GEORGE
BROWN(E) & SUSAN(NA) CARR
George
Brown(e) was my grandfather’s grandfather, that is, my great
great grandfather. At the time of writing there remains
uncertainty about his ancestry, for no certain record of birth
has been discovered, nor any document certifying beyond doubt his
parentage or any siblings. Therefore at present we cannot trace
our ancestors back beyond George with any certainty. According to
my grandfather, George was born about 1820, worked for the
Coastguard service in Ireland and lost his life one night whilst
on a fishing trip at Ballycotton. A storm blew up and he did not
return. He was later presumed to have drowned as one of his
fishing boots was washed up in Cork Harbour. The year given for
this event was c1860, but no record of his death has been found.
It is difficult to imagine such a tale could be fictitious, but
research shows that the year given is unlikely to be correct.
His
Coastguard Service Record reads as follows:
About
1818 born
at Maidstone, Kent
June
1843
applied to join the Coast Guard Service - no vacancies
December
18, 1844 accepted for Coast Guard
Service whilst serving on HMS Indus
January
9, 1845 appointed to Coast Guard
Station at Costelloe Bay, Co. Galway
October
16, 1845 married Susanna Carr at
Spiddal, County Galway
January
8, 1849 transferred from Costelloe
Bay to North Isle of Aran Station
May
12, 1851 transferred to
Lettermore, Kilroran, North Aran
January
27, 1852 transferred to
Soldiers’ Point, Port & District, Dundalk, Co. Louth
called up as a reservist for the Crimean War
March
10, 1854 HMS Boscawan
July
2, 1854 HMS
Royal George
April
29, 1856
discharged back to his Coast Guard Station at Soldiers’
Point, Port & District, Dundalk, Co. Louth
June
4, 1857 transferred
to Ballycotton, Co. Cork
October
16, 1860 transferred to Carnsore,
Co. Wexford
August
31, 1868
discharged to pension.
The
above records give us a fairly clear account of his life and
indicate he was of English descent, but suggest his death
occurred after 1868. His family of five children were all born in
Ireland to his Irish wife Susan(na) Carr (1827 – 1890), and
they were as follows:
William Henry Browne (c1851 – 1902), Louisa Rhoda Browne (1853 – 1922), Sarah Jane Browne (c1855 – 1927), Mary Catherine Browne (1856 – 1916) and Joseph George Browne (1858 – 1905). The A’Bear family descends from the firstborn, William Henry Browne. Family tree
Because
he lived in Ireland during his adult life, one would not expect
to find many English records relating to George. Somewhat
surprisingly then, the 1871 census for Hythe, Kent, shows the
following entries at 143 Church Hill:
George Brown, Head, Married, 53, Navy
Pensioner, born Maidstone, Kent; Susan Brown, Wife, married, 43,
born Ireland; Joseph G. Brown, Son, 13, Scholar, born Ireland.
Whilst
census records cannot be taken to be wholly reliable, from the
amount of agreeing detail there can be little doubt that this is
the same man. Therefore George was indeed born in Maidstone, Kent
and lived beyond 1871. This discovery raises the question as to
why the family chose to live (or at least stay) on the coast in
Hythe after his retirement. Could there be any clues here
regarding family connections?
Firstly,
his surname is spelt without the letter ‘e’ on the end
of it. This could be an indication that he was born without the
‘e’ and adopted it in Ireland where, perhaps, it was a
preferred spelling of the surname, in which case we should be
looking for family members spelt Brown (without the
‘e’).
Secondly,
one has to wonder if, after spending so many years living and
working in Ireland away from his parents and siblings, he chose
to spend some time after his retirement closer to them. If this
was the case, perhaps other Browns might appear in the Hythe
census that would give us a lead. Indeed, he may even have grown
up in the port of Hythe, which could explain his interest in
joining the Coastguard service. Hythe was a busy military port
around this time which developed through fear of a French
invasion.
