THE LONG, LONG SEARCH FOR DAVID BROWN

My own ancestor Thomas was baptised at St Mwrog`s Church, Llanfwrog on 29th

February.1824. He was the illegitimate child of Elinor Roberts of Mwrog St and
Thomas Willcoxon, Holt and was brought up as Wilcoxon rather than taking his
mother’s name.

On his marriage certificate dated 1852 Thomas states that his father is Thomas
Wilcoxon, a chandler. . By this time his father had a business in Chester, so there
must have been some sort of contact between him or his mother

In 1825 Thomas Wilcoxon of Cornish Hall, Holt was apprenticed for seven years to
his uncle, Jonathon Wilcoxon who was also a preacher to learn the trade of a tallow
chandler. He didn’t serve the full term of this apprenticeship because in 1829 Thomas
married Ellen Jones in Liverpool. Their first son was named Thomas. Two sons =
both named Thomas. !!!!

A couple of years ago I was `browsing ` the IGI for more Wilcoxons when I spotted
an entry I’d not seen before. Henry Wilcoxson, son of Thomas Wilcoxson and Mary
Brown. Christened 15 Jan 1826 Holt.
I couldn’t get to the A N Palmer centre fast enough to check for myself. My eyes
nearly popped out of my head, flippin eck, another illegitimate child!!!! Sure enough
it looked like Thomas had been at it again.
This was probably the reason Thomas didn’t complete his apprenticeship, the terms of
the indenture dated the 1st February 1825 were that he `shall not commit fornication
nor contract matrimony within the full term`. Thomas failed miserably on both those
accounts, as was proved by the baptism of Henry in 1826 and for definite in 1829.
It would seem he stayed with Uncle Jonathon though because when Jonathon died on
16th December 1837 in his will it states.
`I give and bequeath to my two nephews Thomas Wilcoxon and James Wilcoxon now
in my service the sum of four hundred pounds for the purpose of enabling them to
continue jointly on their own account the business now carried on by me.
I also give and bequeath to the said Thomas Wilcoxon and James Wilcoxon all the
utensils used in the manufacturing of soap and candles in he warehouse and shop
now in my occupation to and for their own use absolutely.`

Of course I wanted to find out more about the Browns, and after searching Genes
Reunited I found a lady who had a Henry Brown born 1826 Holt in her list. I
contacted her and she told me she’d been searching for Henry’s father David who was
a deceased broker for many years without any success. This name had been on
Henry’s marriage certificate when he married at St Oswalds, Chester on 30th April
1848.

Then I spotted that Henry was a chandler and thought `that’s a coincidence`.
When I found that in every census Henry states he was born Holt, and his age
matched the baptism I had found I was convinced that Mary had been telling fibs
about his father.
Even odder I found in 1841 a Henry Brown, right age, not born in Cheshire living
next to my Thomas Wilcoxon and his family. Was there some arrangement between
them, had Thomas been made to give Mary and her son Henry some sort of support,
perhaps giving him employment in the soap boiler / tallow chandlers business.
Obviously Henry didn’t know who his real father was, only what his mother had told
him.
After his marriage Henry went into the gardening business with the Ledsham family
and he died on 13th September 1878. He had suffered from Brights disease of the
kidneys for 2 years.

The lady who had found all this information on Henry Brown was astounded to
realise that Henry had probably never had a father named David, and a search for
another Henry Brown born Holt found nothing at all.
The baptism is the only real record that names Thomas Wilcoxon as his father, but we
are all 99.99% sure that Henry is the same one. I’m only relieved that Thomas chose
to give his first illegitimate son his family name, if my Thomas Wilcoxon Jnr. had
been named Roberts after his mother Elinor all this would never have come about.
I wonder if any of these half brothers ever knew of the others existence.
It just goes to show that certificates only have what details the parties choose to give,
or what they had themselves been told. I’m sure many people told `little white lies` to
cover up some indiscretions in their past.

Annette Edwards (nee Wilcoxon) 2978