THE BREWER FAMILY, part 4: Thomas William Fletcher Brewer
Title
THE BREWER FAMILY, part 4: Thomas William Fletcher Brewer
Subject
Description
A photograph of Thomas William Fletcher Brewer and his wife, the former Hilda Emma Beaney. They married in October 1942 at her hometown, Tonbridge, Kent (1). Thomas, born 17January 1908, would have been 34-years-old and Hilda was 40, born at Tonbridge on the 20th of March 1902 (2).
Thomas William Fletcher Brewer traveled further to marry in Kent. He was born in Timberscombe, where he was baptised on 6 March 1908 at St. Petrock's Church (3), the second child and the first son of Thomas William Brewer Junr. and Maud Kate (nee Fletcher) Brewer.
In a small village like Timberscombe, being the next Thomas Brewer would certainly have been noted. He was the 6th in a line of Timberscombe Thomas Brewers. His Great-Great-Great Grandfather was Thomas Bruer, probably born at Wellington, Somerset in 1733, the son of James Bruer (4). By 1760, he was in Timberscombe, where in 1764 he married Grace Davis, the daughter of his employer, Thomas Davis, a village butcher (5). By 1778, their surname had evolved, becoming Thomas and Grace Brewer as they baptised their son, also Thomas Brewer, and also at St. Petrock's (6).
That child grew up and married Sarah Smith at Minehead in 1803 (7), with their son, Thomas Brewer, being born at Timberscombe in 1808 (8). This third Thomas Brewer married Fanny Baker in 1827 (9), farmed Slade Farm in Timberscombe and was the father of the fourth in this succession, Thomas William Brewer, born in 1842 . A skilled carpenter, his wife was also named Fanny, of the Palfrey family in Carhampton. They married in 1867 (10) and had three daughters, as well as Thomas William Brewer, Junr., born in 1872 -- becoming the fifth Thomas Brewer and who also was a carpenter (11). He married Maud Kate Fletcher in 1905 (12) and after their daughter, Florence Mary (known as Mary) was born in 1906 (13), Thomas William Fletcher Brewer, pictured here, was their second child.
Following Mary and Thomas , their other siblings were Margaret Bessie (Maggie), born in 1910, John Thomas, born the 8th of November1913 and who died four days later and Ellen Kate (Nellie), born in 1916 (14).
The young Brewer family eventually rented The Dell, a 17th century house situated near the Cowbridge Mill in the hamlet of Cowbridge, on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe. The children's grandfather, the fourth Thomas William, lived at Mill House, a residence created at the mill in 1904 (15), with his second wife, Margaret Matilda Brewer, who he had married in 1899. Besides being the step-grandmother of the Brewer children, Margaret (the name she used over Matilda) was the aunt of Maud Kate, their mother (16). On the 1911 Census, Thomas, Junr. and Maud Kate were listed, with their three older children, living on Jubilee Terrace in the centre of Timberscombe. They were likely here on the 24th of April 1911 when Mary and Thomas were admitted to the Timberscombe School, their address given as "Timberscombe" (17). The family are certainly at The Dell by 1916, when their father was leasing a lot adjacent to The Dell---one of two adjoining parcels of land which Margaret Brewer purchased on 29 September 1916 (18). Almost immediately, both her husband and the children's father began building Sunnyside, the house that was the Brewer family home for the rest of the century.
Margaret Brewer can be seen in front of the newly completed Sunnyside in a photograph at SP-278. In 1925, she made her will, ensuring that Sunnyside would be inherited by her niece, Maud Kate Fletcher "and her children", with the provision that her husband would always have a home there (19). Maud Kate is pictured at SP-279. Slim and tall-looking (at least in a photograph), she and Margaret look remarkably alike. Thomas William Fletcher, as pictured here as and as seen at SP-187 when he was a Rover Scout aged around 25, appears to be the Brewer child that may most favour them.
Thomas left Timberscombe School on 14 July 1922 at the "Full age" of fourteen (20). There is no indication that he continued school elsewhere. At the age of 31 he was still living at Sunnyside but with a very different occupation to that of his father and grandfather, being a Fishmonger (a seller of raw fish and seafood) Manager (21), an occupation he continued, later moving to the High Street of Marlow in Buckinghamshire (22).
It is not clear how Thomas met his wife. Hilda Emma Beaney who was the daughter of Arthur, a Hotel Waiter in Tonbridge and Alice (nee Lay) Beaney (23). By the 1939 England and Wales Register, Hilda's address was on Bath Street in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, listed as "Single Woman", with the occupation of "Audit Clerk", followed by a handwritten and double-underlined "Constant Traveller". Perhaps by October 1942, Hilda was more than ready to settle down.