A closer
inspection of the 1871 census does indeed show other Browns
living only two doors away from them at 145 Church Hill, namely:
Mary
Horton, Head, Unmarried, 49, Laundress, born Folkestone; Henry
Brown, Brother (in law), Married, 48, Bricklayer, born Hythe;
Susan Brown, Sister, married, 47, Laundress, born Folkestone.
Confirmation
and development of this family group comes from a study of two
earlier censuses and the 1881 census:
In 1861
Henry Brown was a lodger living with the Horton family in the
same road, and he married Susan Horton in 1862 at Elham in the
same district.
In 1881
Susan Brown is living with her sister Mary at 241 Park Road,
Hythe. Susan is declared widowed, so we know Henry Brown died
between 1871 and 1881.
At the
time of the 1851 census Henry Brown was declared an Uncle to the
Philpot family, and was staying nearby with this family. James
Philpot, a labourer, was married to Sarah Philpot nee Brown, born
c1809. Sarah was working for Robert & Mary Clark as a servant
just around the corner at the Swan Inn on the night of the
census. Their eldest child was named Eliza (b1834), as confirmed
ten years earlier in the 1841 census. The other children were
Sarah (b1838), James (b1840), Henry (b1842) and Richard (b1845),
and in 1851 they lived near Church Hill in Slade Street, Hythe.
In 1871
Sarah Philpott nee Brown was still living in Slade Street, and
was recorded as having been born in Maidstone.
If we try to fit George into the equation
as a possible sibling we have, in chronological order:
Sarah Brown (became Philpott) b c1809
Maidstone. Died after 1871.
George Brown(e) b c1818 Maidstone. Died after 1871, probably in Ireland.
Henry Brown b c1823 Hythe. Died between
1871 and 1881.
In an attempt to establish possible parents,
the 1841 census shows a William and Elizabeth Brown both
born in 1781 and living in Hardways End, Hythe, Kent, with a son
Henry born c1826. Elizabeth was recorded as born in Aylesford,
Kent, not far from Maidstone. William was born in Alfriston,
Sussex, an agricultural labourer. They could have married and
settled in the Maidstone area, begun their family there and moved
to Hythe around 1820, perhaps for work reasons. By 1841 children
older than Henry would have left home and not shown up in the
census. The name Elizabeth ties up with Sarah's firstborn, Eliza.
Ten years later in 1851 Elizabeth and William are listed again,
living in Concrete Row, near Slade Street in Hythe. Her place of
birth was then given as Shoreham, Kent, again not far from
Maidstone. By then they are both aged 70 years and they do not
appear in the 1861 census. There are likely records of their
deaths in the same district soon after 1861.
In searching for confirmation of William and
Elizabeth Brown’s family, the following family group of
baptisms was found, all at Chatham near Maidstone:
John Brown 1795 Chatham
Joseph Brown 1799 Chatham
Daniel Patrick Brown 1800 Chatham
Mary Brown 1801 Chatham
George Brown 1804 Chatham
Jane Brown 1808 Chatham
No subsequent records were found, so it remains unclear if this is the same family. If it is, it seems George was born fourteen years earlier than stated in the Coastguard record, married a lady sixteen years older than himself and retired aged sixty-four, not fifty.Also Elizabeth started her family aged only fourteen years and continued producing until the age of forty-two years. Though not impossible, this is not a good fit.
Returning to the 1871 census, the two Brown
families lived either side of the Smith and Ovenden families. For
future reference, no connection with the Browns has so far been
established. Ernest Ovenden (aged 4) is stated as nephew to
William and Sarah Smith. Mary Ann Ovenden nee Smith (b1844)
married Edward Alexander Ovenden (b1834) nearby at Elham in 1863,
so William Smith and Mary Ann Ovenden were brother and sister,
both born in Hythe, Kent. Finding a family connection with one of
these families would further support a family link, but they
could just as well have been friendly neighbours.
I can only conclude that it seems quite
probable George returned to Hythe in 1871 to spend time with his
brother and sister. If this were the case it seems sensible he
would have asked his sister Sarah Philpott about possible
lodgings, and she, through her contacts or brother Henry, found
accommodation at Church Hill, conveniently close to both of them.
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