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Section 36 : Worcester and Birmingham; 1775-1921

Chapter 36.B

William was baptised on 18th July 1798 and marries on 14 June 1829 at St Saint Michael in Worcester to Marie or Maria Chillingworth. A William Brush, a glover, and Maria appear in the 1841 census at Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. They then seem to disappear but end up in Yeovil in Somerset. They are there for the 1861 census. At the 1871 census William and Mary, both born Worcester, are at Vicarage Street in Yeovil. He is listed as age 72, a glover. As were a high proportion of his neighbours. Vicarage Street no longer exists but was near the centre of the town to the east of St John's Church. The Yeovil history site describes it The 1881 census lists a Maria Brush, widow age 78 born Worcester as a glover living as a lodger in the house of glove cutter Charles Abbott. A William Brush died in Yeovil in April 1871 with his age recorded as 71. Maria dies in 1889, aged 88.

According to a BBC site "Worcester's gloving industry reached its peak between 1790 and 1820 when 150 manufacturers of gloves employed over 30,000 people in and around Worcester. At this time nearly half of all glovers in Britain were based in and around the city of Worcester." The second centre of the glove trade was Yeovil.

Joseph Brush and family
1783-1948

Thomas[W1] and his second wife Elizabeth baptised seven children at All Saints' Worcester between 1788 and 1803. Thomas, Elizabeth and Ann die as infants. Eliza.  Three of their sons marry and continue the story:  Joseph (the subject of this chapter), John (chapter 36.C) and William.  As discussed below I believe Eliza remained single and died in 1857 age about 48.

Despite the evidence of Ann dying as an infant there is a marriage of an Ann Brush to Joseph Sherwood in 1820 in Worcester. I am unsure who this Ann was.

As discussed in chapter 36.A the youngest son William married Marie or Maria Chillingworth.  They appear to have had no children and moved, eventually to Yeovil in Somerset.

Joseph

Joseph[W4], the son of Thomas[W1], is baptised on 2 May 1791 at All Saints church in Worcester. An earlier draft showed the baptism as 1788 but I am unsure where this date came from - maybe just an error.

He is married by 1810, when Joseph junior[W10] is baptised on 1 December by Joseph and Mary at St Helen's in Worcester. This baptism is also indexed as being at Stoulton which is a few miles south east f Worcester.  FWB's records show that Joseph married Mary OAKES on 11 December 1809 at All Saints in Worcester (Images of the registers of All Saints do not seem to be in the Ancestry record set). There is a burial of a Joseph at St Andrews on 5 August 1811.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920 show that Private Joseph Brush of the 7th Foot (the Royal Fusiliers){Ancestry shows 5th Foot} enlisted in 1810 age 27 and was discharged in 1818 aged 35.  His birth place is given as All Saints Worcester.  This index record seems to have misread the discharge record (available through the Fold3 site). This actually shows him to be age 27 at discharge in 1818 and to have been 19 on enlistment in 1810, which fits neatly with a 1791 birth and baptism. The discharge form is displayed on a separate page.

However, there is a complication. At some time after the form was completed a note was added in a different hand. This reads "enlisted in [Sept] 1810 at the age of 16 as ...."  I think the words at the end could be "as shown by 2nd Lt D.." but I am really not sure of this.  If he was actually 16 in 1810 then he clearly was not baptised in 1791!  Given how neatly everything else fits together it seems probable (and certainly possible) that the added note is wrong.

The service dates and regiment suggest that Joseph served in the Peninsular war and may after that have gone to North America, eventually returning via Belgium and France in 1818. His COs signature is shown as having been given at ???? , France in July 1818. See britishempire.co.uk for detail on the regiments extensive action in that period.

In the middle of this period of military service there is a burial on 12 December 1814 of an infant Mary Ann Brush at St Andrew's Worcester, but no corresponding baptism.

After his discharge the baptisms resume. Thomas in 1819, though he is buried later that year.  Charles[W12] is baptised on 15 May 1822.

In 1829 Mary dies age 41 and is buried at St Peter the Great on 15 March. Later in 1829, on 30 November, there is a marriage of a Joseph Brush to an Ann Tomkins at St John the Baptist, Hereford. Although there is a group of Herefordshire Brush families they are not in Hereford itself and there seem to be no other Herefordshire records that link to this couple. it is at the least plausible that this is Joseph[W ] remarying.

