THE BREWER FAMILY, part 6: Ellen Kate (nee Brewer) Hooper, known as Nellie (or Nell)
Title
THE BREWER FAMILY, part 6: Ellen Kate (nee Brewer) Hooper, known as Nellie (or Nell)
Subject
Description
The photographs on this entry all feature Ellen Kate Brewer at four distinct stages of her life. Born in 1916, she was the youngest of the five children of Thomas William Brewer Junr. and Maud Kate (nee Fletcher) Brewer and indeed she seems to be the most photographed. Among other entries, she appears in various school photographs, as a Girl Guide, as an English Country Dancer, at her sister, Mary's wedding and at her other sister, Maggie's Confirmation. Perhaps it was because she was the youngest Brewer (or likely because being photographed was becoming more common) but in almost all of these, she is identified as "Nellie". "Ellen Kate" seems to have been saved for official documents and events. By family, she was often called "Nell" (1)
The young Nellie in the top photograph could well be posing on the grounds of the house called Sunnyside. It would have been the only home she had known. Her older siblings, Florence Mary (who was called Mary), Thomas William Fletcher and Margaret Bessie (Maggie) were born respectively in 1906, 1908 and 1910 (2). Another brother, John Thomas was born 8 November 1913 but survived only four days (3). On the 29th of September 1916, Nellie's step-grandmother, Margaret Matilda (nee Knight) Brewer--who also was the aunt of Maud Kate, Nellie's mother (4)-- had purchased two lots on the northeastern edge of the village of Timberscombe (5). Margaret's husband and Nellie's grandfather, Thomas William Brewer and Nellie's father, Thomas William Brewer, Junr. were carpenters and immediately began building Sunnyside (6). Nellie was born the 19th of October 1916 (7), just as all of this was happening.
She began school at Timberscombe School, just as her grandfather, father, Mary, Thomas and Maggie had done (8). On 10 January 1922, the Head Mistress, Salome V. Wallace, wrote in the school's Log Book, "Ellen Brewer admitted aged 5" (9). After that she is only mentioned in the Log Book a couple of times--she and Margaret had to stay home in 1923 because of the whooping cough and in 1926 she was kept away because there was a case of measles at Sunnyside (10)--apparently not Nellie herself. Not being mentioned by Miss Wallace is a sign she didn't get into any trouble but she also wasn't winning any awards. Her final day of schooling was 30 October1930 (11).
Back home, Nellie's step-grandmother, Margaret Brewer, had died in 1928, bequeathing "the house Sunnyside to my niece, Maud Kate Brewer and her children" with the condition that it "shall be of the use of my husband, Thomas Brewer, as long as he lives'' (12). He died on the 12th of January 1930 and they were buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard (13).
The top three photographs were donated in 2020 by Josephine (nee Hensley) Atkins of Minehead. Better known as "Jo", she is the grand-daughter of Mary, Nellie's oldest sister, who married Frederick Hensley, a carpenter from Minehead, in 1932. Nellie is pictured with Mary and their mother, Maud Kate, on the wedding day at Sunnyside. Mary and Frederick Hensley moved to 44 Lower King George Road in Minehead, where they lived the rest of their lives (14).
At the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, Nellie, Maggie and their older brother, Thomas, were still living with their parents at Sunnyside. Nellie listed her occupation as "Domestic". Shortly afterwards, Thomas moved to Buckinghamshire, where he worked as a Fishmongers Manager and in 1942 married Hilda Emma Beaney at her hometown, Tonbridge, Kent (15). The striking second photograph shows Nellie during World War II, when she served as a Land Girl. Jo Atkins believed that Nellie's assignments were local to the Minehead/Timberscombe region. The dog with Nellie looks much like one photographed with Nellie's parents, probably around the same time, seen at SP-279. Her mother Maud Kate, who was not well in her later years (16), passed away in 1953, leaving her children as the owners of Sunnyside.
Nellie's father, Thomas William Brewer died early in 1960. Later in the year, at the age of 44, Nellie accepted the marriage proposal of Frederick William Hooper, born in Minehead on the 24th of June 1907, the son of William and Rosina (nee Poole) Hooper. His parents likely met when they both worked as servants for Sarah F. King, living at No. 9 The Avenue in Minehead. Interestingly by the 1911 census, William was working on his own as a Coachman and he and Rosina had three children, the eldest being the three-year-old Frederick and they lived at 13 Tregonwall Road in Minehead--with the 80 -year-old Sarah F. King, now boarding with them (17). (Rosina was the sister of Robert Poole, owner of the longtime R. Poole's, a Grocer, Draper and Tailor Shop on Brook Street in Timberscombe).
