flatcher was in Worcester rather than in Tewkesbury. And is also consistent with her being young enough to have a child in 1774. If Penelope[W101] was the widow[W102b] of William the age seems wrong and it is hard to see why she would be marrying in Worcester when the banns describe her as of Tewkesbury. And she is probably the Penelope buried in 1776. The exact nature of the link is unclear but there does certainly seem to have been a connection between the Brush families in Tewkesbury and those in Worcester - other than just the river Severn.

One possible reinforcement of the link comes from the marriage of Thomas[W1] to Elizabeth Parker[W1b] in 1785 which was witnessed by a Sarah Brush and a Richard Giles. The records of St Clement's church are unusual in giving the names of witnesses. Sarah is surely not the ten year old daughter baptised in 1775 but could be one of the Sarahs born in the 1760s in Tewkesbury. The most likely is perhaps Sarah[T117] the daughter of William[T103] and Penelope baptised in 1764.

Although it seems very coincidental there do seem to have been two Brush men in Tewkesbury at the same time with wives named Penelope. Plus the possibility that William married two Penelopes in succession and named a daughter Penelope - twice! There is another death in 1760 of William[T113] the son of Thomas and Penelope. The Brush love of the Penelope name is increased by the earlier Tewkesbury baptism of Penelope, daughter of Elizabeth Brush back in 1702.

Also in Worcestershire (south of Worcester near to the Gloucestershre border) there is a self contained group in and around Ripple beginning with the marriage of Benjamin Brush to Sarah Harris on 24 December 1792. Benjamin[T114] was baptised in 1753 at Tewkesbury, a son of William[T103/W102] and Penelope Fieldhouse. This line is explored in chapter 03.E .

Although it has no direct relevance the fact of marriages of couples from a distance is further illustrated by the 1714 marriage licence for Elizabeth Brush of Tewkesbury and John Shakespeare of Bewdley in Worcestershire, which is well north of the city of Worcester.

The children of Thomas [W1]

But to return to the main storyline.  Thomas[W1] and his second wife Elizabeth baptise seven children in Worcester.

Thomas, baptised at All Saints on 12 May 1788. Though there is also a baptism entry at St Clement's on 21 January 1788 !?, buried 2 April 1790 at All Saints.

Elizabeth baptised at All Saints on 13 March 1793. FWB slip says she died an infant but if this is not the case then she may have married in 1828. Burial 16 Sept 1793

Ann baptised at All Saints on 18 August 1794 but buried 22 October 1794

Eliza baptised at All Saints on 30 November 1803. It seems probable (as discussed in sections 36.B and D) that she was the Eliza Brush who died in Worcester in 1857.

Joseph,baptised 2 May 1791 at All Saints, whose story continues in section 36.B .

John, baptised 21 October 1795 whose story continues in section 36.C .

William,baptised at All Saints on 18 July 1798, whose story continues in section 36.B .

On 2 June 1805 an Elizabeth is buried at St Nicholas.check register for any help - the wife of Thomas?

There is another marriage of a Thomas Brush at All Saint's Worcester on 8 December 1805 to Susannah Fowler.  A third marriage of Thomas [W1] six months after being widowed?  Or of another man?  A child Edwin is then baptised to this couple on 5 November 1806.  Susannah is buried at All Saints on 9 November 1806.

Other Worcester events 1798-1851

There is a burial of a Frances at St Nicholas on 1/11/1803 - otherwise unknown. .

During the same period, the banns are called in 1798 at St Michaels, Worcester for the marriage of Mary Brush[W??] and John "Scondered".  This record comes from a transcript within 'The Geneologist' records but there is no record of the marriage itself.  Scondered produces no other search results but there are a handful of entries for Scandred and Scandrett in Worcester and a few more in Herefordshire and Wales including some for a John Scandrett.  A Mary Brush had been apprenticed in 1792 to James Vaughan and his wife of St Clements, a glove sewer. I cannot identify a possible birth for Mary. Possibly a daughter of William Brush and Mary Lane born in the mid 1770s? The apprenticeship is around the time of Mary (Lane)'s death. Or a sister of Thomas[W1]?

The lack of a marriage record may be supported by the fact that at around the same time, 8th February 1799, Charlotte[W??] the daughter of a Mary Brush is baptised at St Clement's Worcester, with no father's name listed. Charlotte marries in 27 August 1822 to William Jones and next appears in St Clement's parish in Worcester in 1841 with four children, then at Claines in the 1851 census. In the 1861 census she is listed as a widow with two chidren. On 3 July 1806 there is a marriage of a Mary Brush at St Clement's to Francis Bayley. The same woman? The marriage is witnessed by Edward Skiner and Ann Yeatey.

But there is a burial of a Mary Brush at St Nicholas on 8/1/1808 ??

On 14 July 1805 a Sarah Brush is buried at St Clement's. This could be Sarah baptised in 1775 or the unknown Sarah who witnessed the marriage of Thomas and Elizabeth.

In 1828 an Elizabeth Brush marries a William Mumford in Worcester. Could this be the widow of Thomas[W1]? That would not be consistent with him having remarried in 1806. His daughter baptised in 1793 seems to have died later in 1793. It could be a very late marriage of the Elizabeth born at Martley in 1759 but that seems unlikely.

In 1829 Mary Brush, age 41 is buried at St Peter the Great in Worcester. So, born around 1787/8 which makes her too young to be Mary[W??] the mother of Charlotte. She appears to have been the wife of Joseph[W ], as discussed in section 36.B .

An unexplained 1851 census entry is of Thomas age 43 ( thus born 1807/8) and wife Elizabeth age 44 living in Cheshire. Their birth place is given as Hambury, Worcestershire. Which must surely be a misspelling of Hanbury - less than five miles north east of Worcester. 1807 seems rather late for a final child of Thomas[W1]. Possibly a child of Richard?

Another unexplained entry for Worcestershire comes in 1809 at Dudley - some 25 miles north of Worcester. The baptism of William Robert by William and Eleanor.

Next Chapters:
Joseph of Yeovil and family
Joseph of Yeovil and family
Joseph of Yeovil and family