The Mystery associated with Lancelot (Capability) Brown

[Siamese Girl]

Why if he was born as  George Brown did he become George Hall?

Sorry if I missed comething, but I can't get my head around that bit.

[Valda]

The other way around George Hall to George Brown. Lancelot Brown junior died (1805) without issue or at least legitimate issue. Which is why the Death Duty registers would be useful because they give the relationship (if any) of the beneficaries and so would state whether George Hall who was the main beneficary of Lancelot Brown juniors will was in fact his illegitmate son. The Rev George Brown of Pucklechurch who died in 1819, baptism either as Hall or Brown may be found though Buckden parish registers since the date and place of his birth are known - 1785 (from Cambridge University registers where he is first mentioned as Brown in 1810). However George' Browns parentage may have been wrongly ascribed in the Gentleman Magazine and he might be instead a legitimate son of Thomas Brown, the youngest son of Capability Brown, who died in 1830 with two sons and a daughter still living. His eldest living son (at the time of his death in 1830) died in 1868 aged 81, so birthdate circa 1787. Thomas is thought to be the only son to have had children.


Regards


Valda

[jeenie]

Hi, Siamese Girl, and Valda, and everyone.  The following is a little of what I have :

To quote from some of my source info (and in an attempt to be brief)  :

George Hall “clerk to Mr Brown Merchant Mark Lane London” not yet 21 was the Principal Beneficiary of the 27 Feb 1802 Will of Lancelot Brown Jnr (aka Lance, the eldest son of Lancelot Brown Snr, aka Capability) when he obviously knew he was about to die “being ill in body but of sound mind and recollection”.  On this same day that he died he made a Codicil in which he referred to “the said George the person mentioned in my Will”, in which he mentions “my House and Premises at Stirtloe”. 

The record in Sidney College of “George Brown, the son of Lancelot Brown of Stirtloe” was presumably supplied by George himself, (and “He went to school for almost 3 years at Mapledurham Oxon and for 2 years at Oakham” enquiries for which by a local contact have been fruitless, eg Oakham records not going back that far – so it is not known what name he was enrolled therein).  And Ipswich Journal Jul 24 1819 refers to Rev George Brown died at Bath, son of the late Lancelot Brown Esq. M.P.

I was to post the original entry in the Gentleman’s Magazine Jan 1830, but worried about ©.  It must be correct that Rev Thomas, the 3rd youngest son of Capability to survive infancy, was the only son to have legitimate children.  Eg, he inherited Capablity’s large estate “after his 2 elder brothers had enjoyed it in succession, and had died without issue viz. Lancelot, a Barrister, and sometime M.P. . . .”  [This estate then passed to Thomas’ elder son Lancelot Robert, and then to his eldest daughter .]  And Thomas’ sons are recorded herein as Lancelot and Thomas-Charles.

Throughout his 29 Pages of Will and Codicils, Capablility makes repeated mention to named Beneficiary relatives “and behoof of the sons of his [or her] body lawfully to be begotten and the Heirs Male of their Bodies lawfully Issuing”.  CB increased legacies to all, but reduced Lance’ by £1,000;  Lance married 17 Nov 1788 (in Switzerland) Frances the sister of John (Madjack) Fuller, and they weren’t mentioned in his Will;  Lance named another brother-in-Law James Rust as Joint Executor, but he reneged;  and also intriguing  James in his 1822 Will made absolutely no mention of daughter Mary, but her cousin (Bachelor) Henry Holland (and also both cousins of Thomas Charles and Lancelot Robert) according to his 1838 Will had been paying her an Annuity “for many years past” which was to continue.  She was still unmarried.

Thomas Charles was married by his brother to Frances Page, 17 Sep no later than 1825, and in 1841 were living with children Frances, Augusta Marcia and Lancelot Charles in Somersham, in 1851 with the younger 2 in St Georges Westminster, and in 1861 he was living with his brother Lancelot Robert and etc in Kelsale.

Lancelot Robert is recorded as only ever had daughters.  Mary Rust (above) had a brother George.  And Mary Holland, aunt of Henry above, married a William Brown – of Mark Lane top above, perhaps ??   (So where does Robert fit in, if at all ?)

So you can see I have tried . . .

(Also my local Gloucester contact above [a private person] has received confirmation that George was not baptised in Buckden Parish Church.)

[Siamese Girl]

As a stab in the dark I wonder if there might be something in the will of  Bridget Holland, Widow of Richmond , Surrey 03 October 1823 PROB 11/1676  who I guess was Lancelot Brown's daughter Bridget and who married the architect  Henry Holland (although I believe they had children).

Death Duties usually do give relationships, although having said that I can think of one I've seen that doesn't.