In 1935, Frederick (known as "Fred" or "Freddie") married Irene Evelyn Stradling, originally from Wellington, Somerset and perhaps following his father's career, by 1939 worked as a Private Chauffeur, living at Rosemont Cottage, on the left end of a row of homes, just west and across the road from Sunnyside. Fred's marriage did not survive and in 1948, Irene Hooper married Paul R. Dietz in Weymouth, Dorset (18).
Before that, in October 1946, Fred Hooper had married 25-year-old Doris Bircham, an elder daughter of Ivan Henry and Rose Charlotte (nee Agate) Bircham, who had lived at No. 6 of the Council Cottages (later the Meadow View Cottages)--also just across the road from Rosemont Cottage (19). In 1943, at Bridgwater, Doris had given birth to a boy she named Michael Cyril, with "Bircham" given as his surname (20). After their marriage, Fred Hooper adopted the child and he grew up as Michael Cyril Hooper. The Hooper family lived for awhile at Heber Vale, on the northern edge of Timberscombe and by September 1948, when Michael began attending Timberscombe School, resided at No. 1 The Old Forge in the centre of the village (21). Sadly, Doris Hooper died at the age of 36, her death registered in Exmoor as around January 1958 (22).
A wedding date was set for Fred Hooper and Nellie Brewer in October 1960, at which time Nellie would leave Sunnyside with her husband (23). With their father gone and Nellie going, for the first time the sole family member at Sunnyside would be Maggie. Likely this was why, on the 11th of September 1960, Mary, Thomas and Nellie gave Maggie their shares of Sunnyside, making her the sole owner (24). The third photograph is of Nellie and Frederick Hooper at the time of their wedding.
Frederick and Nellie Hooper were together 30 years, before his death in 1990 (25). They had lived at 28 Marshfield Road in Alcombe, in a house they named Sunnyside and after her husband's passing, Nellie returned to her original Sunnyside to live with Maggie. The year before, a bypass was completed to route traffic around Timberscombe, so as not to drive through it. The construction began just west of Sunnyside, indeed just in front of Rosemont Cottage where Fred Hooper had lived during his first marriage, now called The Linhay. The location of the new bypass created an area of land between it and the former road-- which was now owned by Maggie Brewer. She donated this land to Timberscombe, to become a village green, aptly called Brewers Green. The bottom photograph was taken by Joyce Smith, of Ford Cottage in Timberscombe and a friend of Maggie and Nellie. The event was a ceremony in 1990 when the sisters planted a tree on the new green. Nellie is in the foreground with Maggie just behind her, helping to dig a hole for the tree.
On 18 March 1994, Hilda, the wife of Thomas passed away. After her burial in Tonbridge (26), Thomas also returned to Sunnyside. By 1999 the three siblings could not maintain Sunnyside, which was sold at a public auction (27). Thomas, Maggie and Nellie moved into the Winsor Nursing Home in Minehead where Jo Atkins worked and was able to help tend to them. Thomas died in 2000 and Maggie died in 2005. They are both buried at St. Petrock's. Between their graves is the grave of Nellie (where she is again Ellen Kate), who died in 2001. She is buried with Mr. Hooper, with "REUNITED" carved on their gravestone (28).
The young Nellie in the top photograph could well be posing on the grounds of the house called Sunnyside. It would have been the only home she had known. Her older siblings, Florence Mary (who was called Mary), Thomas William Fletcher and Margaret Bessie (Maggie) were born respectively in 1906, 1908 and 1910 (2). Another brother, John Thomas was born 8 November 1913 but survived only four days (3). On the 29th of September 1916, Nellie's step-grandmother, Margaret Matilda (nee Knight) Brewer--who also was the aunt of Maud Kate, Nellie's mother (4)-- had purchased two lots on the northeastern edge of the village of Timberscombe (5). Margaret's husband and Nellie's grandfather, Thomas William Brewer and Nellie's father, Thomas William Brewer, Junr. were carpenters and immediately began building Sunnyside (6). Nellie was born the 19th of October 1916 (7), just as all of this was happening.
