Anne Brett 1735 - 1798, Scarning.

[RonGoose]

I have a puzzle. Does anyone have any knowledge of Anne please?
My 5x gt grandfather William Ray of Worlingworth, Suffolk, describes Anne as his niece in his will of 1764, but I can't make any sense of that.

Anne was Baptised 17 Jan 1735 at Scarning, Norfolk, dau of Joseph and Elizabeth.
Anne was preceded by a sister Ann born and died in 1734.

On a visit to Norwich a couple of years ago I found a black marble slab in the North cloister of Norwich Cathedral "Sacred to the Memory of
Elizabeth, daughter of William Ray" and to "MRS Anne Brett daughter of Revd Joseph Brett formerly Rector of Barnham Broom, Norfolk. She died April the 7th 1798, aged 62 years". There must be some close connection to my Ray family for Anne to be mentioned on the same slab as Elizabeth Ray.

I have found a marriage of an Ann Brett to Thomas Luck in the Norwich St. Mary in the Marsh marriage registers 1750 - 1812, page 16 of 67, but that may be a different Ann(e) Brett.

Anyone know anything please.

Ron G.

[berkeley]

Hi Ron, if you google William Ray in Worlingworth it will take you to to him, 1705- 1768 there is his will,his wifes will, at the bottom of her will there is a witness, surname Brett. Elizabeth is given as his daughter, also there are a couple of son-in-laws given as clergy. Try freereg for the Bretts, Anne is given as a witness to 3 marriages in Barnham Broome 1163/4/5. She is down as buried06/12/1744 in Scarning, widow of Joseph mother of Joseph, master at Scarning school. Try http://www.archive.org/details/biographicalhist02vennuoft_djvu.txt    scroll down you will see joseph there. I will also P.M. you with an e-mail address for someone who looks as if they are doing the Ray tree, hope this helps, Dave.

[RonGoose]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for that, but it looks as if it is my website you found.
There is a link to it in my profile.

Anne Brett appears as a witness on several of my Ray and associated family weddings.
It may be that William Ray used the term "Niece" loosely of Anne in his will.

Thanks for the Ray contact you gave me in your PM - I'll follow it up.

Cheers, Ron.

[kaysii]

Hi,

If you  look up the NRO archives, the Ann Brett dying in 1798 left a will. http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=NCC3CL01&dsqIni=dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=3&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27Brett%20Ann%27%29.

Joseph also has a will
http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=NCC3CL01&dsqIni=dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=1&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27Brett%20Joseph%27%29

If she was the daughter of Joseph Brett, then presumably she was unmarried. You might be able to find some connection with the Ray family if she was alone.

From familysearch Joseph Brett married an Elizabeth Smyth 5 August 1729 in Norwich, but unfortunately does not say which church.

From googling William Ray there is a descendent of his that marries a Smyth in Suffolk.  My guess is that Ann is probably related either to William's wife's family or of another female relative of his.

[RonGoose]

Hi Kaysii,
You've cracked it     So the connection is thro' the Smyth family.
I had thought it possible but had not found the wedding of Joseph Brett to Elizabeth Smyth.
William Ray had married Rebecca Smyth but I could not find an Elizabeth in her family.
Now I know there was one I will no doubt find where she fits in.
I found the burial today of Elizabeth Brett in 1737 at Scarning, spouse of Joseph (Clerk) in  Scarning PRs.
The only mystery now is why Anne was MRS Anne Brett on  the slab at Norwich Cathedral.
I have had no luck with a Brett/Brett marriage.
Many thanks for your help. Ron.

[kaysii]

Maybe the Mrs is just a "polite" title given to her as an older woman. I think they probably did this still in the 18th century

[berkeley]

Hi Ron, i think that after going through the bretts on freereg that, there are 2 josephs, (father & son)  2 Annes, 1 is the wife of the elder (the MRS) & the mother of the son. the second Anne is the daughter of joseph (son) & elizabeth. in other words, the young one is the granddaughter?? Did you check out burials on freereg??? try brett, norfolk & all, burial Nos 957,958,959,960, check the notes at bottom of 960. there is also Nos 1467 & 1772, all this stuff you may have, but just in case!!! hope this knits the annes together,Dave.

[RonGoose]

Hi Kaysii,
Yes, you could be right about the Mrs.
I am going thro' all the Norwich churches looking for the marriage in 1729 of Joseph Brett and Elizabeth Smyth.
Have done 21 of them and had enough for today. More tomorrow.  Ron.

[RonGoose]

Hi Berkeley,
Yes I am with you on all that. Bit tricky to sort out.
Ron.