BRICKMAKERS

There is a BRUSH family which occurs in South London at the same time as our own group(1) and was, at the start of our researches, confused with that group.  For simplicity they are referred to as the "Dartfords" or the "Brickmakers" but they do, in fact, cover quite a large territory, mainly in South London and Essex and in North Kent.  To avoid confusion with similar names it is proposed to use the prefix 'B' before numbers in the description of the descent of this group.

As with the main group with which we are concerned, there is some conjecture in the first two or three generations.  In this case, researches have not gone so far back, since our investigations have concentrated on the main group, and in order to make some comparison with the main group possible the earliest members of whom we have some knowledge are considered to be of the sixth generation.  Most of the information here is from St. Catherine's House,(2) which means no earlier than 1837.  Some London and Surrey church registers have produced names which fit the pattern, but much more work remains to be done.

It is certain that the name BRUSH occurred in the City of London before the Plague and Fire and it is possible that it was from these inhabitants of London that the Brush group in Bermondsey and South London derived well before our own "migrants" from Wiltshire and Gloucestershire moved to London in the first decade of the nineteenth century.  Again, the note in the main Family History concerning two apprentice cloth-workers from Oxfordshire shows that the name could well have come into the City from outside.  It is doubtful if we shall ever know the large number of London churches makes the examination of even those registers which remain a daunting task.

The coincidence that both our own group and the 'Brickmakers' group lived in parts of suburban Surrey at the same time poses other questions.  Did they know each other, even though not related?  It is hard to believe that two or more families sharing the same surname in the Cheam/ Penge/ Croydon area would not have made some contact.  Again, it is unlikely that we shall ever know.

There was emigration from this 'Brickmakers' group to Australia.(3)  The Author received two telephone calls from a member of an emigrant family but promised details and documents never materialised.  Although it was difficult to be certain, it would appear that there was confusion between the two groups, the 'correspondent' referring to members of the main group as if they were of his own family.  This might well suggest knowledge of, if not relationship with, the two groups.