She began school at Timberscombe School, just as her grandfather, father, Mary, Thomas and Maggie had done (8). On 10 January 1922, the Head Mistress, Salome V. Wallace, wrote in the school's Log Book, "Ellen Brewer admitted aged 5" (9). After that she is only mentioned in the Log Book a couple of times--she and Margaret had to stay home in 1923 because of the whooping cough and in 1926 she was kept away because there was a case of measles at Sunnyside (10)--apparently not Nellie herself. Not being mentioned by Miss Wallace is a sign she didn't get into any trouble but she also wasn't winning any awards. Her final day of schooling was 30 October1930 (11).
Back home, Nellie's step-grandmother, Margaret Brewer, had died in 1928, bequeathing "the house Sunnyside to my niece, Maud Kate Brewer and her children" with the condition that it "shall be of the use of my husband, Thomas Brewer, as long as he lives'' (12). He died on the 12th of January 1930 and they were buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard (13).
The top three photographs were donated in 2020 by Josephine (nee Hensley) Atkins of Minehead. Better known as "Jo", she is the grand-daughter of Mary, Nellie's oldest sister, who married Frederick Hensley, a carpenter from Minehead, in 1932. Nellie is pictured with Mary and their mother, Maud Kate, on the wedding day at Sunnyside. Mary and Frederick Hensley moved to 44 Lower King George Road in Minehead, where they lived the rest of their lives (14).
At the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, Nellie, Maggie and their older brother, Thomas, were still living with their parents at Sunnyside. Nellie listed her occupation as "Domestic". Shortly afterwards, Thomas moved to Buckinghamshire, where he worked as a Fishmongers Manager and in 1942 married Hilda Emma Beaney at her hometown, Tonbridge, Kent (15). The striking second photograph shows Nellie during World War II, when she served as a Land Girl. Jo Atkins believed that Nellie's assignments were local to the Minehead/Timberscombe region. The dog with Nellie looks much like one photographed with Nellie's parents, probably around the same time, seen at SP-279. Her mother Maud Kate, who was not well in her later years (16), passed away in 1953, leaving her children as the owners of Sunnyside.
Nellie's father, Thomas William Brewer died early in 1960. Later in the year, at the age of 44, Nellie accepted the marriage proposal of Frederick William Hooper, born in Minehead on the 24th of June 1907, the son of William and Rosina (nee Poole) Hooper. His parents likely met when they both worked as servants for Sarah F. King, living at No. 9 The Avenue in Minehead. Interestingly by the 1911 census, William was working on his own as a Coachman and he and Rosina had three children, the eldest being the three-year-old Frederick and they lived at 13 Tregonwall Road in Minehead--with the 80 -year-old Sarah F. King, now boarding with them (17). (Rosina was the sister of Robert Poole, owner of the longtime R. Poole's, a Grocer, Draper and Tailor Shop on Brook Street in Timberscombe).
In 1935, Frederick (known as "Fred" or "Freddie") married Irene Evelyn Stradling, originally from Wellington, Somerset and perhaps following his father's career, by 1939 worked as a Private Chauffeur, living at Rosemont Cottage, on the left end of a row of homes, just west and across the road from Sunnyside. Fred's marriage did not survive and in 1948, Irene Hooper married Paul R. Dietz in Weymouth, Dorset (18).
Before that, in October 1946, Fred Hooper had married 25-year-old Doris Bircham, an elder daughter of Ivan Henry and Rose Charlotte (nee Agate) Bircham, who had lived at No. 6 of the Council Cottages (later the Meadow View Cottages)--also just across the road from Rosemont Cottage (19). In 1943, at Bridgwater, Doris had given birth to a boy she named Michael Cyril, with "Bircham" given as his surname (20). After their marriage, Fred Hooper adopted the child and he grew up as Michael Cyril Hooper. The Hooper family lived for awhile at Heber Vale, on the northern edge of Timberscombe and by September 1948, when Michael began attending Timberscombe School, resided at No. 1 The Old Forge in the centre of the village (21). Sadly, Doris Hooper died at the age of 36, her death registered in Exmoor as around January 1958 (22).
A wedding date was set for Fred Hooper and Nellie Brewer in October 1960, at which time Nellie would leave Sunnyside with her husband (23). With their father gone and Nellie going, for the first time the sole family member at Sunnyside would be Maggie. Likely this was why, on the 11th of September 1960, Mary, Thomas and Nellie gave Maggie their shares of Sunnyside, making her the sole owner (24). The third photograph is of Nellie and Frederick Hooper at the time of their wedding.
