KERR FAMILY CHRONICLES

© Christopher Earls Brennen

Appendix 4A. BROWN FAMILIES

Here we document several Brown families from the area around Dungannon that may be connected with our family.

FAMILY OF ROBERT BROWN:

  1. Robert Brown, a farmer, married Ruth Pritchard in 1886. Robert's father may have been Fergus Brown, and his grandfather may have been the William Brown who was living in Donaghenry in 1840. Robert and Ruth were Presbyterian and lived at 15 Esker Road in Glenadush in the Parish of Donaghmore. Glenadush is a townland just west of Dungannon about half way to Castlecaulfield. Robert died at Glenadush on Jun.16, 1899, aged 38, reputedly as a result of being kicked in the stomach by a horse. His widow, Ruth, is listed in the 1901 Census as a 35-year-old widowed farmer, born in County Tyrone and living in Glenadush. In the 1911 Census, 50-year-old widow Ruth Brown is listed as living in Union Place, Dungannon, with her four sons, two boarders and 8 orphans. The children of Robert and Ruth Brown:
    1. David Fergus Brown was born in 1890 and is listed in the 1901 Census as a 12-year-old schoolboy living with his mother in Glenadush. In the 1911 Census, 23-year-old unmarried labourer David Brown is listed listed as living in Union Place, Dungannon, with his mother. David fought in WWI and became a farmer. He died in the 1960s. He had four children:
      1. Fergus Brown
      2. a son who died young
      3. twin daughters Maud and Vista Brown
    2. William Robert Brown was born in 1892 and is listed in the 1901 Census as a 10-year-old schoolboy living with his mother in Glenadush. In the 1911 Census, 22-year-old unmarried compositor William Brown is listed listed as living in Union Place, Dungannon, with his mother. He married a woman named Norma and they emigrated to British Columbia, Canada, where he became a United Church Minister. They had four children:
      1. Alan Brown
      2. Patricia Brown
      3. Barbara Brown married and lived in Edmonton, Alberta, in the 1960s.
      4. Ray Brown
    3. Thomas John Brown was born in 1894 and is listed in the 1901 Census as a 9-year-old schoolboy living with his mother in Glenadush. In the 1911 Census, 19-year-old unmarried compositor Thomas Brown is listed listed as living in Union Place, Dungannon, with his mother. He worked for Tyrone Printing Company in Dungannon before moving to Warrenpoint. He married May Little in 1939 and they lived in Warrenpoint. Thomas died in 1950. Thomas and May had three children:
      1. Iris Brown
      2. Aileen Brown
      3. Doris Brown married Ronald Bradley from Belfast. They emigrated to Birmingham, Alabama. Ronald works as a PhD in neuro-psych in Memphis. Doris and Ronald had children:
        1. Jason Samuel Bradley was born on Nov.30, 1972.
    4. James Brown was born in 1896 and is listed in the 1901 Census as a 4-year-old schoolboy living with his mother in Glenadush. In the 1911 Census, 15-year-old schoolboy James Brown is listed listed as living in Union Place, Dungannon, with his mother. James married Kathleen Baker in 1930. He was the publisher and editor of the Newry Telegraph newspaper and, during the period 1939-1946, was a Member of Parliament for Northern Ireland. He lived with his family in Warrenpoint. James died in 1969. Kathleen lived to the age of 91, moving to Scotland in the late 1970s. James and Kathleen had three children:
      1. Denise Brown is married and lives in Newton Mearns, Scotland.
      2. June Brown is married and lives in Newton Mearns, Scotland.
      3. John Brown emigrated to Canada in 1961, travelling by ship and then by train across the prairies. Trained in the family business as a newspaper reporter and editor, he worked for the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal. His wife was from Nova Scotia. John died in 2001. He had three children:
        1. daughter
        2. Ian Brown went to university in Ontario where he now lives in Guelph. He and his wife have four children.
        3. son

Christopher E. Brennen