In 1831 a Josiah Brush had been baptised in Yeovil by Josiah and Ann Brush. Josiah is identified as a dier. At the 1871 census "Jos" Brush a leather glove dyer is living as a lodgerin Vicarage Street in Yeovil - the same street as William and Maria.

At the 1841 census Joseph and family are living in the St Peter's district of Worcester. Contrary to the usual, prescribed, 1841 census format, their ages seem to be given precisely.  Joseph and an Ann Brush are both shown as age 54, so born 1786/7. But this doesn't fit neatly to either the baptism or the army record. I think Joseph's occupation is given as a stainer - presumably of leather. Charles is shown as age 18, with the same occupation. This gives his birth as 1822/3 - consistent with his baptism. The household also includes Joseph[W32] age 10, with no occupation. Which gives a birth date of 1830/1.

In Q1 1843 an Ann Maria 'Bruish' dies at Worcester

In 1852 a Joseph Brush is buried in Yeovil, aged 68. This gives a birth date of 1783/4, which is rather earlier than we would expect from the baptism date and the army record. Did Joseph the elder [W4] (like his younger brother William) also die at Yeovil?. Strange as the location might seem it was also where brother William and his wife Maria would later live and die. There is however an alternative explanation. A Joseph Brush[S??] married Sarah Flower at Timsbury in Somerset in 1806 - which would fit neatly with a 1783/4 birth. Though this leaves open the question of where Joseph [S??] came from.

There is an 1856 marriage at Worcester of a Joseph Brush to Harriet Freeman or Emma Ashley. There is a death of a Joseph age 61 in 1889 (i.e born c. 1828) at Worcester. A Mary Brush, age 82 (thus born 1792/3) dies in Worcester in Q2 1875. But cf Anna Maria dying in 1843. Is this Mary Ann Fleet, wife of John?

The children of Joseph
1851 census

The family tree I inherited from FWB shows a second Charles[W13] born 1828 as a son of Joseph - though with no baptism detail. This appears to come from the 1851 census which shows a Charles Brush age 23, born St Clement's Worcester, a leather stainer, living as a lodger with John and Mary Ann Gwillam. Attributing Charles[W13] as a child of Joseph seems inconsistent with the 1841 census but the marriage record apparently names Joseph as Charles's father. The likelihood of Joseph and Mary naming two living sons the same is remote. This is not a case where one child dies and another is later givn the same name. So, one Charles or two? My conclusion is just one, born c1822 and that at his marriage (and subsequent censuses except for 1891) he chose to understate his age.

There is no record at 1851 of any of the three Josephs, Mary or Charles born 1822. Except for an entry in Macclesfield, Cheshire for a Joseph Brush age 40 (thus born 1810/110 and wife Nancy. Joseph identifies himself as born in Stockport in Cheshire. Aside from that detail it is conceivable that he is Joseph [W10] baptised in 1810, but that again raises the unlikely issue of two children with the same name.

Charles (1822-1910) and his family

At 1853 Charles Brush, son of Joseph, marries Eliza Wall in Worcester.  His age is given as 25 which gives a birth year of 1827/8.  His father is identifed as Joseph. In Q2 1855 a daughter Eliza is born and then Maria in Q4 1857.

An Eliza Brush is recorded as dying in Worcester in 1857. This cannot be the wife of Charles or his daughter(as suggested by FWB's tree) as both feature in later census records. Nor is it the wife of Cornelius (see chapter 36.D) but it could be Eliza [W9], the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth baptised in 1803.

At the 1861 census there is again only one Charles,leather stainer.  Age 35, so born 1825/6. Half way between the two dates already suggested. Plus wife Eliza and children Eliza and Maria. At 1871 they are at St Peter, Worcester with three children, Eliza, Maria and Charles Henry(born 1865).

They are still there in 1881 though Maria is no longer with them and there is a new son age 2 William A[lfred]. Brush (born Q1 1879). To a 51 year old mother? Maybe a grandson? Charles's age is given as 54 equating to a birth year of 1826/7. Maria is recorded in Worcester age 24 as a domestic servant, unmarried, in the household of Thomas Quarrell.

