Rebecca Brooks (1784-1825).
My 5th great-grandmother.
Rebecca Brooks was the first of the Brooks family to join my family tree, when she married into the Wetherall family. The surname may derive from the town of Broc in France, brought over around the time of the Norman conquest, or also to the old English words for either a stream or a badger.
Rebecca was baptised at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 14 August 1784 to parents Frederick Brooks and Frances French (see below). She married my 5th great-grandfather Thomas Wetherall (or Wetherill) at St Nicholas’s on 12 August 1804. He inherited property in Great Yarmouth when his father died and worked as a watch and clockmaker, mostly in the county town of Norwich, Norfolk. Rebecca had at least six children but died relatively young in 1825 – she was buried in Norwich on 30 January.
Read more about Rebecca, her husband and their children.
See where the Brooks fit into my family tree.
Frederick Brooks (1758-1830) and Frances French (1758-1839).
My 6th great-grandparents.
Frederick was baptised on 21 September 1758 at St John Maddermarket in the city centre of Norwich, Norfolk, to parents Thomas Brooks and Christian Brady (see below).
He married Frances French (sometimes Fanny French) at St Nicholas’s in her home town of Great Yarmouth on 29 October 1780. She’d been baptised there on 10 December 1758 to parents John French and Eliza Hayles.
In a poll book of 1790 for Yarmouth, he was listed as a butcher but he was also listed as a weaver in his discharge papers from the East Norfolk Regiment of Militia dated 1802. I can only think this was an error – his age was also incorrectly given as 48 – as all other records described him as a butcher. However, it’s definitely the same man. There were very few Frederick Brooks’ in Norfolk at the time and this soldier was noted as having been born in St John’s Maddermarket in Norwich.
Frederick served in the militia from about 1776. It was usually a reserve force that was called on in time of war for home defence and internal security duties. At other times, members were expected to attend 28 days of training a year. His joining coincided with the American War of Independence, when the militia were called out to defend the nation against possible invasion by America’s European allies. Regimental records show that during the war, the East Norfolks were posted beyond the county boundary – to places such as Essex and Kent – while they were often in Yarmouth for winter quarters. The end of the war in 1783 meant that the militia could be stood down.
The regiment was called out again in 1792 in response to the French Revolutionary War and spent several years in counties across southern England in training camps and on security duties. Later in the decade it was back in East Anglia and then, in 1800, in Yorkshire and other northern counties. The signing of the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, which ended the Revolutionary War, saw the militia disbanded and Frederick’s service came to an end. His discharge papers noted that he’d served as a sergeant for 21 years and, before that, as a corporal for five. The documents, dated 27 April 1802, confirmed his status as an out-patient of the army’s Royal Hospital at Chelsea and noted that he was unfit for any future service due to rheumatism and gravel – another term for kidney stones. However, the following year he responded to the King’s proclamation of July 1803 issued in response to the start of the Napoloeonic Wars and offered to return to service. However, his services were ultimately not required and he was discharged again on 2 December 1803. This time the document described him as a Great Yarmouth butcher aged 44, 5ft 7ins tall and with grey hair.
Frances, meanwhile, had been at home in Great Yarmouth bringing up the couple’s children, who were born in the 1780s.
A series of poll books, dating from 1806 onwards, listed Frederick as a freeholder and voter in Yarmouth. He died in the town in February 1830.
In his will he left all his belongings to his wife, including his “messuages, tenements or dwellinghouses whatsoever, situate, lying and being in Great Yarmouth aforesaid or elsewhere” as well as his household plate, linen, woollens, money, securities, goods and chattels. The absence of his children in the will suggests he may have outlived him – a couple of his offspring have been hard to trace and those with confirmed death records died before him.
Frances was most likely the woman whose death was registered in Great Yarmouth late in 1839.
Frederick and Frances’ known children were:
- Frederick Brooks (1781-1782), my 5th great-grand uncle. Frederick was baptised on 11 February 1781 at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and buried on 15 August 1782.
