30 Apr 2021

I received a marriage certificate for Frances Snowling today. She married George Brooks in 1839 but he died in 1851. This marriage is from 1873 and explains why we could not find her date of death.

Marriage at the Parish Church, Eye on 28 July 1873 of John Sage, of full age, widower farmer of Eye, to Frances Brooks, of full age, widow of Bungay. His father was John Sage, a labourer. Her father was William Snowling, a dealer. John could not sign his name but Frances could. The witnesses were William Bultitude and Sophia Herbert.

Frances’ father William had been deported to Australia and died in 1853. It’s unusual that there is no mention of his being deceased on the certificate. Even in 1851 her mother was describing herself as widowed.

I also received the marriage certificate for George Tew and Kitty Whitehead:

Marriage at the Church, Shalstone on 28 January 1858 of George Tew, age 34, widower, labourer of Shalstone to Caroline Whitehead, age 24, spinster of Westbury. His father was Thomas Tew a labourer. Her father was William Whitehead, a labourer. Neither could sign their names. The witnesses were Thomas Whitehead and Louisa Bedding, neither could sign their names.

The name Caroline surprised us. We had assumed it was a transcription error in the GRO indexes because we have always thought her name was Catherine. When we ordered the certificate we had seen that George might have been married before and this confirms it.

We also received the PDF copy of the birth of Emma Tew:

Birth at Water Stratford, Buckinghamshire on 16 October 1853 of Emma, daughter of George Tew and Mary Tew, formerly Quincy. He was a labourer. The informant was Mary Tew, mother, Water Stratford. She could not sign her name. Registered on 12 November 1853.

Another PDF arrived: the death certificate for George Brooks

Death at Mendham, Suffolk on 24 May 1861 of George Brooks, male, 43 years, a farm labourer. The cause of death was Consumption, certified. The informant was Rebecca Chambers, present at death, Mendham. She could not sign her name. Registered on 31 May 1861.

The mention of Rebecca Chambers, his daughter, makes me confident this is the correct certificate. They were neighbours in the 1861 census taken a month before he died.

While looking up the burial of George Brooks in the Suffolk Burial Index I looked for any other Brooks being buried in Mendham. I found Rebecca Brooks aged 75 in 1846 who I believe to be George’s grandmother, who married James Brooks/Brighton. I have ordered her death certificate.

I also found two others:

• Thomas Brooks, bur. 22 Mar 1856, age 57, abode Mendham
• Sarah Brooks, bur. 3 Aug 1856, age 63, abode Mendham

I also found them in the 1851 census:¹

Thomas is the right age to be George’s uncle and when I looked on Ancestry I could see records being suggested for both Thomas Brighton and Thomas Brooks. I looked more closely and in the independent denomination baptism records I found several children of Thomas and Sarah Adams where there name was written “Brooks alias Brighton”. It appears that Thomas was once known as Brighton but, along with his father and other members of his family, changed it to Brooks. Some time between 1801 (John Brighton’s baptism) and 1808 (Eliza Brooks baptism) the family changed their name. The mystery is why and how did this happen.

My current hypothesis is that James Brighton was illegitimate and married and baptised several children under his mother’s name of Brighton. Then between 1801 and 1808 he was adopted by or made the heir of a Brooks perhaps to legitimise him to allow him to inherit. James was a farmer in 1841 so perhaps he inherited it from a farmer named Brooks.

Searches of the newspaper archives around that time have proved fruitless. Finding a will would be ideal.

To sort this out we’re building a timeline of events:

• Abt. 1770, Starston – probable birth year of James Brooks who appears in 1851 census
• Abt. 1770 – birth year of James Brighton Brooks from 1858 death certificate
• Abt. 1771 – birth year of Rebecca Pritty from 1846 death certificate
• 1794, Brockdish – Banns for a marriage between James Brighten and Rebecca Pritty (Parish Church)
• 1795, Brockdish – Baptism of Rebecca Brighton, dau. of James Brighton & Rebecca Pritty
• 1796, Mendham – Baptism of James Brooks Brighton, son of James Brighton & Rebecca Pretty
• 1797, Mendham – Baptism of Phebe Brighton, dau. of James Brighton & Rebecca Pretty
• 1799, Mendham – Baptism of Thomas Brighton, son of James Brighton & Rebecca Pritty
• 1801, Mendham – Baptism of John Brighton, son of James Brighton & Rebecca Pritty
• 1801, Mendham – Burial of John Brighton, infant²
• 1802, Redenhall – Baptism of Cecilia Brooks (Brighten crossed out), dau. of James Brooks & Rebecca Pritty³ - original is just written as Brighton with no mention of Brooks.
• 1804, Redenhall – Burial of Celia Brooks aged 1 year⁴
• 1807, Redenhall – Burial of Phebe Brooks, dau. of James and Rebecca Brooks, aged 9 years⁵
• 1808, Redenhall – Baptism of Eliza Brooks, dau. of James Brooks & Rebecca Pritty⁶
• 1819, Weybread – Baptism of George Brooks, illegitimate son of Rebecca Brooks
• 1822, Weybread – Baptism of John Booty Brooks, illegitimate son of Eliza Brooks
• 1822, Starston – Marriage of Thomas Brighton (of Weybread) and Sarah Adams (of Starston)
• 1823, Mendham – Baptism of Edmund Brooks alias Brighton, son of Thomas and Sarah B. alias B. late S. Adams (Harleston meeting house, congregationalist)⁷
• 1825, Mendham - Baptism of Walter Brooks alias Brighton, son of Thomas and Sarah B. alias B. late S. Adams
• 1828, Mendham – Baptism of Sophia Brooks, dau. of Thomas and Sarah Brooks, late S. Adams)
• 1830, Mendham – Baptism of Elizabeth Brooks, dau. of Thomas and Sarah Brooks, late S. Adams)
• 1833, Mendham – Baptism of James Brooks, son of Thomas and Sarah Brooks, late S. Adams)
• 1835, Mendham – Baptism of John Brooks, son of Thomas and Sarah Brooks, late S. Adams)
• 1845, Mendham – Sale of James Brooks farm stock
• 1846, Mendham – Burial of Rebecca Brooks (Pritty)
• 1856, Mendham – Burial of John Brooks, age 57⁸
• 1856, Mendham – Burial of Sarah Brooks, age 63⁹
• 1861, Mendham – Burial of George Brooks, age 42¹⁰