Margaret Matilda Brewer had died in 1928, leaving Sunnyside to Maud Kate. Thomas William, died in 1930, and was buried at St. Petrock's with Margaret and his first wife, Fanny (nee Palfry) Brewer (24). In 1932, Mary Brewer married Frederick Hensley, a carpenter from Minehead, where they moved into 44 Lower King George Street (25). Maud Kate passed away in 1953, leaving ownership of Sunnyside to her four surviving children. (26)
1960 was a year of more changes at Sunnyside, with Thomas William Brewer Junr. dying there early in the year (27). At the age of 44, Nellie, the youngest child of Maud Kate and Thomas Junr., accepted an offer of marriage from Frederick William Hooper of Devon (28). For the first time since being built, only Margaret Bessie Brewer would be living at the family home. On the 11th of September 1960, her siblings, Mary, Thomas and Nellie "sold" Sunnyside to Maggie, although to make things legal, she first had to "sell" her share to them (29). Nellie married in October and left for Devon.
Mary Hensley passed away in 1989 at Minehead, 10 years after her husband. In 1990, Frederick Hooper died (30) and Nellie returned to Timberscombe to live again with Maggie. On the 10th of March 1994, Hilda Emma Brewer died in Tonbridge, where Thomas had her buried (31). Then, he too, returned to Timberscombe to live at Sunnyside.
Having worked at Sunnyside during the 1990's, in 2020, Erica Holmes of Overdale, Great House Street, Timberscombe, recalls how despite the passing years, and their own distinct personalities, both Maggie and Nellie deferred to their older brother. By 1999, the household could no longer be run by the siblings and Sunnyside was sold at auction. Thomas, Maggie and Nellie all moved to the Winsor Nursing home in Minehead. Working there was Josephine (nee Hensley) Atkins, the grand-daughter of their sister, Mary. Better known as Jo , she was able to aid her uncle and aunts. Thomas died in 2000. He was followed by Nellie in 2001 and Maggie in 2005 (32). Thomas is buried at St. Petrock's with his sister's graves just to the right of his, where interestingly the dates of his life are given as "1902-2000". This was a mistake as Thomas William Fletcher Brewer was born in 1908. And "Fletcher" was misspelled, with the "t" left out. At the time, Jo Atkins pointed these mistakes out to Maggie who replied, "Well, it's a good thing he isn't here to see it then!"
In 1989, when a by-pass was completed for traffic to travel past Timberscombe without have to drive through the village, Maggie had donated part of the land just south west of Sunnyside to become a village green. In 1990, at an opening ceremony, she and Nellie planted a tree. Thomas does not seem to have been there but Hilda was still alive and he had not returned. The green was named Brewers Green after their family, utilising the surname that in 1990 only Maggie and the 6th Thomas Brewer still shared. The photograph of the signpost on the green was taken on New Years Eve, 2021.
Thomas William Fletcher Brewer traveled further to marry in Kent. He was born in Timberscombe, where he was baptised on 6 March 1908 at St. Petrock's Church (3), the second child and the first son of Thomas William Brewer Junr. and Maud Kate (nee Fletcher) Brewer.
In a small village like Timberscombe, being the next Thomas Brewer would certainly have been noted. He was the 6th in a line of Timberscombe Thomas Brewers. His Great-Great-Great Grandfather was Thomas Bruer, probably born at Wellington, Somerset in 1733, the son of James Bruer (4). By 1760, he was in Timberscombe, where in 1764 he married Grace Davis, the daughter of his employer, Thomas Davis, a village butcher (5). By 1778, their surname had evolved, becoming Thomas and Grace Brewer as they baptised their son, also Thomas Brewer, and also at St. Petrock's (6).
That child grew up and married Sarah Smith at Minehead in 1803 (7), with their son, Thomas Brewer, being born at Timberscombe in 1808 (8). This third Thomas Brewer married Fanny Baker in 1827 (9), farmed Slade Farm in Timberscombe and was the father of the fourth in this succession, Thomas William Brewer, born in 1842 . A skilled carpenter, his wife was also named Fanny, of the Palfrey family in Carhampton. They married in 1867 (10) and had three daughters, as well as Thomas William Brewer, Junr., born in 1872 -- becoming the fifth Thomas Brewer and who also was a carpenter (11). He married Maud Kate Fletcher in 1905 (12) and after their daughter, Florence Mary (known as Mary) was born in 1906 (13), Thomas William Fletcher Brewer, pictured here, was their second child.
