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BRIMLEY, William Gutteridge

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[E_Cole5H17.GED]

[Cole5H17.GED]

DC0167
This source, DC0167 Brimley (Robert George BRIMLEY), states that William G. BRIMLEY was a tenant farmer at Willington [, Beds., Eng.] from 1814 to 1858, leasing the Road Farm (400 acres about) from the Duke of Bedford. He finally retired, turning the lease over to his oldest son Joseph BRIMLEY [(1812-1884)]. Earlier in life he [William G. BRIMLEY] hadfarmed at Brunham or Barfard and owned a little piece of land near thelatter place. [Also, William G. BRIMLEY] Was a deacon in the Congregational Church at Cotton End (EastCotts Parish, Beds, Eng. ) 1834-1867

Have seen his [i.e. William G. BRIMLEY's] personal data on [the] price[s] of wheat while he farmed at Willingon [,Beds., Eng.] 1814 to 1858, they ranged from L1"5 to L3"9 for 5 bus[bushell] average 7/6 per bus[bushell] or about 1.80.
CS

/DC0167

DC0167
[The following document describes two men named William Brimley. The first man is a possible descendant of the second man. The second man, William Brimley (1786-1867), is the William Gutteridge Brimley in the DavidCole3 database to whom this note is attached. The first man is an ancestor of the DC0167 source person, Robert George Brimley. The researcher, George H Brimley (1921-?), is the father of the DC0167 source, Robert George Brimley.]

WILLIAM BRIMLEY (1842-1899)

He was born at St. Ives (or St Alcots?) in Huntingdonshire on 22ndSept 1842 and died on his birthday in 1899. Little is known about him. He came from farming stock and had a brother Eli and a sister Franciswho married a Charles Garrett. They lived at Little Heath near Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. Eli married and went to live at Potters Bar. Some of his descendants still live in the district.

William left Huntingdon, Beds and went to work for a Mr. Cole [Daniel Cole(1820-1898)], a London business man who owned a farm [Chase farm] on the outskirts of Potters Bar. [It seems more than a coincidence that the three of them went to live in the same district.]

Mr. Cole had a son [James W. Cole (1851-1923)] who became a tenantfarmer at Water End, [near] Wheathampstead, Herts. [The Water End farm adjoins the west side of Brockett Estate which is a golf course in 2005.] The property belonged to the Earl Cowper of Panshanger Park. [Earl Cowper is mentioned in the Brockett Genealogy.] (Welwyn Garden City now stands on the site (which is north of Water End] and Panshanger Hallhas been demolished.) William was offered a job there and moved to Water End where he went to lodge with. . . Maria Chandler, who was born at Cromer Hyde near Lemsford, Herts. [, Eng.] on 5th September 1857.

She [Maria] was the daughter of James and Lucy (nee Rosier) Chandler. She had two brothers, Thomas and James and three sisters, Elisabeth, Anne and Mary. The whole family moved to Water End and presumably worked for the previous farmer. James and Lucy died while their family was quite young. Thomas, Elisabeth and Anne, had left home, (probably to go into private service) and Maria [Chandler] was left to bring up her young brother James and her sister Mary. Later, Mary was sent to a school in Cheltenham to be trained and educated to enable her to obtain aposition in the service of "the gentry". This had been arranged by the vicar of Ayot St Peters church, the Rev. Jephson. She obtained a post as 'nanny' and later as a lady's maid with the Stainton family. Her salary was fourteen pounds a year all found plus holidays abroad with the family.

It was at this time that William [BRIMLEY (1842-1899)] moved to Water End and became a lodger where he met Maria for the first time. Theywere married in Sandridge church. (Maria once told me that they did not love each other then but it was frowned upon for such a young girl to have a male lodger there without a chaperon.) Love or not, their first child Elizabeth was born in 1876. She [Elizabeth BRIMLEY] did not enjoy good health having contracted diphtheria when she was young. However, she married Thomas Burstow and they had two children, Edith and Gordon. She died in her early seventies.

Maria's first son, christened William after his father, was born in 1878. In his teens he was 'a bit of a lad' and rumour had it that there was a girl 'in trouble' looking for him. William moved to the north with a close friend, Fred Tingay and they went to work in the steel mills of Dorman Long. His uncle, Thomas, was working in the area as an engine driver and it seems likely that William had arrived there by design. He married a local girl and they had a family of three, Herbert, Nellie and Wreford. During the depression of the 1920's they moved backsouth and lived at Potters Bar. His wife, Jenny, and their granddaughter were killed when a V2 rocket fell on their house in the 1939-45 war. William lived for many more years and died in 1975 at the age of ninety seven.

Their next child was a daughter, Lillian born in 1881. She was said to have been a remarkably 'pretty and kindly girl'. When she was twenty-two she developed stomach pains and an ulcer was diagnosed. A surgeon was sent for and an operation was carried out on a scrubbed table in the kitchen at Cockfosters where the family had now moved. She died within a few days and was buried in Cockfosters churchyard, in 1902.

