When and Where Did He Die

Henry Washington Brownhill is my, somewhat oddball, 1st cousin 4 times removed. He was born in Birmingham in 1834 and was a German Silver Worker turned musician (and according to newspaper reports, possibly insane). He lived for several years in Leeds and was last seen in Scarborough Police Court in August 1896 charged with maliciously discharging a revolver with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Searches for his death registration have drawn a complete blank.

 

I see what you mean - he seems to have disappeared into thin air. Having read the report of his appearance at Scarborough Police Court, I can well understand why he was considered insane, and he did say he had been in an asylum, so maybe he ended his days in one. Maybe it was in a different part of the country and he gave a false name (perhaps he had forgotten who he was)....maybe he went abroad, but that seems a bit unlikely. I do hope someone finds him 'cause I've run out of places to look

 

Have you tried reversing his wonderful names David? oh I'm sure you have.

 

There's a death for Henry Hill registered 1st qtr 1898 in Scarborough.. Maybe they dropped the Brown? Low and behold when i went to look at the original on Ancestry the whole middle section of Hill is not there. It ends on page 169 with Hill, Alice ( that's the page that comes up when you click on see original ) and the next page starts with Hill, Thomas and is page 171 !He's listed as born about 1838

 

To be honest Wendy, I haven't, but now you come to mention it there are some W H Brownhill records on FMP, so must go back for a look see.

The newspaper reports had me in fits. He was said to have been drunk when he was arrested, yet in court he said he didn't drink and his bottle of whisky hadn't been touched for 50 years (he was 60 at the time of his arrest). The day before his appearance he had flooded his cell when he stripped off and washed his clothes under the tap. So far no reports of the verdict and sentence have surfaced. I just wonder if he wandered off somewhere, ending up as one of the unknowns, found dead under a hedge or in a ditch, or washed up on the shore.

 

So many illnesses can aquaint with drunken-ness these days we are aware of many but back then,- who knew?
I hate to think how many souls were incarcerated because they 'twitched' or had bad head pains,..Thank God we now have better medical knowledge.

 

The W H Brownhill records are for a soldier of the Welch Regiment, killed in action during WW1, and a gardner who emigrated to NZ in 1911.

In 1881 newly widowed Henry was living with his 2 children in LeedsAccording to an advertisement in The Era newspaper, Henry might have played the double bass and living in Newcastle on Tyne in 1888. He was lodging in Reading, Berkshire in 1891 but there are no newspaper reports about him causing any mischief there. My suspicion is that his wife's death may have triggered a downwards spiral in his mental health.

 

Other than medical trauma, a binge on alcohol can happen to anyone when confronted by....? or just after a hard days slog...so I've read.

 

He was discharged
Hull Daily Mail 19th August 1896
Henry Brownhill, who was remanded at Scarborough on Monday for medical investigation as to his sanity, and who was charged with firing a revolver at a fellow-lodger, appeared before the Court again yesterday. Dr Everley Taylor said he considered the man perfectly sane, but Mr Wright, surgeon, one of the justices, said he would have had little hesitation about sending the defendant to an asylum. The man was discharged, but as a parting shot to the Beach exclaimed "Oh you can trust me. I've been in a lunatic asylum before."

I think your idea of him ending his days as an 'unknown' is, sadly, not far from the truth

 

Might have been a cumulative effect of Alcohol and working with German Silver.

If I'm correct isn't German Silver another name for Nickel? I seem to recall reading somewhere that Nickel is not a good metal to work with from a health aspect, can't remember what effect it has on health though.

 

German, or Nickel, silver (aka cupronickel) is a copper-nickel alloy used for the manufacture of a wide range of items, including coins, cutlery and musical instruments. Items such as cutlery and musical instruments are often silver plated, when the material becomes known as EPNS, also Sheffield Plate. Nickel was so named quite literally after "Old Nick" as it proved devilishly difficult to extract the metal from the ore. The commonest problem that springs to mind is nickel allergy, although this tends to be annoying rather than life threatening.

It's possible that those who worked in foundries producing the alloy stood a high chance of developing alcohol related problems; foundry workers needed a high daily fluid intake, and beer was a whole lot safer to drink than water. The silver plating process was far more hazardous. To date I have found 7 relatives, including a husband and wife, whose occupation is given as plater. They all died in their late 30's - early 40's.

