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Previous Section 12: The great American Mystery
Previous Chapter 12.E : Title
Sherston is a village in western Wiltshire where it borders on Gloucestershire. From at least 1641 there are Brush families in and around Sherston in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. In the next chapter we will look at the families from Sherston but there is one matter to deal with first.
In 1641 the Wiltshire Inquisitiones Post Mortem mention, in passing, a John BRUSH, broadweaver of Sherston Magna, as bringing a "sortia" of wood to Giles James from Silkwood, Sherston.
Previous versions of this history have identified John the broadweaver as being John F3( ), the son of Thomas F1 ( ) and Alice, who was born in Wotton under Edge and baptised on 1 May 1599. This link was made by my father many decades ago. The famiies of Wotton are the subject of section 6.
My father was a cautious and thorough family historian commited to substantiating the trees he produced. Much of this history is down to the diligent research he and my mother conducted in the days before the sources were available on the internet. However, looking at the issue afresh, I am conscious that this is a huge leap of faith. The references to John of Wotton and John the broadweaver of Sherston are 42 years apart. Brush is a rare surname but John is one of the most common christan names in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Nothing in this record identifies John the Broadweaver as being the son of Thomas or as originating from Wotton or says how old John the broadweaver was. The link is a wholly circumstantial one. It is possible but I fear that is all we can say.
How good an assumption is it, how strong is the evidence? A 1649 deed described below shows John as having a son, also John, [ other Johns in the area? , lack of death, marriage or children record for John at Wotton, the short distance from Wotton, the fact that Wotton was also a weaving village/town , the appearance near Sherston of William (ch ) ; the Shrewsbury trustee link] Marriage of a John atJohn m 3/10/1633 at Stratton ( 1m n of cirencester = Alice HAYES IGI buried 28/3/1641 at Somerford Keynes ( a few miles south of Cirencester) ??ALICE'S BURIAL?? ch Eleanor 1634 Thomas 1636 Margaet 1637 WHERE WERE HESE CHILDREN BORN? FWB suggestions - the John who was admitted as Freeman ( shoemaker) of Tewk 1631, suggests parents are Thomas and Alice of Pershore will Stratton . A link at this point back to Tewkesbury seems to me to be unlikely Also Death of a John at
The story of John of Sherston continues in the next chapter.