Brooks in Scotland

[Adnepos_Iacobi]

I am interested in a Brook(e)s family, father then son, who moved to Scotland in the late 19th century.

William BROOK(E)S was born 1851 Saffron Walden and moved up and down England in his job as a rockwork artist (he designed and built rockeries). He moved to Scotland between 1881 and 1884. He reported he married Mary GUNNISON (from the birth certificate of a son in 1884, married in Edinburgh 1875) but I can't find it and think he was in England at that time. He died 24 April 1912 in Edinburgh.

His son George Frederick BROOK(E)S born 1877 Waddesden by Aylesbury, moved from Stockport probably in 1902 and married Hall Willmina ROBSON 20 Dec 1907 in Hawick. He was in the army. The one child of the marriage that I know of (looked for others), George Wilson BROOKS born 7 May 1908 died 1913 in Hawick.

I can't find what happened to the family. Were there descendants of father or son in Scotland? What happened to George Frederick? I have searched all I can think of online but not found any leads.

Does anyone know this family?

[Annette7]

Afraid you have Mary's surname wrong - it is Cunnison not Gunnison.  I note from 1891 census that she was born in Blairgowrie, Perth ca.1852 and the IGI shows:

Mary Cunnison b.30/9/1851, bp.19/10/1851 Blairgowrie, Perth dau. of John Cunnison and Mary Hume.

Mary Hume was the name of their dau. which follows the Scottish naming pattern, i.e. first dau. name after maternal grandmother.

They married 6/12/1875  in Edinburgh which is also on IGI.   Will find it under Mary Cunnison no problem - husband just recorded as W. Brooks.

Annette

[Annette7]

Have found the 2 children who were on the 1891 census with their maternal grandparents in 1901:

1901 Census - 4 Piries Close, Edinburgh Old Church, Midlothian

John Cunnison   71    Shoemaker     b. W.K., Perthshire
Mary Cunnison   71                                   ditto
William Brooks  g/son  16   Message boy    b. Edinburgh
Mary Brooks     g/dau.  13   Message girl        ditto

Roll no. CSSCT1901_381 (this is only a transcript).

The only William Brooks I can find is in Longmore Hospital for Incurables, Edinburgh - 49 - born England.   Can't find any likely Mary Brooks so perhaps she had died and this is why children were with her parents.

Annette

[Annette7]

I don't believe the William Brooks with Eliza in 1881 is the one who married Mary Cunnison.   

Looked at the marriage certificate on Scotlands People and the William who married Mary Cunnison was a shown as aged 24, a bachelor, Private in the 1st Royals, son of John Brooks, Groom (deceased) and Ann Brooks, formerly Brooks.

In 1891 Eliza is still shown as married (tho William not there) and with her and other children is a son William Lowe bc.1873 Gt. Malvern so if she and William married surely she would have married as Eliza Lowe?  Was she married previously and Lowe her first married name?   Suspect you don't have the birth certificate of George Frederick and you really need to get this otherwise it's all just guesswork.   You can't just rely on the census.

If the William Brooks who 'married' Eliza did indeed go to Scotland he does not appear to be the one who married Mary Cunnison.

Annette

[Adnepos_Iacobi]

Thank you Annette for sorting out the Mary CUNNISON story. It's interesting how small errors in reading documents can lead astray. Mary died of tuberculosis 12 October 1898 at Pirries Court, Canongate, Edinburgh; the document mentions her husband William BROOKS, his occupation house strapper (I've checked around without a result -what is a house strapper?).

As Annette surmises in a previous message, William LOWE bc 1873 Great Malvern was the son of Eliza Ann THOMAS and her first husband, William LOWE. Eliza Ann then took up with William BROOKS and had two children: George Frederick BROOKS (from his birth certificate born 12 Sep 1877, parents William BROOKS and wife Elizabeth [formerly LOWE]) and Albert Edward BROOKS (b 1879 Weedon Bec, Daventry). I have searched for a marriage of William to Eliza and variants, with and without the surnames Thomas and Lowe but no success.