 

I knew there was something untoward connected with Nickel but couldn't recall exactly what, I know that the fumes given off by metals such as copper and aluminium in a molten state can be a serious health problem.

 

On a family members other side of their family I found a gr.grandfather who had a nasty death. He was thought to be drunk, but in reality was a bad diabetic.

 

Make that 8. Have found Henry's baptism, where his father, born 1801, is said to be a plater. He died in 1873.

The death of an Unknown Male was registered in the September quarter of 1896 in Scarborough. His age is given as 70, but this has to be a guess. Henry was 62 and apparently fond of his tipple, so who knows.

 

I too am related to this particular branch of this BROWNHILL family. Do you know what happened to Henry & Mary Ann's children - Mary and Henry? or to Sarah Ann Brownhill (b.1832 and bapt.17/11/1832 at St.Martin B'ham.) Henry's sister?

 

Hello there ArkY, welcome to TD and I do have some information which I'm more than happy to share with you. Sarah Ann and her brother are my 3G grandmother Sarah Brownhill's niece and nephew. I've yet to get round to harassing Henry's children but I do have something about Sarah Ann.

She married Coach Builder Henry Allman, born according to census returns about 1831 in Birmingham, in the September quarter of 1857, GRO ref Kings Norton 6c 591, and had 2 children, that I know about:

Harry Herbert and Anne Elizabeth. Harry's birth was registered September quarter 1858, Birmingham 6d 155, while Ann's was registered December quarter 1862, West Bromwich 6b 541.

Sarah died in the March quarter 1916, Kings Norton 6d 70, Henry died in the March quarter 1908 - West Bromwich 6b 526.

 

Hi Bonzo Dog,
Thanks for your welcome and also very much for the information, fills in a hole in the Brownhill family tree.
I go back to my Paternal 2GG/F John Brownhill, (an excise man) (born Cropwell Bishop, Notts 1782 died in Birmingham Dec 1848). This then makes our common Brownhill Ancestor - George Brownhill (1744CB -1813CB) & his wife Elizabeth (Pilkington)[1749CB-1804CB]. Thomas Brownhill (1776CB-1834B) also an excise Officer & his wife Sarah (Barratt)[1788CB-1833B] would therefore be a 2nd great grand Uncle in my tree.
ArkY. Rob

 

If you care to send me a PM (aka Start a Conversation) with your e-mail address I'll be able to send you photographs of some headstones at Cropwell Bishop. Thomas and Sarah are my 4G grandparents. Towards the ends of their lives they lived in Alcester Street and are buried at Holy Trinity, Bordesley, Birmingham. Sarah was buried 16 May 1833, Thomas on 2 May 1834.

Have you by any chance managed to find a record of John's marriage to Susan/Susannah, and it was his 2nd marriage? The 2 sons of John Brownhill, Officer of Excise and his wife Maria (Barratt?), George and Joshua, were baptised at Baddesley Ensor, Warwickshire 29 November 1808 and 4 December 1810 respectively. Both lads and Maria then promptly vanished into thin air.

David

 

Hi David,
Did you contact me and my cousin Joan in 2009, about the Brownhill families. I have 9 e-mails in this period all with a signoff as:
[If life tosses you a lemon, use it to make lemonade.]
If so do you still have the same e-mail address.
Best wishes...Rob

 

I was in contact with someone around that period but can recall neither the name nor the sign off. I also seem to recall they lived in England. Having said that, in 2010 life started not so much tossing but hurling, rather large, lemons at me with alarming accuracy, and still is, so much has been forgotten. I also lost all my archived e-mails when a "helpful" granddaughter deleted them all before I could transfer them to the machine I had just bought as she was anxious to move all her school files onto my old computer.

I've been able to establish that John Brownhill and Susan/Susanna were living in the Stratford area of London from sometime before 1825 until 1838 at the latest. Their 4 eldest children were all baptised at All Saints church West Ham, their 5th child Isabella was born December 1838 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

I also have a short thread, "Strange Goings On" that concerns their 2nd eldest daughter Martha, born 1828.