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Section 23 : Inglesham and Swindon 1746-1845
Chapter 23.B
Thomas of Swindon
1746 - 1801
William of Inglesham, the subject of chapter 23.A , the eldest son of Isaac (chapter ??), had a younger brother - Thomas was baptised on 25 January 1747(8) at Brinkworth. Not as recorded
At 1780 3 April 1780 a Thomas Brush (whose age and location fit reasonably well) marries Sarah Tidd alias Holloway at Christchurch with St Mary, Swindon.
They are described as bachelor and spinster, both 'of this parish'. Her death record indicates a birth date around 1756. Their banns had been published in July and August 1779. On the same page of the register are the banns of William Holloway alias Tidd & Mary Major, and of Elizabeth Major, widow, and Richard Heath, widower. Three families all joined up.
One witness is Henry Tidd - probably her father or another close relative - but the second is William Noad. The Noad family also appeared in Sherston a century earlier, involved in land transactions with the Brush family but this could just be a coincidence. However the Victoria County History records that "A group of Wesleyan Methodists ... had been meeting in the house of a Mr. Noad in [Swindon] Lower Town" prior to 1813. One of Thomas's sons, Isaac, was later to become a Methodist local (i.e. lay) preacher. Noad's presence as a witness might indicate a Methodist link.
At the beginning of the 19th century, before the coming of the railway, Swindon was simply a small market town of just over 1,000 people.
John, son of Thomas and Sarah, is baptised on 9 July 1780 in Swindon. Then Anne and Elizabeth both in 1784, Isaac in 1787, Henry in 1789 and William in 1795. The Ancestry record - relying on the Mormon records? - shows these to have been at Christ Church in Swindon but the Victoria County History states that Christ Church dates back only to 1851. In the 18th century, the sole church in the parish of Swindon was Holy Rood church.
That the Thomas BRUSH who married in 1780 is the Thomas baptised at Brinkworth in 1747/8 is not conclusivly established. It fits the narrative but there is also a burial of a Thomas Brush in Brinkworth in 1784. If that burial is Thomas baptised 1748/9 then who is Thomas married in 1780?
Since Thomas and Sarah were still baptising children until 1795, the burial of Thomas in Brinkworth in 1784 is clearly not that of Thomas of Swindon - who dies in Swindon 1833 age 86. This indicates a birth date of 1746/7 which is consistent with the 1747/8 baptism). On balance I continue to believe that
Sarah dies in 1845, age 89, at Highworth which is about half way between Swindon and Inglesham but is buried, on 23 February, at Swindon.
The children of Thomas and Sarah
John
Baptised on 9 July 1780. His story continues in chapter 23.D .
In 1808 at Swindon Elizabeth BRUSH is baptised, the illegitimate daughter of Mary Jones. That she was identified as a BRUSH indicates the unmarried father and the picture seems to be completed by the 1811 marriage at Swindon of John Brush of Fairford (close to Inglesham) and Mary Jones of Swindon. Is this John, baptised in 1780?
In 1813 Thomas is baptised at Swindon. John is shown as a Carpenter.
In 1843 a John BRUSH is buried at Highworth age 50 - so DOB c 1793 (from the workhouse). This really does not match with John baptised 1780 or John married 1811 but I am unsure who else he could be.
Next Sections
Chapter 23B: Thomas of Swindon
The following table of references is really just for my benefit but if you wish to locate any of the individuls within Wikitree you can click on the link in the final column.