The Browns
John Holmes Brown
William K Brown
John Holmes Brown is my great-great grandfather, and his son William Kennett was my maternal Grandfather’s father.
John Holmes Brown was born in 1812 in Barking, Essex. He married Eliza Shelitoe (born 1811) in Barking, Essex in 1831 when he was 19 and Eliza was 20.
They appear to have had 7 children –
Eliza Brown born 1832 in Barking, Essex
John Brown born 1834 in Barking, Essex
Rosa Brown born 1836 in Barking, Essex
Henry W Brown born 1841 in Barking, Essex
William Kennett Brown born 22 May 1843 in Barking, Essex
Frederick T Brown born 1848 in Ramsgate, Kent
Kennett John Holmes Brown born 1852
William Brown with his family
In the 1841 census John’s occupation is recorded as Fisherman, and the family was living at Parke terrace, Fisher Street Lane, Barking, with their first three children.
In the 1851 census John’s occupation is again recorded as Fisherman, and they had moved to 3 Clover Hill, Ramsgate. Daughter Eliza had left home, and Kennett was not yet born.
In 1859 John Holmes Brown married again. His second wife was Ann Pick Cartrick (nee Whatley) who was born in 1814 in Bloomsbury, Middlesex. They were married on 25 April 1859 in Parish of Christ’s Church, St Saviour, Surrey, when John was 47 and Ann was 45.
At the time of the 1861 census John and Ann were living at 16 Charles Street, Southwark, with the 3 youngest Brown children William, Frederick and Kennett. Also living with them were three of Ann’s children – Eliza (19), Mary (13) and Georgiana (9). John’s occupation was Porter.
Ann had been married before to George Cartrick. They were married on 13 October 1844 at St Martin in the fields, Westminster, when Ann was 30.
I cannot find John Holmes Brown in the 1871 census, but he appears in 1881 as a lodger at 10 Mossington Road, Rotherhithe. He is described as Mariner unable to work and as a Widower.
In her letter dated 1950 John’s granddaughter Bell (born in 1869) remembers him. She describes him as “a strict teetotaller but his teeth were absolutely black from smoking”. Bell used to take his money to Bermondsey each week, presumably to the house at 10 Mossington Road, or somewhere near it. She thought he had been married three times, but so far I have only found evidence of two wives.
According to Bell “The old man is buried at Nunhead but many of the older ancestors are in the churchyard at Barking”. So far I have not found his death certificate online, which makes it difficult to locate his grave.