Brown family history

About this page

This page covers my maternal ancestry: the families from which my mother Eileen Brown (born 11 June 1936) descended, and the families they married into.

Geographic note

My maternal ancestry is rooted mainly in the area straddling the Lincolnshire/Yorkshire border: Crowle, Epworth, Hatfield, Thorne, Barnby Dun, and Kirk Bramwith. The Browns were in Crowle for at least five generations. The Merrills came up from Nottinghamshire through Hatfield. The Pearsons moved from York to Sheffield. The Johnsons were from the Leeds/Wharfedale area. The Bryan line originates in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, connecting to my family through Kathleen Bryan’s marriage to John Brown in 1935.

Sources and conventions

Census records 1841–1921; civil registration (GRO); parish registers; AncestryDNA; GEDmatch kit GZ3914281; Ancestry member trees. Dates from census records may be one or two years out. Items marked “Unverified” are uncertain or not yet confirmed from documentary sources.

Part 1: The direct maternal line

Part 2: The Brown family of Crowle, Lincolnshire

The Brown family was in Crowle, Lincolnshire, for at least five generations. Crowle is a small market town on the Isle of Axholme, low-lying land between the rivers Don, Trent, and Idle, drained and settled largely in the seventeenth century.

James Brown and Mary Vickers (earliest known generation)

James Brown and Mary Vickers are the earliest Brown ancestors I have identified. Both were from Crowle. No birth, marriage or death dates are established for either. They are known only through their son Edward’s records.

Edward Brown (1770–1853) and Elizabeth Mosley

Edward Brown was born on 11 February 1770 in Crowle. He married Elizabeth Mosley (born 1772, Crowle; died 1838, Crowle) on 26 May 1794 at St Oswald’s Church, Crowle. They had ten children, born between 1795 and 1819, mostly at Luddington before the family returned to Crowle. Edward died in 1853 at Goole.

John Brown (1814–1888) and Martha Drewry

John Brown was born on 6 March 1814 in Crowle. He married Martha Drewry (born 1817, Crowle; died January 1901, Thorne). The marriage date is not recorded. The 1871 census places both in Crowle. Their known child is Albert Edward Brown (born 26 December 1858). John died in 1888 in Crowle.

Unverified: Only one child is currently recorded in the tree. Further research may reveal additional children.

Albert Edward Brown (1858–1946) and Betsy Ellen Mell

Albert Edward Brown was born on 26 December 1858 in Crowle. He was a farmer. He married Betsy Ellen Mell (born before 25 April 1863, Epworth; died October 1919, Doncaster) in October 1879 at Thorne. Albert died in January 1946 at Thorne, aged 87.

John William Brown (1879–1961) and Jessica Ann Merrills

John William Brown was born on 4 December 1879 in Crowle. His occupations over his working life — farm labourer, then colliery fireman, then colliery engineman — reflect the shift from agricultural to industrial employment in South Yorkshire during the early twentieth century. He married Jessica Ann Merrills (born 14 April 1884, Sheffield; died 12 November 1957, Braithwaite near Thorne) on 16 October 1905 at St Lawrence, Hatfield. He died on 16 July 1961 at Barnby Dun, aged 81.

The family’s movement between Crowle, Scunthorpe, Ealand and Doncaster between 1907 and 1915 tracks John William’s successive employment, following colliery work across the area.

John Brown (1913–1975)

My grandfather John Brown was born on 31 May 1913 at Ealand, Lincolnshire. The 1921 census places the family at Kirk Bramwith, West Riding. He was a joiner and undertaker. He married Kathleen Bryan (born 22 August 1915; died 23 June 1977, Pateley Bridge) on 1 October 1935 at St Mary, Kirk Bramwith. They had one child: my mother Eileen Brown, born 11 June 1936 in Doncaster. John died on 17 April 1975 at Barnby Dun and is buried there.

Eileen Brown (born 1936)

My mother Eileen Brown was born on 11 June 1936 in Doncaster. She married Arthur Thompson Frankish on 15 September 1956 at Don Valley, Yorkshire. I was born on 7 November 1962 in Doncaster.

Part 3: The Mell family

Betsy Ellen Mell (1863–1919), wife of Albert Edward Brown, was the daughter of John Mell and Harriett Robinson. The family was in the Crowle and Thorne area.

Part 4: The Merrills family

Jessica Ann Merrills (1884–1957), wife of my great-grandfather John William Brown, came from a family with roots in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire that moved north to Yorkshire over several generations. The line can be traced to the mid-eighteenth century in East Markham, Nottinghamshire.

John Merrills (~1751–1825) through John Merrills (1808–1886)

John Merrills (~1751–1825) married Mary Tether. Their son Thomas Merrills (born 10 May 1790, East Markham) married Sarah Torn. Their son John Merrills (born 18 April 1808, Haxey, Lincolnshire) married Ann Wells (born 1 June 1806). John died 9 December 1886 at Doncaster. Their son Thomas was born in 1828 at Sturton, Nottinghamshire.

Thomas Merrills (1828–1908) and Elizabeth Hill

Thomas Merrills married Elizabeth Hill (born ~1830; died 3 September 1887, Hatfield) on 25 November 1852 at St Lawrence, Hatfield. The family settled in Hatfield. They had ten children, four of whom died in infancy.

John Merrills (1853–1915) and Thirza Pearson

John Merrills moved to Sheffield and married Thirza Pearson (born 4 August 1853, Nottingham; died 13 March 1923, Sculcoates, East Riding). The 1891 census places the family in Sheffield, St Mary, Nether Hallam. John died 19 April 1915 in Sheffield.

