John William Brown b 1850, Westminster, London.

Update 11 Feb 2023

His life after 1889 was a mystery, until Tessa Readman discovered that John Brown had a parallel existence as Philip Gordon a fairly well known late 19th century comedian and Shakespearean actor/Stage manager . Details to follow

John William Brown was a mystery to members of his family in America. He was known to have been born in England, but after the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1889 in Philadelphia USA, he apparently disappeared from the lives of his family including his children. 

I (John Winchurch) only knew of his existence from family history research done by my father Vic Winchurch. There was no record of John in Britain after the UK census of 1871 when he was 21 and living with his mother in Birmingham (UK)

Vic's mother, my grandmother, was born Marion Brown and was John's niece, but I do not recall her ever mentioning him, even though she and her sisters Nora and Millie had a good deal of knowledge about their family history. 

The pieces of the jigsaw began to fit together after I took an Ancestry autosomal  DNA test about seven years ago. I was getting match notifications of several relatives in the US who had the surname Brown in their family tree. In particular, the name : Catherine Brown.

After contacting several of these matches, including Marilyn Brown and Elizabeth Masterson, a picture emerged of John Brown who had possibly returned to England after the death of his wife, Elizabeth.

There was some suggestion that there had been a family dispute over the raising of his children. Elizabeth's family was Irish Catholic (Elizabeth was born in Ireland) and John had himself been raised in a part Catholic family. His mother Mary Ellen (Gornall) was herself Catholic, but the Brown family from Leicestershire had a non conformist background, indeed, John's grandmother, Jane Hawley had some Quaker connections. To my knowledge, only Henry Ambrose Brown , my gt grandfather and John's younger brother was ever a practising Catholic (he famously was a choirboy at Birmingham's Catholic Oratory and was said to have been present at a Mass served by Cardinal Newman).

John and Elizabeth's children were baptised in a Methodist church in Philadelphia, so the rumour might have some foundation. 

For whatever reason, no definite record of John has been found after 1888 anywhere in the world. It is, of course possible that he fathered children after this date and I am looking out for DNA matches that might confirm this, but to date (2023) none has appeared.

 The known facts

John William Brown was born at 11 Portland Street, Westminster, London on 26 January 1850, the son of Richard Brown and Mary Ellen (née Gornall) see Richard and Mary Ellen

He was baptised John William, almost certainly named after his two grandfathers, John Gornall and William Brown, who were both tailors by profession.

 

John William Brown b 1850. Son of Richard Brown and  Mary Ellen (Nee Gornall)

Richard, who was born in Leicestershire in 1826 was working as a tailor in the west end of London at the time of John's birth, probably in the employment of Robert Gornall, his brother in law.

In the 1851 UK census one year old John is listed as being at 27 Marylebone St in London, with the head of the household being his 17 year old uncle, Robert Gornall. Also living at this address was Robert's 13 year old sister Catherine (notice the name it occurs later in the family) and Richard Brown aged 24, John's father. Mary Ellen is not listed at this address, so 27 Marylebone St may have have been a tailor's workshop belonging to the Gornall family. 

No 26 was being used as business premises by John Gornall in 1849, two years earlier.

Mary Ellen might have been elsewhere in London, at Soho, since her eldest daughter, Mary Jane was born there in April 1851 according to later censuses and GRO record.

 
By 1861 the Brown family are in Birmingham, living at 91 Wynn Street

1861 Census

Possibly John, about 1970

The Brown family appear to have stayed in Birmingham for some time after this. Sadly, in 1866 Richard (John's father) died, leaving Mary Ellen a widow with eight children, with John being the eldest and Catherine (that name again) being the youngest at just four by the time of the 1871 census.

1871 Census John P is a misreading by the transcriptor . 

Should be John W as confirmed by his birth certificate 

My great grandfather Henry Ambrose Brown is listed there as a fourteen year old 'errand boy'. He was later to become a master tailor, like his father and grandfather William, before him.     

Mary Jane Brown married Henry Jones in Birmingham in May 1875. The witnesses were George Bernard Brown and Ellen Teresa Brown 

Bearing in mind the their father Richard had died in 1866 and John was in Birmingham for the 1871 Census, wouldn't you expect him to be featured at Mary's wedding as the eldest son ?

There could be many reasons for this, but perhaps John had already left for America ?

His uncle Edward and grandfather William were in Lancaster Pennsylvania in the 1870 US census. 

John might have joined one or both between 1871 and 1875 ?

There is no definite known date for John's arrival in the USA, but in 1883 or 1884 it is assumed that he married Elizabeth Ellen Madigan, probably in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth had immigrated to the USA at the age of eight with her parents, arriving in New York on 27 June 1870

Date

1870

Jun

27

City of Paris

SS City of Paris

On 28 July 1884 Catherine Elizabeth Brown was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, followed by Mary A (Mae) Brown on 24 April 1886 and Walter James Brown on 7 July 1888

The following year,1889, Elizabeth sadly died, aged 27 in Philadelphia from complications following a miscarriage.

Elizabeth died of septicaemia from a miscarriage on 18 Oct 1889

She was buried in the New Cathedral Cemetery with John adding a memorial stone to her grave, confirmed by Marilyn Brown who has visited the cemetery .

What happened to John after this is a mystery.

The children were raised by Robert Brown and his wife Mary, who was Elizabeth's sister. It is believed that Robert was born in Ireland, or was of Irish descent and was not related to John William Brown. 

When Catherine died in 1956, her parents were listed as Robert Brown and Mary Madigan on her death certificate

The informant for this information was, I think, Sarah Di Stefano (née Gildea) Catherine's daughter (John's granddaughter - even if she wasn't aware of her mother's birth parents!) 

Many avenues have been followed to try to find out what happened to John. Possible records have been scoured from Philadelphia, California, South Africa, Australia and Canada. In the UK places that John might have appeared include Leicestershire (where his father and grandparents were born), Birmingham (where his brother Henry Ambrose - also a tailor - lived) Northampton, where siblings and his mother, Mary Ellen lived and died. All to no avail so far. 

In an 1890 directory of Philadelphia, three John Brown, tailors are listed, John William might be one of them.

Any additional information, preferably with source details gratefully received

John Winchurch

Pembrokeshire

15 January 2023