Tag: genealogy

The Brettells of Kingswinford

Brettell confusion

In the writing of Kingswinford Manor and Parish (KMAP), one of the loose ends was the Brettell family, who were clearly important in the area and married into other major families, but who were very difficult to trace through the historical record, not least because they seemed to have used a very small set of Christian names, with all the confusion that implies. This issue was particularly acute when I considered the Fowler Maps of Kingswinford of 1822 and 1840. In the former we have at least one Thomas Brettell and at least one Benjamin Brettell, and in the latter we have Anna Maria Brettell and Penelope Brettell – all holding quite significant portions of land.

A reader of KMAP, Keith Evans, seeing my confusion, has come to my help. In his family tree studies he has identified the following Brettells in late 18th and early 19th century Kingswinford that are of relevance.

  • Benjamin Brettell (1720-1793) who married Elizabeth Jeavons in 1763, where he was identified as a Malster. He is later referred to as a Coal Master.
  • Benjamin Brettell (1764-1822), the eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth, who was apprenticed to Richard Mee of Himley in 1780 and became an attorney. Two children are mentioned in his will – Benjamin and Anna Maria.
  • Thomas Brettell (1769-1835), another son of Benjamin and Elizabeth, who married Penelope Antrobus Cartwright, and was recorded as a Coalmaster. Two children are again identified, Benjamin and Elizabeth.

Using the above as background information, we can consider the Brettells identified in the Directories for the Fowler maps of 1822 and 1840 in a little more detail.

Brettells on the Fowler Maps

Figure 1. The Brettells on the 1822 Fowler Map – Brown circles – Thomas (Brettell Lane); Dark blue circles – Benjamin; Green circles – Thomas (Summerhill); Light blue circles – Thomas (Tiled House)

In 1822, there were four clusters of land that were either owned or occupied by a Brettell (Figure 1, which shows those plots of land owned or occupied by Brettells, superimposed on a modern map).

  • Those lands owned by Benjamin Brettell at the upper end of Brettell Lane and in Brierley Hill and Brockmoor. These were, as far as can be judged, in the area that was enclosed by the Pensnett Chase Enclosure Act of 1784 and allocated to Benjamin Brettell Senior.
  • Those lands owned by Thomas Brettell along Brettell Lane. These adjoin those of Benjamin, but are on land that was not enclosed in 1784 i.e. land that was either an old enclosure or a more formal old estate.
  • Those lands owned by Thomas Brettell in Summerhill, including Summerhill house where he resided. These were in the area where the 1776 Ashwood Hey Enclosure Act formalised informal enclosures of 1684, so this block of land probably originates in this period.
  • The Tiled House Estate occupied and inhabited by Thomas Brettell, but owned by Richard Mee (the son of the Richard Mee to whom Benjamin junior was apprenticed).

The blocks of land in the Brettell Lane area were not continuous, and werei nterspersed with lands owned by others.

The immediate question is whether or not all these lands were owned by the same Thomas Brettell. The Thomas Brettell at Summerhill is sometimes styled in the Directory of the 1822 Fowler Map as “Esq.” which may differentiate him from the other Thomas’s. Against that is the fact that some of the land  was occupied  by Benjamin Brettell, either Thomas’s brother or his son. It is of course possible there might have been another Benjamin, but this does tend to suggest that the same Thomas owned lands in Brettell Lane and in Summerhill.  If that is the case, then this Thomas would have no need of the Tiled House as a place to live in and one must conclude that the Thomas who lived there was not the same Thomas who held lands in Brettell Lane and Summerhill. All very confusing.

The other point that can be made is that the fact that Thomas and Benjamin’s lands along Brettell Lane adjoin each other suggest that in the previous generation (i.e. Benjamin Senior) they were one land unit.

Figure 2. The Brettells on the 1840 Fowler Map – Brown circles – Penelope; Dark blue circles – Anna Maria

In 1840, it is clear from Figure 2 that all Benjamin’s lands went to Anna Maria and all of Thomas’s Brettell Lane lands went to Penelope. Thus one must conclude (along with Keith Evans) that Anna Maria was Benjamin’s daughter and Penelope was Thomas’ widow. At that time the Summerhill estate was in the hands of Revd. Henry Hill, a cleric from Worcestershire. He rented these out to be farmed, mainly by the large farming firm of John Parrish and Co.

A ghost from the past

The name Brettell seems to originate from Bredhull, or broad hill, in the early middle ages. This seems to have been centred on Hawbush along Brettell Lane, a little to the south west of the land holdings of Thomas were in 1822 (Figure 1). Is it too fanciful to speculate that what we have here is a ghost of an old estate, with much of the land sold to others? We know that such estates existied in the north of Kingswinford parish – Oak Farm, Shut End, Corbyn’s Hall, Tiled House and Bromley House) and perhaps here we have a southern counterpart. It would be unwise to take this speculation much further, ut it is, perhaps, and intriging possibility.

Saddlebacks and serendipity

In 2021 I discussed  some of the early graves in St. Michael’s churchyard in Lichfield. Amongst these was the distinctive “saddleback grave” shown in Figure 1 below, one of the five listed monuments in the churchyard. At the time I wrote as follows.

The inscription is very worn and the dedication of the monument can’t be read. This grave features in a nineteenth century drawing that is in the William Salt library ……. That drawing gives the date of the grave as 1674, and with a little imagination this can be made out on the tomb itself. Apart from the date, it is the style of the grave that makes it so distinctive. It is a shame that the dedication is illegible.

Figure 1 The Saddleback grave in 2021

And this is where serendipity comes in. Over the last few days I have begun to think about filling in some of the gaps in my long term project to collate the memorial inscriptions of St. Michael’s churchyard with the burial registers – specifically to include material from the early registers up to 1812. A very helpful archivist at Staffordshire Archives told me that these have been scanned and can be found on Find my past. So I have been busy doing some mass downloads of the material during my seven day free trial (as you do). Whilst doing this I came across the sketch shown in Figure 2 in the register from 1680-1741, on a blank page opposite the entries from November to March 1691 (note this was before the calendar change!)

Figure 2. The sketch from the 1680 to 1741 Register

It clearly shows the Saddleback grave and gives the inscription as

Here lyeth the bo… of James Allen Esq…..1677

There is another note in lighter script that says

Illegible in 1891

So it seems we have an identification of the occupant of the Saddleback grave – although the date is given as three years later than indicated on the William Salt picture. Checking back on the records however in the 1574 to 1680 register, the only entry that corresponds to the name is from 1674

April 13th Mr James Allen, Magistrate, Beacon St

Beacon St is somewhat conjectural however – it is not easy to read. So it looks as if the William Salt date is the correct one.

The registers tell us little else. There is an entry for the marriage of James Allen (Gent) to Mrs. Hester, daughter of Richard Pyot (Dyot?) in November 1658 at St. Mary’s which seems possible. However this was in the Civil War / Commonwealth period when records become very patchy, so there may have been other about with the same name. If any reader knows more of James Allen, then please let me know. But a least we now have a name.