Beatrice Fanny Merrills emigrated to the United States and died in Muscatine, Iowa, in April 1980, aged 93. Her aunt Alice Merrills emigrated to Yallourn, Victoria, Australia. The family has branches in both countries.

Part 5: The Pearson family of York and Sheffield

Thirza Pearson (1853–1923), wife of John Merrills, was the daughter of William Pearson (born 1820, York) and Ann Marples (born 24 March 1824, Sheffield). The family originated in York and settled in Sheffield.

William Pearson (1820–1887) and Ann Marples

William Pearson was born in 1820 in York, the son of William Pearson (born 7 March 1797, Kirk Hammerton) and Mary Outhwaite. He moved to Sheffield with his wife Ann Marples (born 24 March 1824, Sheffield; died 13 November 1886), daughter of George Marples (born ~1810, Sheffield; died 1883). Both died at 64 Fitzalan Street, Sheffield.

Part 6: The Bryan family

Kathleen Bryan (1915–1977), my grandmother, was the daughter of Frederick William Bryan (1892–1970) and Hilda Mary Johnson (1896–1969). The Bryan line runs from Liverpool through Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, to Doncaster.

William Bryan (1766) through William Bryan (~1821)

William Bryan was born on 1 June 1766 in Liverpool (St Nicholas’s Parish). He married Ann Hickton (born 1 October 1769, Sutton-in-Ashfield; died 1850). Their son Joseph Bryan (~1799–1869) married Elizabeth Wilson. Their son William Bryan (~1821–1867) married Alice Kempshall (born ~1831, Sutton-in-Ashfield; died January 1896, Mansfield).

Unverified: How William Bryan moved from Liverpool to Nottinghamshire is not explained by any source currently in the tree.

Frederick Bryan (1864–1899) and Mary Ann Tyndale

Frederick Bryan was born in 1864 in Sutton-in-Ashfield. He married Mary Ann Tyndale (born ~1863, Sleaford, Lincolnshire; died March 1912, Sutton-in-Ashfield) on 8 April 1885 at St Mary Magdalene, Sutton-in-Ashfield. Frederick died on 10 April 1899, aged about 35, leaving a widow and a son aged seven.

Frederick William Bryan (1892–1970) and Hilda Mary Johnson

Frederick William Bryan was born on 1 September 1892 in Sutton-in-Ashfield. His father died when he was seven; his mother when he was nineteen. By 1913 he was in Doncaster, working as a miner. He married Hilda Mary Johnson (born 26 January 1896, Wharfedale; died 20 April 1969, Pontefract) on 25 December 1913 at Owston All Saints, Yorkshire. By 1921 he is recorded as an ice cream vendor. He died on 4 October 1970 at Barnby Dun, aged 78.

Part 7: The Johnson family of Meanwood and Wharfedale

Hilda Mary Johnson (1896–1969), wife of Frederick William Bryan, was the daughter of Charles Johnson (born 17 September 1865, Meanwood, Yorkshire) and Sarah Harriett Pickersgill (born July–September 1870, Doncaster). The Johnson family was in the Alwoodley, Meanwood, and Moortown area of north Leeds.

David Johnson (~1833–1887) and Susannah Ellis

David Johnson was born approximately 1833 in Alwoodley. He married Susannah Ellis (born 6 August 1835, Midgley, Yorkshire) in July–September 1862 at Hunslet, Leeds. David died on 12 June 1887 in Wharfedale. They had ten children, all born in the Meanwood/Moortown area.

Charles Johnson (1865–1938) and Sarah Harriett Pickersgill

Charles Johnson was born on 17 September 1865 in Meanwood. He married Sarah Harriett Pickersgill (born July–September 1870, Doncaster; died 15 April 1951) on 18 May 1891 at Moor Allerton, St John, Yorkshire. Charles died on 11 December 1938. They had three children.

Part 8: The Pickersgill and Hammond families

Sarah Harriett Pickersgill (1870–1951) was the daughter of George Pickersgill (born 1842, Mexborough; died 8 July 1886, Winteringham, Lincolnshire) and Maria Hammond (born 1841, Mexborough; died 1876, Doncaster). Both parents died young: Maria when Sarah was about 6, George when she was about 16.

Maria Hammond was the daughter of Joseph Hammond and Sarah Bisby. No further details of the Hammond or Bisby ancestry are currently established.

Unverified: Joseph Hammond’s and Sarah Bisby’s dates and origins have not been established from records currently in the tree.

Part 9: DNA evidence — maternal side

My Ancestry ethnicity estimate assigns Parent 1 as my maternal side.

Ethnicity — maternal components

The Swedish ancestry

My Ancestry ethnicity estimate shows 6% Swedish ancestry, entirely on the maternal side. None of the families documented here have any known Scandinavian connection. A 6% component points to a fairly recent ancestor, roughly at great-great-grandparent level or beyond. The Brown or Mell lines, both rooted in Crowle, Lincolnshire, are the most likely location simply because they are the most incompletely researched. No Scandinavian individual has been found in any record examined so far.

A DNA match named June Lindstrand (74cM) may be relevant — Lindstrand is a Swedish surname — but the genealogical connection has not yet been investigated.

Unverified: The source of the 6% Swedish ancestry is not identified. It requires either tracing a specific ancestor with a Scandinavian birthplace or establishing a genealogical connection through the June Lindstrand DNA match.

Ancestry’s ethnicity estimates sometimes reflect ancient population movements rather than a specific recent ancestor. However, 6% is large enough to suggest a post-1700 individual rather than the medieval Danelaw.

Confirmed maternal DNA matches