Herbert [grandfather of Robert (Bob) George Brimley (b.1943)] was their next born in 1883 and known all his life as Bob. The family left Water End when he was twelve but it was long enough to leave a life-longimpression on him and annual pilgrimages were made [back to Water End]. In heart, he never really left there. He grew up to be a kind and gentle man, fond of sport but remaining true to his first love, the country. He served his apprentiship as a gardener's boy at a prep. school at Cockfosters (Ludgrove) and later ran a nursery for a man called Baston in New Barnet. He served throughout the 1914-18 war in the R.A.S.C where he worked with horses for the whole of his service, in France and Belgium. When he was demobbed, he became a self-employed gardener. In 1912, at Christ Church, Barnet, he married a policeman's daughter from Barnet, Margaret Trott, daughter of George and Elisabeth Trott. They had one son, George H born on March 20th, 1921 and always known as Bob aswas his father. (Two other sons died in infancy.) In 1940, George H. married Eileen M. Fry from Southgate, North London, daughter of George and Grace Fry. They had one son, Robert George, born on 11th March, 1943 at Hocktrant? in Kent where his father was serving in the R.A.F. Robert married Sandra Snatchel from Cambourne in Cornwall in 1967. They had one daughter, Lindsy, born in 1974. They were divorced in 1980. Herbert and Margaret had a long and happy marriage which ended when she had a stroke and died in 1967. Herbert (aka Bob) died in Redborn?, where he had moved after Margaret's death, after a fall at his home in 1979, just one month from his 96th birthday. He was cremated and his ashes[were] buried within his wife's grave at Christ Church, Cockfosters.

The next offspring of William and Maria was a boy, John, born in 1886. He died of convulsions in 1888.
In 1890, their last daughter was born, Lucy. She married John (Jack) Plitter and they had one son, Peter. There was to be one more son, Charles, but he only lived for a few days. Maria was now 37 years old.

William suffered with his chest and had pneumonia twice and instead of being [i.e. continuing to be] 'the strongest man on the farm', (itwas said that he could carry a rick cover to the top of a stack and spread it by himself, a job that normally took two men all their time do), he became a semi-invalid and his doctor advised him to leave Water End and the dampness of the river valley. He was persuaded to grow a beard 'to protect his chest.'

In 1895, the family moved to Cockfosters, a village which at that time was almost as rural as Water End but perhaps a little less rustic. Maria had to work to keep them all and became verger and cleaner at Christ Church, Cockfosters and 'looked after' Trent Boys' and Trent Girls' School. The incumbent was the Rev. Warren and later, in 1912, the Rev. B.C. Nelson. The headmaster was a Mr. Day who was superceded by Mr. W.C. Povey. The girls were taught by two sisters, the Misses Mary and Joan Porter.

William died on his birthday in 1899 [while] he was alone. His daughter 'Lizzie' found him in the garden when she came home from work. Hewas buried in Cockfosters churchyard, near his daughter Lillie.

Maria lived on for many years and was of great service to the community, being called upon to deliver babies into the world and to sit with the dying. She had no training for nursing, but tended the sick, often sitting up all night with them. She would then get her family off to work and then go to her own job. Her sight began to fail and she gave up going to work in her late seventies. She died a blind but undefeated old lady in 1950, when she was 93 years old and was buried with herdaughter Lillie.

[by George H Brimley (1921-?)]





[The William Brimley (1842-1899), previously described was probably a descendant of the following person in DCole's (i.e. source DC0001)'s DataBase (to whom these notes are attached):]

Brimley,William Gutteridge 1786-1867 (Nov 24)

Born 1786, son of Joseph + Jane Brimley at Willington.
[Born William Gutteridge Brimley June 9, 1786, Father Joseph Brimley, Mother Jane Gutteridge
Source IGI Film 456775 ]
Died November 24, 1867 at Bedford, England, aged 81. Married Peggy Farr who died July 1863 aged 71.

Children 10 - 3 sons and 7 daughters
-Joseph, born 1812, died 1884 at Raleigh, NC, USA
-Charles, married twice and had several children in 1846 .......
-William, [not born in 1841] married but died young, leaving one daughter Emily and perhaps other children
-Sarah, married Philip Banks, MD of Riselay, Beds, England, her deceased sister [Harriet]'s husband. No children.
-Harriet, (youngest daughter) married Philip Banks (see above)
-Fanny, married James Malden of Cardington, Beds, England
-Eleanor (Ellen) married John Banks (brother of Philip Banks) of Wellingboro, Northants.
-Martha, married George Hine of Epping, several children
-Catherine (Kate) , married Rev. John Davis (Congr. minister) of Epping, near London, had one son, Alfred and one daughter, Maggie
-Emma, married James Shrosdery, no children.
Alfred [sic There is no explanation but the name "Alfred" was written here.]

Note: I don't know the order of birth, but Joseph was the oldest son and Sarah, I think the oldest daughter. She outlived all the rest.

William G. Brimley was a tenant farmer at Willington from 1814 to 1858,leasing the Road Farm (400 acres about) from the Duke of Bedford. He[William G. Brimley] finally retired, turning the lease over to his oldest son, Joseph. Earlier in life he had farmed at Blunham or Barfard and owned a little piece of land near the latter place. [He] was a deacon in the Congregational Church at Cotton End (EastCotts Parish, Beds, Eng. ) 1834-1867

Sarah was the only one of Wm G's children surviving in 1907. [I?] haveseen his personal data on [the] prices of wheat while he farmed at Willington 1814 to 1858. They ranged from L1"5 to L3"9 for 5 bus average 7/6 per bus or about 1.80.
[signed] CS

[Notes in square braces have been added by David KC Cole (b. 1944)]
/DC0167

DC0001
In DC0069 the England Census of 1881, there is an Eli BRIMLEY whose sonJames BRIMLEY is living with him. This James BRIMLEY (aged 41 in 1881) was born in Oldhurst, Huntingdon, Eng.. It is quite possible that this Eli BRIMLEY had a brother named William BRIMLEY who was also born inHuntingdon, Eng.. The Eli BRIMLEY family can be found in source DC0069 which is England Census of 1881, LDS film #1341339, PRO Ref RG11 Piece/Folio 1394 /20 page 37.
/DC0001

DC0001
For more information about the BRIMLEYs, see the notes attached to Daniel COLE (1814-1898) in this database.
/DC0001

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