When is a brother not your brother?

Question

In her will of 1593, Eglantine Catt, widow of George Catt, appoints her brother, John Austen, an overseer of her will. For a long time Eglantine's LNAB was unknown, at least to me. Some had her LNAB as Bauer but I am yet to find any record to verify this. I jumped at this source and immediately made Eglantine's LNAB Austen. But now, having had time to get over the excitement of filling this gap, I am just wondering if the term "brother" necessarily refers to her blood relative brother or is it possible that the term actually refers to a brother in the parish of Rotherfield, ie a fellow parishoner, or even a curate or rector of that church.

Comments

I think if he were of the church, it would say that.

It reads as though he is her birth-name brother.

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It could be brother in law. I have seen them called brothers in old wills. I have also seen examples where the father of a married person calls the father of the spouse "brother".

Answer 1

Could be brother, brother-in-law, half-brother (2nd marriage for one parent), or step-brother (brothers from step-parents 1st marriages).  I have all of these in my immediate family, so I know the differences!!

I have also seen people referred to as 'brother' for 'elders' as a way of respect to someone that they look up to.

Answer 2

Would seem to be Austen, unless he was half or step-brother(was brother-in-law) . Quite a conundrum.

Answer 3

I would be very reluctant to assign a LNAB for a woman based on a brother named in a will. As others have pointed out the term was used very loosely at that time and could refer to a number of relationships that have nothing to do with being the child of the same parent/s.

Comments

I understand your reluctance but at least I have a reason for her LNAB and even if it proves to be incorrect I think that is preferable to "Unknown ".

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A wrong LNAB is never preferable to Unknown.  That’s how we end up with hundreds of trees with erroneous information.

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Totally agree. But I don't know that it's wrong. It might be. It might not be. If it is proved to be wrong by better evidence in the future then it can be changed and that will be progress. For now, the reason (source) is explained in her bio and people can judge the quality of that source for themselves.

Answer 4

I would tend to agree with not changing the LNAB.

It turns out the lady my father called his sister and who I called Auntie was actually his cousin.

I had an idea that she wasn't his real sister but as all the siblings a deceased there was nobody to ask.

Turned out they called her Lucy when her name was Catherine Lucy. Her LNAB was the same as my Grandmother.

I knew her married name but couldn't find her marriage until I discovered that she had been married before for 2 years and lost he husband in WW2. And none of my family new this. So she used her married name for her 2nd marriage.

All solved now but it shows you can't count on someone being called brother or sister being brother or sister. Or a womans surname not being change several times.

Answer 5

Top transcribing with those Wills, Dave!
Have you found the Will of John Austen to see if he referred back to the Catt family and in what manner?

Jo

Comments

No luck yet finding his will or anything else about him.

Answer 6

From my experience of ancient Wills a brother-in-law is frequently referred to as "my brother" in a Will.

-Gilly