Frederick and Nellie Hooper were together 30 years, before his death in 1990 (25). They had lived at 28 Marshfield Road in Alcombe, in a house they named Sunnyside and after her husband's passing, Nellie returned to her original Sunnyside to live with Maggie. The year before, a bypass was completed to route traffic around Timberscombe, so as not to drive through it. The construction began just west of Sunnyside, indeed just in front of Rosemont Cottage where Fred Hooper had lived during his first marriage, now called The Linhay. The location of the new bypass created an area of land between it and the former road-- which was now owned by Maggie Brewer. She donated this land to Timberscombe, to become a village green, aptly called Brewers Green. The bottom photograph was taken by Joyce Smith, of Ford Cottage in Timberscombe and a friend of Maggie and Nellie. The event was a ceremony in 1990 when the sisters planted a tree on the new green. Nellie is in the foreground with Maggie just behind her, helping to dig a hole for the tree.
On 18 March 1994, Hilda, the wife of Thomas passed away. After her burial in Tonbridge (26), Thomas also returned to Sunnyside. By 1999 the three siblings could not maintain Sunnyside, which was sold at a public auction (27). Thomas, Maggie and Nellie moved into the Winsor Nursing Home in Minehead where Jo Atkins worked and was able to help tend to them. Thomas died in 2000 and Maggie died in 2005. They are both buried at St. Petrock's. Between their graves is the grave of Nellie (where she is again Ellen Kate), who died in 2001. She is buried with Mr. Hooper, with "REUNITED" carved on their gravestone (28).
Creator
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Joyce Smith
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Joyce Smith
Date
perhaps mid 1920s
between 1930 and 1945
October 1960
1990
between 1930 and 1945
October 1960
1990
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
four photographs of Ellen Kate (nee Brewer) Hooper (1916-2001) / Timberscombe
Acquisition Date
2020
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Named / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2022
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
14 X 9
17.5 X 9.5
13.5 X 10.5
14.5 X 9.5
17.5 X 9.5
13.5 X 10.5
14.5 X 9.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) as recalled in 2020 by Josephine (nee Hensley) Atkins (better known as "Jo") of Minehead, the great-niece of Ellen Kate (nee Brewer) Hooper (2) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Indexes, 1835-1915 (3) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1835-1915 and England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1835-1915 (4) Mary Jane (nee Knight, then Fletcher) Woodman, the mother of Maud Kate (nee Fletcher) Brewer, was the younger sister of Margaret Matilda (nee Knight) Brewer--1861 England Census, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1835-1915 and Bristol, England, Select Church of England Registers, 1720-1933 (5) 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 (6) newspaper clippings of the obituaries of Thomas William Brewer and Thomas William Brewer, Junr. (the newspapers are not identified) shared in 2020 by Jo Atkins and as recalled in 2020 by Elisabeth Powls and Erica Holmes of Overdale, Great House Street, Timberscombe, who worked in the 1990's for Maggie Brewer (7) Timberscombe School, ADMISSION REGISTER, 1897-1944, No. 403 (8) newspaper obituary of Thomas William Brewer, Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-30 August 1890 and Timberscombe School LOG Book, 4 April 1910-25 March 1947 (9) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910-25 March 1947, page 210 (10) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910-25 March 1947, pages 227 and 273 (11) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910-25 March 1947, page 335 (12) 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 (13) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (14) 1939 England and Wales Register and England and Wales, National Probate Calendars (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 (15) 1911 England Census and England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (16) newspaper clipping of obituary of Maud Kate Brewer (the newspaper is not identified), donated in 2020 by Jo Atkins (17) as recalled in 2020 by Jo Atkins, UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current, 1911 England Census and 1901 England Census (18) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriages, 1916-2005 and 1939 England and Wales Register (19) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage, 1916-2005 and 1939 England and Wales Register (20) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 (21) as recalled by lifelong resident of Timberscombe, Maurice Huxtable (1932-2021) and Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, 1944-2012, no. 777 (22) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death, Index, 1916-2007 (23) 1939 England and Wales Register and England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (24) Conveyance dated 11th September 1960 of Mrs. F.M. Hensley and Others to Miss M. B. Brewer of Sunnyside, Timberscombe, Somerset (25) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (26) Web: UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1756-2014 (27) as recalled in 2020 by Elisabeth Powls and Erica Holmes (28) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300's-Current
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2022
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-283
Technique
Copies
Citation
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Joyce Smith
, “THE BREWER FAMILY, part 6: Ellen Kate (nee Brewer) Hooper, known as Nellie (or Nell),” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 2, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3553.
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