- John Brooks (1782-????), my 5th great-grand uncle. John was baptised on 23 August 1782 at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It may be that he was the John Brooks who emigrated to South Carolina, USA, in 1805. Naturalisation records and other documents of the time described him as British and from Yarmouth, born in around 1782. However, several boys named John Brooks were born in the town around this time and so far it’s not been possible to confirm the origins of the emigrant Brooks. South Carolina census returns noted that this John Brooks became a farmer and had a slave.
- Rebecca Brooks (1785-1825), my 5th great-grandmother. Rebecca was baptised in Great Yarmouth and went on to marry into the Wetherall family. See her story above.
- Thomas Brooks (1789-????), my 5th great-grand uncle. Thomas was born on 8 October and baptised on 23 November 1789 at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It’s not been possible to trace him yet as several boys were baptised with this name within a year or two of each other in the town.
Thomas Brooks (?1727-1796) and Christian Brady (1725-1791).
My 7th great-grandparents.
Thomas Brooks’ age at death was 71, pointing to a birth in around 1725. As he married, brought up a family and died in Norwich, it’s likely that he was the boy born on 28 July and baptised on 30 July 1727 at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich. If he is the right child, he was born to Richard Brook and Rebecca Howard. It’s worth noting that Rebecca was a regular name in subsequent generations.
Thomas married Christian Brady at St Margaret & St Swithin on 30 March 1746. She was the daughter of Thomas Brady and Catharine Harte and had been baptised on 26 December 1725 at St Martin at Oak in Norwich. They remained in the city and had a number of children. I’ve not found an occupation for Thomas.
Christian died in Norwich in 1791 and was buried on 6 July – the burial record noting her maiden name and the fact that Thomas was still alive. I suspect he was the man buried in the city at St Margaret & St Swithin on 3 April 1796. The record stated that he was a married man rather than a widower but I suspect this was an error.
Thomas and Christian’s children were:
- Thomas Brooks (1747-1749), my 6th great-grand uncle. Thomas was a twin of sister Christian and was baptised at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich on 8 February 1747. It’s likely that he was buried there on 6 November 1749 as the couple baptised another child Thomas a couple of years later.
- Christian Brooks (1747-?1749), my 6th great-grand aunt. Christian was a twin of Thomas and was baptised at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich on 8 February 1747. It’s possible that she was buried there on 9 April 1749, although a woman by this name married in Norwich in 1777.
- Thomas Brooks (1752-1789), my 6th great-grand uncle. Thomas was baptised at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich on 22 October 1752. He was buried there on 22 February 1789, the burial record naming his parents and the fact that he was a married man. Several potential marriages and brides exist and I’ve not been able to narrow them down.
- Mary Brooks (1756-????), my 6th great-grand aunt. Mary was baptised at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich on 6 June 1756. Many girls with this name were of a similar age in Norwich so pinning her down beyond her baptism has not yet been possible.
- Frederick Brooks (1758-1830), my 6th great-grandfather. Frederick was born in Norwich, served in the militia and worked as a butcher in Great Yarmouth. See his story above.
- Charlotte Brooks (1762-1803), my 6th great-grand aunt. Charlotte was baptised at St John Maddermarket in Norwich on 26 September 1762. She married William Wright at St Lawrence’s in Norwich on 23 November 1783 and raised a family with him but she died young in 1803 and was buried at St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich on 14 April that year. William’s details are unclear – there were so many with his name in the county at the time that it’s not been possible to pin him down. Their known children were:
- Thomas Wright (1784-????), who was baptised at St Lawrence’s in Norwich on 25 April 1784. As with his father, the name was so common around his time that it’s not been possible to pin him down with confidence.
- Charlotte Wright (1793-????), who was baptised at St Saviour’s in Norwich on 20 January 1793. She may be the woman who married James Howlett in Norwich in 1814 but three Charlotte Wrights were born in Norwich within a year or two of each other so it’s not been possible yet to work out who of them did. Charlotte signed her name on the marriage record with James and her father was literate. Is that a clue?
Note: St Margaret & St Swithin in Norwich was actually two separate churches but for a long time they shared the same clergyman.
Sources:
Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and Norfolk Family History Society.
Frederick Brooks’ will at National Archives and his Chelsea Pensioner records at Findmypast.co.uk.
East Norfolk Militia information at Wikipedia.