Obviously it would be good to know exactly who Mr Brown of Mark's Lane was and if he was related. Assuming George Hall was Lancelot II's illegitimate son he presumably was responsible to articling him to this unknown Mr Brown.

It's all very complicated.

Carole

[Siamese Girl]

Looking for possible Browns there's a will for a Thomas Brown, Sack Manufacturer of No 64 Mark Lane, City of London  23 June 1813 PROB 11/1545 

Carole

[jeenie]

There was a well established and accepted procedure where the illegitimate son of a Gentleman (or Gentlelady, for that matter) was placed with another family, with all expense paid for, upbringing and education (eg, Tom Jones; Breaker Morant).

I can not help wondering if (say) great grandpa Robert (recorded as born c1821, and James Rust making his Will in 1822 disinheriting his daughter Mary), if Robert was a son of Mary Rust and Henry Holland, and was brought up with the name of Brown, or changed it to Brown later – after all, both Mary and (this) Henry were grand children of Capability Brown.  [And changing surname was common in those days – refer the Sparrow-Bence case of Lancelot Robert’s father-in-Law.  Also Capability made mention of the practice in his Will.]

And following the line of hypotheticals, Frances Fuller was the daughter of a very rich, influential family (amongst many other things her brother John was a MP), and her Wedding would have been the social event of the year.  Yet she went away (was she sent ?) on an extended holiday to Lausanne Switzerland where she married Lancelot Brown, who was desperately in need of such connections.  (And I have found no mention of a Marriage Settlement.  Incidentally, Lausanne is where the regicide Cornelius Holland, ancestor of our Holland family, went, lived and died, to escape the long arm of Charles II.)

[In 1841 the Rev Thomas Brown was living with Frances Page (his mother-in-Law), and 3 x Frances Brown – one was his wife, another his daughter, but of the 3rd, age 47 (a precise age was unusual in the English 1841 census), I have no such person on my Files.  But the age matches exactly the 26 Jun 1793 baptism (in Huntingdon) of Frances Rust, a sister of Mary.]

It can all be confusing, (with the constantly recycled 1st names), and Brown not easy to research, or lookup, particularly when with Rust, nor is Holland.   But over time . . .

[jeenie]

Thank you very much for the reference to Thomas Brown of Mark Lane, Carole !  I shall follow it up !

And thank you ever so much for the information on Bridget !  Lancelot Brown Snr’s daughter Bridget married Henry Holland 11 Feb 1773 and they had at least 7 children, including (yet another) Henry born 1775, the one who provided for Mary Rust.

In Henry Holland: His Life and Architecture by Dorothy Stroud, Henry Holland died 17 Jun 1806 and his wife Bridget outlived her husband by 17 years (sic), died 14 Sep 1828 (sic) and they were buried in the family vault in the churchyard of All Saints Fulham.  Confusing.  And this same date appears in another book.  I have her DoB as 1874.  Thank you ever so much for clearing that up, and for the reference to her Will.

** Amendment - I have her Dob as 1746 ! !    (not 1874)

Again, very seriously it is very good of you to do this.  I had previously run to a stop and given up, until I thought of this Forum.

[James Rust married Bridget’s sister, so Bridget was also the Aunt of Mary Rust.  And possibly there was a rift in the Rust family, and Henry, a bachelor, with money to spare, was just helping out.  But maybe Bridget’s Will will help me out.]

* Apart from other matters, hopefully all this posting will be interesting to Capability Brown devotees. *

[Siamese Girl]

Well I assume that must be THE Bridget Holland - it's a very long shot but occasionally people mention things in their wills, which, as they wouldn't be made known until after their deaths  they would have otherwise kept quiet about.

Carole

[jeenie]

Bridget Holland’s DoD (Date of Death) of 1828 in at least 2 Books must be a typing transposition error, and 1823 is definitely correct !  Also, I have Bridget’s DoB as 1746 – not 1874 as entered – this is an extreme such error !

I now have the Will of Thomas Brown of Mark Lane, and the “Will” of Bridget Holland, which initially was difficult to understand (cf. decipher), being apparently an Attestation of the wishes and intentions of her mother’s handwritten testament (with 2 Codicils) by Bridget’s daughter Mary Frances Crauford (Widow of Major General Sir Robert Crauford, the famous Cavalry Officer, under Wellington, KIA in Spain 1812).

Without going into greater detail, at 1st quick perusal neither seems to have any additional relatives.  But still have to be more fully deciphered and digested, and it was well worth it, obtaining them.

Thank you again for this information, Carole.

[NB – Peggy (Margaret) Rust nee Brown, Capability’s youngest daughter died some time between her father’s last Codicil of 1802 and her husband’s Will of 1822, so presumably without a Will.  Bridget’s is the only one obtained which refers to a grand child (but just one), even though one son (another) Lancelot provided her with 16.]