The William BROOKS who died a widower warehouseman of tuberculosis 24 April 1912 at Longmore Hospital is the one that I am interested in and seems to be the one who married Mary CUNNISON in that the informant of his death, his son William BROOKS, was of 4 Pirries Close, which is the 1901 address of Mary CUNNISON's parents and children (William was in Longmore at the time). In the death entry, his parents were William and Sarah BROOKS, which contradicts his parents' details in the marriage to Mary CUNNISON. In 1901 William BROOKS was in Longmore Hospital (formerly a stableman) and in 1891 he was at Pirries Court with Mary and children. No sign of a William BROOK[E]S born 1851 elsewhere. From the 1881 census, no sign of him in Scotland despite the marriage in 1875 but you can see that the William BROOKS ('marr', with Elizabeth BROOKS, 'marr') in Titchfield was born in 'Warldon' -which I take to be Walden, Saffron Walden. I can't find him in the 1871 census; if anybody can find him, I'd be grateful.

The only William born in the early 1850s who fits the bill for the William who died in Edinburgh is the same as the William who was in Titchfield in 1881 -born 28 October 1851 in Castle Street, Saffron Walden, parents William BROOKS and his wife Sarah (nee SMITH).

Given William BROOKS the rockwork artist's wanderlust, for the moment I am attributing the the groom's parents' details in the Cunnison marriage and the fact that he had two sons by Eliza (and featured in the 1881 census with her) after his marriage to Mary CUNNISON only as difficulties for matching the William who died in Longmore Hospital, Edinburgh with the William father of George Frederick and Albert Edward BROOKS in England.

I'd still like to know what became of the familes of William and of George BROOKS but finding more evidence for or against these two Brooks in Scotland being father and son has now become more important.

[hely]

Re The house strapper query
try HORSE strapper lol

[Adnepos_Iacobi]

George Edward BROOKES had been adopted in 1902 (informally) after his mother died. During the Great War he was in the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry, third man on a gun team when he broke his leg, a horse having backed onto him, ending up in hospital in Edinburgh in 1918; the chaplain there helped him find his father, George Frederick BROOKS, who happened to have settled in Hawick. So while in Edinburgh, George Edward travelled over to visit him.

George Frederick BROOKS (b 1877 Waddesdon) had moved from Stockport after the death of his first wife Annie GREENIE and married Hall Willmina ROBSON in 1907 at Hawick. He was a son of the William BROOKS mentioned previously in this correspondence.

I have searched for the subsequent history of George Frederick BROOKS and his wife (their only child died in 1913) but not found any trace. I've tried all kinds of searches in scotlandspeople without success. Please, any suggestions how to find information.

PS Thank you Hely for putting me straight on the occupation, horse strapper!

[Adnepos_Iacobi]

...The William BROOKS who died a widower warehouseman of tuberculosis 24 April 1912 at Longmore Hospital is the one that I am interested in and seems to be the one who married Mary CUNNISON in that the informant of his death, his son William BROOKS, was of 4 Pirries Close, which is the 1901 address of Mary CUNNISON's parents and children (William was in Longmore at the time). In the death entry, his parents were William and Sarah BROOKS, which contradicts his parents' details in the marriage to Mary CUNNISON. In 1901 William BROOKS was in Longmore Hospital (formerly a stableman) and in 1891 he was at Pirries Court with Mary and children. No sign of a William BROOK[E]S born 1851 elsewhere. From the 1881 census, no sign of him in Scotland despite the marriage in 1875 but you can see that the William BROOKS ('marr', with Elizabeth BROOKS, 'marr') in Titchfield was born in 'Warldon' -which I take to be Walden, Saffron Walden. I can't find him in the 1871 census; if anybody can find him, I'd be grateful...

I also note that on the death certificate of William BROOKS (1912) he was noted to be the widower of Mary CUNNISON.

The differences in parental details between the marriage (1875) and death (1912) certificates of William BROOKS point to something unusual going on. I'm not sure what it might be. On his marriage certificate, he is recorded as a private in the 1st Royals, so I'll follow up on that lead.

But any other suggestions would be very welcome!