Following Mary and Thomas , their other siblings were Margaret Bessie (Maggie), born in 1910, John Thomas, born the 8th of November1913 and who died four days later and Ellen Kate (Nellie), born in 1916 (14).
The young Brewer family eventually rented The Dell, a 17th century house situated near the Cowbridge Mill in the hamlet of Cowbridge, on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe. The children's grandfather, the fourth Thomas William, lived at Mill House, a residence created at the mill in 1904 (15), with his second wife, Margaret Matilda Brewer, who he had married in 1899. Besides being the step-grandmother of the Brewer children, Margaret (the name she used over Matilda) was the aunt of Maud Kate, their mother (16). On the 1911 Census, Thomas, Junr. and Maud Kate were listed, with their three older children, living on Jubilee Terrace in the centre of Timberscombe. They were likely here on the 24th of April 1911 when Mary and Thomas were admitted to the Timberscombe School, their address given as "Timberscombe" (17). The family are certainly at The Dell by 1916, when their father was leasing a lot adjacent to The Dell---one of two adjoining parcels of land which Margaret Brewer purchased on 29 September 1916 (18). Almost immediately, both her husband and the children's father began building Sunnyside, the house that was the Brewer family home for the rest of the century.
Margaret Brewer can be seen in front of the newly completed Sunnyside in a photograph at SP-278. In 1925, she made her will, ensuring that Sunnyside would be inherited by her niece, Maud Kate Fletcher "and her children", with the provision that her husband would always have a home there (19). Maud Kate is pictured at SP-279. Slim and tall-looking (at least in a photograph), she and Margaret look remarkably alike. Thomas William Fletcher, as pictured here as and as seen at SP-187 when he was a Rover Scout aged around 25, appears to be the Brewer child that may most favour them.
Thomas left Timberscombe School on 14 July 1922 at the "Full age" of fourteen (20). There is no indication that he continued school elsewhere. At the age of 31 he was still living at Sunnyside but with a very different occupation to that of his father and grandfather, being a Fishmonger (a seller of raw fish and seafood) Manager (21), an occupation he continued, later moving to the High Street of Marlow in Buckinghamshire (22).
It is not clear how Thomas met his wife. Hilda Emma Beaney who was the daughter of Arthur, a Hotel Waiter in Tonbridge and Alice (nee Lay) Beaney (23). By the 1939 England and Wales Register, Hilda's address was on Bath Street in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, listed as "Single Woman", with the occupation of "Audit Clerk", followed by a handwritten and double-underlined "Constant Traveller". Perhaps by October 1942, Hilda was more than ready to settle down.
Margaret Matilda Brewer had died in 1928, leaving Sunnyside to Maud Kate. Thomas William, died in 1930, and was buried at St. Petrock's with Margaret and his first wife, Fanny (nee Palfry) Brewer (24). In 1932, Mary Brewer married Frederick Hensley, a carpenter from Minehead, where they moved into 44 Lower King George Street (25). Maud Kate passed away in 1953, leaving ownership of Sunnyside to her four surviving children. (26)
1960 was a year of more changes at Sunnyside, with Thomas William Brewer Junr. dying there early in the year (27). At the age of 44, Nellie, the youngest child of Maud Kate and Thomas Junr., accepted an offer of marriage from Frederick William Hooper of Devon (28). For the first time since being built, only Margaret Bessie Brewer would be living at the family home. On the 11th of September 1960, her siblings, Mary, Thomas and Nellie "sold" Sunnyside to Maggie, although to make things legal, she first had to "sell" her share to them (29). Nellie married in October and left for Devon.
Mary Hensley passed away in 1989 at Minehead, 10 years after her husband. In 1990, Frederick Hooper died (30) and Nellie returned to Timberscombe to live again with Maggie. On the 10th of March 1994, Hilda Emma Brewer died in Tonbridge, where Thomas had her buried (31). Then, he too, returned to Timberscombe to live at Sunnyside.
