Right...so Leonard Brown was born on 11th April 1892 in Sheeness, Kent ( 4 School Lane which is interesting because it shows that his parents, Albert and Dora must have lived in houses sometimes. Albert's occupation is given as General Labourer. Dora Brown's maiden name is given as Stewart but on their marriage certificate it is given as Steward. I expect neither of them were literate, Albert definitely wasn't because his "mark" is on the marriage cert. They were married in Eastbourne in 1888 aged 23, allegedly, and Albert's occupation is Labourer. Their parent's names are given as Stephen Brown, occupation Tin-man (often a euphamism for Tinker or gypsy) and Charles Steward (deceased) a Labourer. Their address at time of marriage is just Seaside Inn. They were married in Christ Church Eastbourne which is a Catholic church - this caused some interest when I relayed this to Dad as he in turn told Auntie P who says there is a family rumour that Albert "kidnapped" Dora from a convent. Hmmm.
I cannot find a Dora Steward of the right age anywhere, not on the censuses and not on the birth registers. Its very, very irritating. If they are Stewarts rather than Stewards then I am up a flaming gumtree because I imagine there are a fair few Charles Stewarts around on the records :-)
Without much hope I went looking for traces of Stephen Brown, Albert's father. Stephen wasn't actually a terribly common name in the 19th century and initially I went looking for a household in Kent or Sussex with an adult Stephen and a son Albert. I couldn't find them at first but I did find an adult female, a Charity Brown, in the 1871 census living with son Albert aged 5 (which matches the age given on marriage cert) and two other children, a Henry Brown aged 1 and an Amelia Brown aged 14. Charity was apparently born in Kent and the family were living in East End Brook - there is a street in Chatham just called Brook or The Brook. No house name is given and other people on the same census page are shown as living "Back of Birmingham Pub, High Street" so I think they were living rough. The Brook is near the dockyard and I wonder if there was work there. Charity's occupation is shown as General Hawker. She is shown as married and this set me off looking for Stephen again and to confirm this was the right Brown family I needed to confirm that Charity was indeed Stephen's wife. Just discovered Charles Dickens lived in a house in the Brook, Chatham as a child but this would have been 50 yrs before the Browns! It was certainly the poor end of town, the Workhouse was around that area.
I found Stephen and Charity in the 1861 census, thank God for jobsworth census people!! Stephen Brown was 24 ish in 1861 and gives his birthplace as Faversham, Kent. They are living at something indecipherable Alley in Chatham and his occupation is given as M.... Stone Dealer.
Amelia is just 2 - so she was probably actually 12 in the next census, ages and dates often differ.
There is a Thomas Brown aged 1 and who I guess didn't survive as he isn't on the next census.
By 1881 Charity (mistranscribed as Chantry) and Stephen are living in Eastling Rd, Ospringe near Faversham Kent with an Elizabeth aged 8, an Ernest aged 6 a Mary A aged 3 and Henry aged 12. I'm assuming Amelia and Albert have left home by then. I say home but there is no house no given so again I'm assuming a tent? Stephen at 46 is shown as "no occupation" and I wonder if he was unwell as there is no trace of him on the 1901 census. I think I've found a record of Charity's death cert in 1890. I#m also hoping that I've found he Marriage cert for Stephen and Charity in 1855 as this should give me Stephen's father's name and Charity's maiden name.
I don't know yet if this is a wrong turning but in the 1851 census there is a Stephen Brown living in Chislett, Canterbury in a one house dwelling with 25 other people, including his parents Thomas and Harriett. Their occupations are Agricultural labourers and there is also a Henry Brown, brother aged 29. The names fit - Stephen called his first son Thomas and another son Henry. I won't know if this is right until I track down either Stephen's birth or marriage cert.
I am pleased with getting back this far though, which was more than I hoped.
More to come in another post on Dad's mum's family, the Haggers.
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