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From at least the early 18th century there were Brush and/or Brash families based in what is now South London but was then still part of Surrey and Kent, and in London. An analysis of the known information is contained in a separate page. There is considerable uncertainty about how the pre-1809 information fits together but from 1809 there seems to be a clear picture of an extended family beginning with Thomas Charles Brush. My father, FWB, made his own analysis of the three previous generations, which I do not fully agree with. His work is preserved in its own page.
Thomas Charles Brush married Eliza Grub on 26 January 1829 at St Mary's, Newington. The marriage was witnessed by Charles Brush and Eliza Wallis (possibly the sister in law or mother in law of Charles).
There seems little doubt that Thomas was born on 12 Oct 1809 and baptised at St Giles' Camberwell on 5 November 1809. His parents are named in the baptism register as Thomas and Jane.
Many researchers (including FWB) have concluded that his father was Charles Brush , who had married Jane Wallis in February that year. The grounds for this are (1) that Thomas's birth fits neatly between the marriage of Charles at St Mary's Newington and the baptism of his four children also at St Giles' Camberwell and St Mary's Newington. These two churches are just 1.8 miles apart (2) Charles being a witness at Thomas's marriage (3) The 1851 census refers to James Brush as a brother of Thomas - this could be James John, a son of Charles. There is clearly a close relationship between the two, but in order to reconcile these facts with the naming of Thomas as Thomas's father, it is asserted that Charles' full name was Thomas Charles or Charles Thomas. However these names are never used together.
Tempting as this is there could be other explanations that do not involve a completly incorrect register entry and Charles using, on just one occassion, another name. Being a witness does not automatically signal being the father of the groom. A Thomas was buried in 1810 at Wycliffe Chapel, Commercial Road - could this have been the father of Thomas Charles - possibly a brother of Charles? Who might also have been Thomas, the son of Thomas and Francis who was baptised in 1780 in Deptford. Or could father Thomas be the Thomas who was a Royal Navy Boatswain who died age 60 at Chatham. And was away at sea? In both these scenarios it is plausible that 'uncle' Charles brought Thomas up, that the adoption of the extra name Charles by Thomas at his marriage recognised this and that Thomas regarded his cousin James John as his brother.
Thomas Charles and Eliza had seven children:
Sarah Ann, baptised 31 October 1830 at Saint Mary, Newington
Eliza Jane, baptised 25 December 1832 at St Giles, Camberwell
James Thomas Charles born 22 March and baptised at Crayford 22 May 1836
Thomas Charles baptised at Crayford 20 May 1838
Charles Isaac George Keys baptised 7 June 1840 at Dartford
Emma Amelia buried age 2 1/2 on 9 August 1846 at St George, Camberwell. I have not found a baptism record, naming her parents but the street address (Dowlas Street) in the burial register is the same as for William buried three weeks later. Her birth was registered in Q1 1844.
William James John, ( birth regitered Q4 1845) baptised 7 December 1845 at St George, Camberwell and buried there on 30 August 1846
This sequence of baptisms and burials shows a move from Southwark/Camberwell to Crayford/Dartford between 1832 and 1836. At 1841 Thomas and Eliza have not yet been found in the census but their daughter Eliza may be living with Charles Brush - although the age is not a perfect match. However there is an entry in Dartford for Thomas, brickmaker, age 30, Sarah age 30 and Thomas age 3. This fits except for the absence of Eliza and Sara's age as 30. If it was 10 it would fit with the baptism of Sarah in 1830.
In the period 1844 to 1846 ( as shown by baptisms and burials of chidren) they are again in Camberwell but by 1849 appear to be back in Kent as Eliza is imprisoned for four months for larceny as a servant. At 1851 Thomas, Eliza and three children - Eliza, Thomas and Charles - are at White Hall, Crayford (near Dartford). He is a Brickmaker.
Brickmaking in Crayford and the surrounding Dartford/Erith area was a major industry. A detailed description of the Kent brickmaking industry and methods is in this page, taken from the Teynham village website.
He died on 25 August 1854, age 45 at 2 John Street, Commercial Road, Peckham of Pleuropneumonia (11 days). His occupation is given as Brickmaker. The death was notified by an Eliza Coulter (his daughter, who had married Edward Coulter in 1851) whose address is also given as 2 John Street.
Banns are called for Eliza, Thomas's widow, in 1855 at St Mary Magdalene, Peckham to widower John Clarke. Yet there seems to be no marriage record to match this. Instead there is a marriage record for Eliza Brush and John Clark in 1862 at Shoreditch - in which Eliza;'s age is given as 46 and her father identified as James Grubb, labourer. 46 seems way too young - see below, it should be 50 or 51! The 1851 census had given her birthplace as Middlesex and her age as 36 though it seems highly unlikely that she married at 14. Ancestry transcribes the place as Raddington - but it is surely Paddington. There is a baptism of Eliza, daughter of James and Sarah Grubb on 25 August 1811 at St James, Paddington with her birth date given as 13 June 1811. I have not clearly found Eliza either as Brush or Clark in the 1861 or 1871 census, although there are a number of possibilities. There are many confused trees in Ancestry for Eliza Grubb in based on there being a baptism of an Eliza Grubb baptised in 1816 in Finsbury, Middx, by Thomas and Letitia Grubb - ignoring the naming of her father as James at her 1855 remarriage.
Emma Amelia and William James John died as infants. As did James Thomas Charles baptised at Crayford 22 May 1836. A James Brush age 2 is buried at Crayford on January 17th 1838. The remaining children were:
Sarah Ann, was born on 11 October 1830 at Kent Street, Newington and baptised on 31 October 1830 at Saint Mary, Newington. At 19 she had an illegitimate daughter, Emma Amelia born on 23 December 1849 at White Hall, Crayford, Kent. Unsourced public Ancestry trees suggest the father may have been a William Knighton who she may later have married although I have not located a marriage record.. At the 1861 census Sarah is listed as his wife and they have five children of whom Emma is the eldest. James Brush, age 46 is living with them as a boarder - Sarah's uncle, listed as her father's brother in 1851. (Though he may have actually been a cousin, as discussed elsewhere.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8767/images/SRYRG9_375_380-0919?pId=6476479
Eliza Jane, baptised 25 December 1832 at St Giles, Camberwell. At 1841 she may have been living with Charles Brush, thoughthe age does not match well to her baptism. At 1851 census she was living with her parents. She married Edward Coulter on 7 April 1851 at Crayford in Kent. At the 1861 census they are living at 7 Millfield Lane, Stoke Newington in Middlesex. Edward is listed as 14 years older than Eliza.
A son, Edward, is baptised at Aylesford in Kent on 1 March 1863 by Edward and Eliza. The birth is refgisteed in Q1 1863. At the 171 census he is living in Faversham with Jacob and Jane Millgate, identifdi as their nephew. By 185 he is in New Zealand and married - the is lots of info about him in Ancestry which is outside the scope of the BFBI.
The death of an Eliza Coulter age 34 is registered in Q1 1867 in the Camberwell RD, buried in Southwark on 9 January 1867..
Thomas Charles baptised at Crayford 20 May 1838 married Emma Prior and had a large family, the subject of a separate chapter.
Charles Isaac George Keys BRUSH baptised 7 June 1840 at Dartford. Why he had four forenames I have no idea but he does not appear to have ever used anything except Charles in later records. He too is the subject of a separate chapter.