Having worked at Sunnyside during the 1990's, in 2020, Erica Holmes of Overdale, Great House Street, Timberscombe, recalls how despite the passing years, and their own distinct personalities, both Maggie and Nellie deferred to their older brother. By 1999, the household could no longer be run by the siblings and Sunnyside was sold at auction. Thomas, Maggie and Nellie all moved to the Winsor Nursing home in Minehead. Working there was Josephine (nee Hensley) Atkins, the grand-daughter of their sister, Mary. Better known as Jo , she was able to aid her uncle and aunts. Thomas died in 2000. He was followed by Nellie in 2001 and Maggie in 2005 (32). Thomas is buried at St. Petrock's with his sister's graves just to the right of his, where interestingly the dates of his life are given as "1902-2000". This was a mistake as Thomas William Fletcher Brewer was born in 1908. And "Fletcher" was misspelled, with the "t" left out. At the time, Jo Atkins pointed these mistakes out to Maggie who replied, "Well, it's a good thing he isn't here to see it then!"
In 1989, when a by-pass was completed for traffic to travel past Timberscombe without have to drive through the village, Maggie had donated part of the land just south west of Sunnyside to become a village green. In 1990, at an opening ceremony, she and Nellie planted a tree. Thomas does not seem to have been there but Hilda was still alive and he had not returned. The green was named Brewers Green after their family, utilising the surname that in 1990 only Maggie and the 6th Thomas Brewer still shared. The photograph of the signpost on the green was taken on New Years Eve, 2021.
Creator
Anonymous
Date
October 1942
New Years Eve 2021
New Years Eve 2021
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Thomas William Fletcher Brewer and Hilda Emma (nee Beaney) Brewer in 1942 at Tonbridge, Kent
Acquisition Date
2020
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Known / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2021
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
to be entered
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) 1911 England Census and England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (2) 1939 England and Wales Register (3) Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 (4) Somerset, England, Church of England, Baptisms and Burials, 1531-1812 (5) UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentice's Indentures, 1710-1811 (6) Somerset, England, Curch of England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1531-1812 (7) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (8) Somerset, England Church of England, 1813-1914 (9) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (10) obituary clipping (from unidentified newspaper) of Thomas William Brewer, donated in 2020 by Mrs. Jo. Atkins (his great great grand-daughter), of Minehead and Somerset, Church of England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1531-1812 (11) 1939 England and Wales Register (12) Bristol, England, Church of England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935 (13) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 (14) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Indexes, 1837-1915, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 and England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 (15) as recalled in 2021 by Eric Holmes of Overdale, Great House Street, Timberscombe, PHILLIPS & SANDER, 32 The Avenue, Minehead, Estate Agents, Sales Particulars for The Dell, c. 1980 and TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (16) London, England, Church of England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 (17) Timberscombe School, ADMISSION REGISTER, 1897-1944, Nos. 281 and 282 (18) Thomas William Brewer, Junr. is listed as leasing Lot No. 31 in "THE KNOWLE ESTATE, DUNSTER, SOMERSET", PARTICULARS, PLANS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE of THE KNOWLE ESTATE by Messrs. W.R.J. Greenslade & Co., Taunton and Wellington, for Public Auction at the Luttrell Hotel, Dunster on Thursday, July 20th, 1916 and Conveyance, dated 29th September 1916, from The Trustees of Worsley Battersby, deceased to Mrs. M.M. Brewer, shared in August, 2020 by Elisabeth Powls, current owner of Sunnyside (20) handwritten "Notes on Title", for Sunnyside, Timberscombe and Farthings Meadow, Timberscombe and Abstract of the Will, Death and Probate of Frederick Hawkins Knight, deceased, dated 1954 by Thorne & Bowman, Minehead, included in deeds and abstracts shared by Elisabeth Powls, August 2020 (21) 1939 England and Wales Register (22) Conveyance dated 11th September 1960 of Mrs. F.M. Hensley and Others to Miss M.B. Brewer of Sunnyside, Timberscombe, Somerset (23) 1881 England Cnsus, 1891 England Census and 1911 England Census (24) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (25) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 and 1939 England and Wales Register (26) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (27) as recalled in 2020 by Mrs. Jo Atkins (28) FindingMyPast.com, England & Wales Marriage Index, 1837-2008 (29) Conveyance dated 11 September1960, of Mrs. F.M. Hensley and Others to Miss M.B. Brewer of Sunnyside, Timberscombe, Somerset (30) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Indexes, 1916-2007 (31) in the Web: UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1576-2014 (32) as recalled by Elisabeth Powls in 2020, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Indexes, 1916-2007 and as recalled in 2020 by Jo Atkins
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2021
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-281
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous, “THE BREWER FAMILY, part 4: Thomas William Fletcher Brewer,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 1, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3551.
Comments