& Thomas Norcross Brattle (1840 1904)
Olive and Thomas Brattle. Pictured at the wedding of Lillian Brattle to William Tomsett on 1 August 1903. By good fortune, Olive married someone with a very uncommon surname and it has been possible to trace some of her family who still live in Kent. They have verified our side of the family history, in recalling that Olive had two brothers, John and Mark. They know nothing about Amelia or her fate, but they had always been led to believe that Olive's middle name, Mercer, was Amelia's maiden name, but it was her maternal (step) grandfather s surname. Although absent from the 1851 census (as is her mother), Olive reappears in 1861 and by this time she is a dressmaker lodging with the Turk family at 50 Haggs Hill Road in Smarden, Kent. Where she was in 1851 is a mystery but if she could be found it may shed some light on the fate of her mother, Amelia. Olive had a very full life, having 11 children and living to the age of 81. Olive's husband, Thomas Norcross Brattle, was the youngest son of Thomas Brattle who served as a lieutenant on the HMS Africa from 4 August 1805 to 17 December 1808 and saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar. P a g e 2
Thomas Norcross Brattle Born: 12 May 1840 Rochester, Kent Died: 29 Apr 1905 Loose, Kent Thomas Norcross & Ann Marriage: 29 April 1862 in Luton, Kent Olive Mercer Bromley Born: 17 Mar 1839 Cranbrook, Kent Died: 16 Dec 1920 Loose, Kent Children: 11 Sex Birth Death Olivia Rosina Brattle F 17 Aug 1862 Louisa Elizabeth Brattle F 29 Nov 1865 Samuel & Amelia Thomas Norcross Brattle M 6 Dec 1867 1943 in Maidstone district Trafalgar Brattle M 25 Dec 1869 19 Nov 1872 in Chatham, Kent Collingwood Brattle M 26 Oct 1871 18 Mar 1873 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent Nelson Brattle M 15 Apr 1874 23 Apr 1875 in Maidstone, Kent Maud Annie Brattle F 20 Mar 1876 1890 in Maidstone district Walter Ward Brattle M 2 Dec 1878 1940 in London City district Lillian Ethel brattle F 7 May 1880 in Loose, Kent 1965 in Maidstone district Herbert Percy Brattle M 10 Jul 1883 11 Aug 1973 Arthur John Brattle M 13 May 1885 1938 In Maidstone district Olive Bromley & Thomas Brattle and their children. Thomas Brattle Sr and his wife Ann gave three of their other four sons names with connections to this historical event: Trafalgar, Nelson, and Collingwood (after Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood) together with another son called Gamaliel (also known as Gam). According to Frank Brattle, the latter died in his teens but a search on the internet reveals that someone with the same name was jailed for 9 months for larceny simple in Maidstone on 5 January 1865. Although the document does not give his age, the rarity of the name suggests it may be him. His brothers went on to have successful careers in naval supplies and the police and Post Office. P a g e 3
Thomas Brattle Jr, Olive's husband, had a varied career in which according to the birth certificates of his many children included bricklayer's labourer, drayman, brewer's horse-keeper, ostler and house painter. In amongst these he also became a baker, buying a bakery with money left to him by his father who died in 1865, but this venture failed partly (as recounted by his grandson Frank Brattle in 1998) due to his predilection for the demon drink, not helped by his association with the brewery trade. Olive and Thomas gave their children some of the names associated with the Brattle family, such as Nelson, Trafalgar and Collingwood (which are still associated with the family today), as well as Walter Ward which is linked to Winifred Bromley. Not all 11 children survived into adulthood and those who did moved around considerably in the Medway area. While the family is now scattered, some members remain in the region, including (in 1998 at least) two of Herbert Percy s children, Frank and Violet, the former providing much of the information on the Brattle family below. Olivia Rosina (b 1863 ) was known as Rose. She was an educated woman who became a nurse/governess to an American millionaire and travelled extensively, including to Japan. Louisa Elizabeth (b 1866) went to South Africa and became quite wealthy. There is a passenger record of Miss Louisa Brattle, a nurse, arriving in London from Cape Town on the RMS Saxon on 9 December 1913, but aged 36 (ie, born about 1877) this is perhaps too many years out for it to be the same person. Thomas Norcross (b 1868 1943) was a big and powerful man, and quite artistic. He painted Roman battle scenes but the figures were all disfigured, reflecting a strangeness to his personality. Trafalgar (1869 1872) died aged 3 of whooping cough. Collingwood (1871 1873) died aged 1 of chronic bronchitis. Nelson (1874 1875) died aged 1 of scarlet fever. Maud Annie (1876 1890) died at the age of 14. Walter Ward (1878 1940) married Florence Lloyd but she died in 1911 and in 1912 Walter married Jane Lloyd in 1912, Florence s older sister who was still unmarried. He initially became a railway fireman but later joined the Navy and is said to have committed suicide. P a g e 4
Lillian Ethel (b 1880 1865) married William Tomsett, a dairy farmer, in 1903 (see wedding photograph above). Herbert Percy (1883 1973) married Annie Wickings and they later owned a fruit farm. Their descendants are still living in the Medway area. Arthur John (1885 1938) married Emily Crundwell, daughter of a master painter, in 1907, the witnesses being the Tomsetts whose wedding is shown above. He became a painter himself but is said to have died of lead poisoning. Thomas Brattle died in Loose, Kent, in 1905 aged 65 years but Olive survived another 15 years, living out her remaining years at Olive Cottage, Loose, where she died on 16 December 1920. P a g e 5