At the 1881 census Eliza, the daughter of Charles, a 'gloveress' is still with her parents but there is a likely marriage in 1882 in nearby Droitwich to William Thomas Wilding. At 1891 they and chidren Albert and Frank are living in Worcester.

There is also a marriage in Droitwich (RD) in 1882 of Maria to Frederick Charles Hooper. In 1891 she appears in Worcester as a visitor ( a tailor) in the household of Margaret Eykers, a domestic servant as do husband Frederick and three sons,Charles F., Earnest E. and Harry P. more chidren, widow by 1911, still alive 1939 census. Some anomolies.

At 1881 16 year old Charles Henry is still at home in Worcester. He is a boot clicker; the person who cuts the uppers for boots. He re-appears in the 1891 census in Hinckley in Leicestershire. His age is transcribed as 21 but it may actually be written as 26 - which is what we would expect. He is still a boot clicker, and is shown as a lodger in the household of a shoe maker.

By the 1891 census Charles's age is 68 - which gives a birth year of 1822/3. The only child left is William A. , now identifed as a grandson. The son of Eliza? or Maria?

At the 1901 census Charles and Eliza and grandson William Alfred (age 22, a labourer in a tin factory) are still in Worcester. Except that Charles's name is for some unknown reason recorded as George!! His age is given as 73 which reverts to the 1828 birth date.

Charles Henry marries Florence Humphreys in Q4 1897 in Hinckley. She had been born there in 1873/4, the daughter of Daniel Humphreys. In 1901 they are in Birmingham.  His occupation is unclear. It seems to say "Bell House keeper" and "pub" has been added. (Florence's father Daniel had been a publican)

Charles dies in Q1 1910 age 81 which puts his birth year at 1828/9 again.

At 1911 Charles Henry is back in Leicester, listed as married but with no record of Florence. William Alfred Brush, age 30, Tinsmith, is listed as a visitor - Charles Henry's nephew.  Also in the household are Angelina Draper, described as Housekeeper and her two teenage children as "boarders".  Make of that what you will.  They also live in the same household in Leicester at the 1921 census.  The census at 1911 asks about numbers of children and this is given as none for Charles Henry.  I have not found a death for Florence. If they had separated had she reverted to her maiden name?

Charles Henry dies Q4 1923 in the Leicester RD.

The last surviving member of the family appears to be William Alfred.  In 1921 he is living in Worcester. He also appears in the 1939 registration list, his DOB given as 19 December 1878. Age 61, single, he is living in Bristol in what looks like a lodging house, recorded as unemployed. His death is recorded in Bristol in 1948.  The Brush line descending from Joseph (born 1783-1791) appears to end with his death.

Joseph Brush (1830-1889)

There is a baptism at Yeovil in 1831 of Josiah Brush, son of Josiah and Ann. Despite the name difference this seems unconnected to anything else in Somerset yet fits neatly into this Worcester story.

At 1856 a Joseph Brush marries in Worcester - to Emma Ashley or Harriet Freeman. From the 1871 information I am guessing it was Emma.

At the 1871 census a Jos Brush, a Leather glove dyer is living in Yeovil. His birthplace is given as Somerset. He is age 41 ( so born 1829/30) which fits closely to the 10 year old Joseph from 1841. A married Emma Brush age 42, gloveress, is living in Worcester by herself. Her death is recorded in Q4 of 1871 at Worcester.

At the 1881 census a Joseph Brush, said to be born in Worcester, reappears. A glover living as a lodger in the Blockhouse area of Worcester. His age is 53 so born 1827/8. Close to but not exact to the young Joseph seen in 1841 or . He is listed as married but with no wife.

The death of Joseph age 61 is recorded in Q4 1889. There is no evidence of any children.

Although no sort of link can be made, a Joseph Brush was buried in Frome in Somerset in 1786. (from somewhere there is a suggestion that he was described as a son of william) This could put him in the same generation as the father of Thomas[W1] and might provide a reason for the apparent Worcester/Somerset link.

Next Sections
Chapter 36C: John and family. and
Chapter 29D: The children of John and Mary and