George Brann (1824 - 1887)

Born 27 Feb 1824 in Wittersham, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Frances (Crossingham) Brann — married 28 Feb 1843 in Ore Hastings East Sussex

Died 3 Jul 1887 at age 63 in England [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ann Lamb [send private message] and Joseph Brann [send private message]

Biography

Birth: 1824

Death: 1887

Birth

Birth:

Date: 27th Feb 1824

Place: Wittersham, Kent, England

Event

Event:

Type: George Brann and Frances Crossingham

Date: 1843

Place: Hastings Sussex England

Note: George and Frances Brann

Curteis' son George married Frances Crossingham on 28 February 1843 at the parish church in Oare, Hastings.^[1] The Crossinghams were a local Sussex family living in Battle, but they already had links to Wittersham: Frances' brother, Levi, had been laboring at Peening Quarter two years earlier. Frances was illiterate at the time of their marriage (which maybe why her 1885 portrait shows her proudly holding a book!).

George was a Farm Baliff in 1861 and in 1881 a farmer of 100 acres employing 4 men and 1 boy

They had eight children between 1846 and 1862, all born in Wittersham. The family had various homes in Wittersham: successively at Stocks Farm (c1841), Poplar Farm (c1851), Owley House (c1861), the High Street (c1871), and later at Lorden House in Peening Quarter (c1878-87).

George started work in the 1840s as an agricultural laborer, just like his father, working wherever he could. Over time, he became a farm bailiff, managing farms for some of Wittersham's principal landowners, such as Samuel Rutley (Owley Farm) and Col. Lawrence Heyworth (Yew Tree Farm, 1882). He was also a general dealer, and then a farmer in his own right - initially of just 32 acres, but by the 1880s he was farming 100 acres and employing 4 men and a boy. Although having been clearly successful, he remained a tenant-farmer; no-one in the Brann family actually owned land in Wittersham until the early twentieth century.

However, as an occupier of a house and land in the Street and at Glines, George was finally qualified to vote in the general election of 1874. The Second Reform Act of 1867, promoted by Benjamin Disraeli as Leader of the House of Commons in Lord Derby's Tory administration, extended the franchise to occupiers in rural counties who paid £12 per year or more in rates. The act was passed in response to the unrest caused by the Chartist movement, and increased the proportion of the population who could vote from 5% to 13%. George was probably the first member of the Brann family ever to be able to vote; yet Lord Derby still described the increase in the franchise as a "leap in the dark".

The 1874 election was also the first British election with a secret ballot.

By 1884 George was also listed in Pike's Directory as a carrier, traveling from Wittersham to Rye on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, on Wednesday 29 June 1887 he suffered a fall - possibly from his horse during one of these trips. This caused - according to an examination by the local doctor Garside Terry - contusion of the spine and paralysis. This diagnosis probably means that he broke his back. It led to his death five days later on 3 July at home on Peening Quarter Farm, probably from pneumonia or some other infection brought on by the paralysis he suffered.

He was only 63. He was buried on 7 July in Wittersham churchyard, and his grave is inscribed with a verse from the John Wesley hymn "O Thou that hangest on the tree":

Canst thou reject our dying prayer,

Or cast us out who came to thee?

Our sins, Ah! wherefore didst thou bear?

Jesus, remember Calvary!

His death notice in the Kentish Express & Ashford News of 16 July 1887 recorded that he was "deeply lamented by his widow and nine children, and much respected by all who knew him".

After his death, Frances moved to Wittersham Street, where for some years she looked after the children of two of her own widowed children, Alfred and Anna. In old age, she went to live with her son John, and his wife Elizabeth, at Clayne Farm in Chalk, Kent, where she died in 1905, aged 80. She was reunited with George in Wittersham

Event:

Type: Death

Date: 1887

Note: George died after falling from his horse.

Census

Census:

Date: 1851

Place: Tenterden, Kent, England

Note: Name:George Brann

Age:27

Estimated Birth Year:abt 1824

Relation:Head

Spouses's Name:Frances

Gender:Male

Where born:Wittersham

Civil parish:Wittersham

County/Island:Kent

Country:England

Street address:

Occupation: Arg Laborer

Condition as to marriage: Married

Registration district:Tenterden

Sub-registration district:Rolvenden

ED, institution, or vessel:4c

Household schedule number:18

Household Members:

Name Age

Ellen Brann 4

Frances Brann 26

George Brann 27

Jane Brann 2

Jessee Brann 1 Mo

William Cook 29

Joye Richardson 18

Census:

Date: 1861

Place: Wittersham, Kent, England

Note: about George Brann

Age:37

Estimated Birth Year:abt 1824

Relation:Head

Spouses's Name:Frances

Gender:Male

Where born:Wittersham, Kent, England

Civil parish:Wittersham

County/Island:Kent

Country:England

Street address: 8 Owley house

Occupation: Farm Baliff

Condition as to marriage:Marriage

Registration district:Tenterden

Sub-registration district:Rolvenden

ED, institution, or vessel:12b

Household schedule number:82

Household Members:

Name Age

Alfred Brann 3

Ellen Brann 14

Fanny Brann 8 Mo

Frances Brann 36

George Brann 37

Jane Brann 12

Jesse Brann 10

John Brann 8

Mary Ann Brann 6

Alfred Brann George, Frances abt 1858 Wittersham, Kent, England Son Wittersham Kent

Ellen Brann George, Frances abt 1847 Wittersham, Kent, England Daughter Wittersham Kent

Fanny Brann George, Frances abt 1860 Wittersham, Kent, England Daughter Wittersham Kent

Frances Brann George abt 1825 Battle, Sussex, England Wife Wittersham Kent

George Brann Frances abt 1824 Wittersham, Kent, England Head Wittersham Kent

Jane Brann George, Frances abt 1849 Wittersham, Kent, England Daughter Wittersham Kent

Jesse Brann George, Frances abt 1851 Wittersham, Kent, England Son Wittersham Kent

John Brann George, Frances abt 1853 Wittersham, Kent, England Son Wittersham Kent

Mary Ann Brann George, Frances abt 1855 Wittersham, Kent, England Daughter Wittersham Kent

Census:

Date: 1881

Place: Wittersham, Kent, England

Note: George BRANN Head M Male 57 Wittersham, Kent, England Farmer Of 100 Acres Employing 4 Men & 1 Boy

Frances BRANN Wife M Female 56 Brighton, Sussex, England Farmer Wife

Fanny BRANN Daur U Female 20 Wittersham, Kent, England Farmer Daughter

Anne G. BRANN Daur U Female 18 Wittersham, Kent, England Farmer Daughter

Joseph F. HAWKINS Boarder U Male 20 Folkston, Kent, England Farm Servant (Indoor)

Robert GLADWISH Boarder U Male 31 Iden, Sussex, England Ag Lab (Farm Serv) (Indoor)

Alfred HOAD Boarder U Male 16 Wittersham, Kent, England Farm Servant

Source Information:

Dwelling 8 Penyon Qr Lorden House

Census PlaceWittersham, Kent, England

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2D42-TX9 : 13 December 2014), George Brann, 1843; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1843, quarter 1, vol. 7, p. 393, Hastings, Sussex, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

Acknowledgements

This person was created through the import of Brann.ged on 16 September 2010.

• WikiTree profile Brann-255 created through the import of Ann Lambs feb 2011 gedcom.ged on May 27, 2011 by Ann Sims. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Ann and others.