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Section 29 : Direct Line 1809-1927

Chapter 29.D

Arthur Wesley BRUSH
1884-194?
and his siblings

Arthur Wesley Brush was my grandfather, though he died before I was borm.  He was born on 25th September 1884 in ??, the son of Arthur Wallis Brush and Emily nee Pleming. He was one of four children.  His siblings are considered below.  The choice of Wesley as his middle name reflects his parent's commitment to Methodism - his father was a Methodist local preacher.  As far as I can tell he was usually known as Wesley rather than as Arthur.  His father is considered in chapter 29.D, the Pleming family in section 34

Arthur Wesley was baptised at Highbury Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in 1885 -sometime on or before May 27th.. Unusually the actual date is not shown. (Ancestry indexes the register entry as Bursh) The minister by whom the baptism was solemnized seems to have been Joseph Bush - for a moment I thought we had found another Brush https://www.ourfamtree.org/records/ministers.php/England/Middlesex/London%2C-Highbury-Methodist-Church.

Around the time of their marriage Arthur Wallis BRUSH had bought or rented a little shop at 190a Holloway Road, Highbury,  It was at Holloway Road on 6th November 1884 that their first child was born and christened Arthur Wesley - my grandfather.  Three other children were born at Holloway Road , Elsie Louise, George Douglas and Herbert Stanley.

They were still at 190a Holloway Road at the 1891 census. Arthur Wesley and 4 year old Elsie Louise both listed as scholars. And the family had a domestic servant, 15 year old Nelly McMahon. If the numbering has not changed, the site is now part of the London Metropolitan University Building.  In 1892 it seems that Emily's sister - Wesley's aunt - Marie Louise Pleming was also living with them before her marriage to John Cory.

Arthur Wallis,  Emily nee Pleming,
Elsie Louise,  Arthur Wesley,  George Douglas
The family group around 1892, before Herbert Stanley was born

In the summer of 1895 the family moved to another shop, this time at Tottenham Lane in Hornsey. &

At the same time they seem to have moved house.  Herbert Stanley was born on 26th May 1895 at Holloway Road but at 5th July when the birth was registered his mother Emily gives her address as 2 Victoria Terrace in Hornsey.  Arthur is shown as a Grocer (Master).  They are still at Victoria Terrace at the 1901 census, with Arthur Wallis Brush listed as a Grocer and 16 year old Arthur Wesley a Grocer's Assistant.  Victoria Terrace is close to Finsbury Park and the photo images on Google Maps suggest the 1901 house is still there.

By 1911 they had moved to 'The Shrubbery', Gordon Road, Hornsey - now no longer there since it was demolished and the whole area redeveloped many years later.  According to the 1911 census the house had 7 rooms.  That the family lived in a house called the Shrubbery has special echoes for me.  Throughout my time at secondary school, in the late nineteen sixties and early seventies, I was known as 'Shrub' - it being an anagram of Brush.  Was the same name game played 60 years earlier?

Arthur Wesley, Herbert Stanley and George Douglas
standing behind Emily, Arthur Wallis and Elsie Louise.
The sergeant's stripes on George's arm may help us date this picture.

At the 1921 census Arthur Wallis is identified as an employer, though we do not know of how many people.  His business is described as "Wholesale Sundryman Spices, Baking Powder etc ".  His workplace is "at home".  He is at home with wife Emily and two of their children - George Douglas and Herbert Stanley. Elsie Louise had married in 1917. I have not been able to find Arthur Wesley in the 1921 census. He may have been in Warwickshire or may have been 'on the road' selling the family business's grocery products.

Arthur Wallis Brush died in 1922, just a month after my grandparents were married. His obituary in the local paper focuses on his role as a local councillor.

TEXT

Buried in New Southgate ceremony.
The phrases "called to higher service" and "to whom the call came" are, I think, very Methodist.

Emily continued to live at 'The Shrubbery' until her death in 1938 - my father (born 1925) recalls going often to visit his Grandmother there.

Arthur's siblings

Arthur Wallis BRUSH had four siblings - John Edward, Mary Ann, George Samuel and Alice Sarah

John Edward BRUSH was born on 23 October 1853 and baptised on 22 January 1854 at St John the Evangalist, Smith Square in Westminster.

He married Ellen Mary MOON at All Saints Church in Fulham on 24 October 1882. He gives his occupation as a carpenter. His wife dies in 1883. He remarries on 3 April 1893 at St Barnabas Islington to Mary Morley. They have two children,

George Samuel was born on

Next Sections
Chapter 29C: The younger children of Samuel and Sarah and
Chapter 29D: The children of John and Mary and