Some other interesting entries in the Redenhall parish registered but don’t have an obvious connection yet:

• John Brightly, buried 17 July 1807, aged 57 years¹¹
• Daniel Pretty, buried 7 May 1807, aged 46 years¹²

We browsed the baptism and burial register images for Starston between 1765 and 1779¹³ but found no mention of Brighten, Brooks or Pretty.

We found these entries by browsing the Brockdish registers

Baptism at Brockdish, 10 February 1771, Mary daughter of Rebecca Brighten¹⁴

Baptism at Brockdish, 12 Feb 1775, Ann dau. of Thos & Ann Pretty¹⁵

Baptism at Brockdish, 30 June 1776, Mary dau. of Charles & Elizabeth Pretty¹⁶

Baptism at Brockdish, 4 Jul 1779, Phoebe, dau. of James and Ann Brookes¹⁷

Baptism at Brockdish, 30 Oct 1778, Anna Maria, dau. of Charles & Elizabeth Pretty¹⁸

Baptism at Brockdish, 8 Oct 1786, Elizabeth, dau. of Robert & Rebecca Wighten¹⁹ (this is probably Whiting)

Baptism at Brockdish, 8 Dec 1791, Jonathan, son of James and Ann Brooks, late Ane[?], spinster. A pauper.

Baptism at Brockdish, 28 April 1794, Amos, son of James and Ann Brooks,late [Aines?]

Baptism at Brockdish, 14 Mar 1795, Rebecca, dau. of James & Rebecca Brighton, late Pritty, spinster, privately baptised.²⁰

Baptism at Brockdish, 1 Aug 1795, Mary, son of James and Ann Brooks, late Ames, spinster, privately baptised

Baptism at Brockdish, 10 April 1798, Joseph, son of James and Ann Brooks, late Ann Amos, spinster, privately baptised²¹

Baptism at Brockdish, 18 June 1800. Susanna. dau. of James and Ann Brooks, late Ames, spinster, privately baptised²²

Marriage at Brockdish, 24 June 1747, John Goodwin and Sarah Brooks²³

Burial at Brockdish, 25 Feb 1747, Thomas Pritty

Baptism at Brockdish, 12 May 1771, Rebecca, dau. of Thos & Ann Pretty²⁴ (looks like this could be the Rebecca who married James Brighton in 1794)

Burial at Brockdish, 3 Jun 1790, Thomas Pritty, Widower, aged 64 years²⁵

Burial at Brockdish, 2 July 1794, Elizabeth Pritty, widow, aged 43 years²⁶

Marriage at Brockdish, 27 Aug 1747, John Godfrey & Elizabeth Pretty²⁷

We also read the registers for Needham from around 1765 to 1789 but there were no relevant names.

We finally found this James and Rebecca’s marriage:

Marriage at Brockdish on 17 September 1794 of James Brighten of this Parish and Rebecca Pritty, Single Person of the same. Married by banns. James could not sign his name, Rebecca signed as Rebekah Pritty. The witnesses were Thos Pritty and John King, both could sign their names.

Thomas Pritty can’t be her father because we think he was buried in 1790. He could be a brother though.

We did some searches an Ancestry for James Brighton’s born in Norfolk. There are not many:

Fincham is quite a way to the west of the county. Kenninghall is about 10 miles to the west of Brockdish. We searched for all Brightons in Kenninghall (1754-1936):

Also marriages in Kenninghall (1754-1936):

And burials:

This James Brighton could be the one who was baptised here in 1767. I looked up the GRO reference: James Brighton; 1843; Apr-May-Jun Qtr; Guiltcross district; vol 13; page 117. He was aged 85 in the 1841 census28.

Some other strays:

• Marriage at Mendham, 25 Nov 1796 of William Brighten and Mary Thompson²⁸
• Marriage at Bungay, 1 Mar 1797 of John Buck and Mary Brighton²⁹(
• Marriage at Ufford, 27 Mar 1788 of Robert Baxter jnr and Elizabeth Brighten³⁰
• Marriage at Woodbridge, 28 Dec 1809 of Clarke Brighten and Emily Barley³¹
• Marriage at Woodbridge, 17 Oct 1787 of James Brighten of Bawdsey and Elizabeth Loynes³²
• Marriage at Woodbridge, 5 Aug 1794 of William Brighten and Jane Cooper³³