The Brickmakers of St Albans

The Search for

T. Pearson

The following notes are presented in this way to demonstrate how the census and other online sources can sometimes be used when all you really have to start with is a comparatively common name.

The St Stephen's Brickworks were apparently owned by someone called T. Pearson, circa 1880, but a search of Hertfordshire records had failed to identify him. The name Pearson is unfortunately too common to make a national search for T. Pearson easy, and while many of the ones found in the censuses have brick connections most seem too humble to be the owners of a brickworks.

Census returns from FindMyPast

In my preliminary search, I spent several hours looking at Thomas Pearson records in the 1881 census without success (see below). I thought there there might be a London connection and spotted the following census entry in 1881, for 78, Brayard Rd, Camberwell, Surrey

Could Buxton be an agent for a brick making relative called T. Pearson? As it was a possible lead I looked further and found the following entry in 1891, for 44, Benson Road, Grays, Thurrock, Essex:

FreeBMD

So the obvious thing to do was to look at the 1851 census to identify Buxton's  parents - and after a lot of searching I found the following at 6, James Street, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, Middlesex:

My reaction to this was mixed. Buxton's father was a Thomas Pearson which is a good sign - but the census entry suggests he was poor (although his wife kept a shop) - and he clearly would need to move up in the world in order to own a brickworks. So on to the 1861 census, which proved very difficult to find (with many dead ends explored and rejected)the problem being due to indexing errors. This time the family appeared at 1, Billy Place, Upper Kennington Lane, Lambeth listed as follows:

The census return was messy as the enumerator had made some errors and then corrected them. A look at the image showed that "Baxter ..." was quiet recognisable as "Buxton Wilberforce" so I definitely had the right family. The most relevant thing is the father's occupation

This looks very promising - I read it as "Builder Contractor and ???? employing 100 men" and it quickly became clear that the transcription was full of serious errors, and most of the "..." were actually quite easy to read. [The Shennington, Surrey, must be Kennington, but it is clearly written with an "Sh"] What a competent transcription should have said is as follows.

It looks as if Thomas Pearson is our man - but if he employed 100 men I would have expected some resident domestic staff - and what a hike up from being a labourer 10 years earlier. The next stage was to locate Thomas senior in 1871 and I found him at White Hall Lane, Little Thurrock, Essex

This really looks like our man and next stage was to look for him in later years. I couldn't spot an obvious entry in the 1881 or 1891 censuses or in the very many Thomas Pearson deaths on FreeBMD. However Anthony helped out but bringing the following entry from the National Probate Calendar to my attention:

National Probate Calendar from Ancestry.

This made it possible to identify the death registration reference

FreeBMD

Charlotte appears to have died the following year:

FreeBMD

I then looked for members of his family in the 1881 census. I found the following family at 10, Argent St North, Grays Thurrock, Essex:

Not only have we found young Thomas, with what appears to be a significant job in the building industry, but we have also found his sister, Charlotte Naomi (now married) and younger brother John.

FreeBMD

In 1891 Thomas Pearson junior was at 46, Exmouth Road, Grays Thurrock, Essex

In 1901 he was at 2, River View, Agent Street, Grays Thurrock, Essex

And ten years later, in 1911, he was at Sunnyside, Argent St, Grays, Essex

National Probate Calendar from Ancestry.

FreeBMD

This was followed by the following entry in FreeBMD

FreeBMD

Filling in a few more details

Because of the "labourer" description in 1851 I decided it could be useful to try and check his father's occupatiom

familysearch

The original record (not online) would record George's occupation - and so would the 1841 census return if George could be found. However no relevant entry could be found at West Malling.

FreeBMD

His wife, Charlotte Gould, appears to have been from a poor origin, as this 1841 census entry appears relate to an area of working class housing at Lower 14 Row, Upnor, Frindsbury, Aylesford, Kent

Google

A Google search for "Thomas Pearson" "Brick maker" Shows that he is listed at Little Thurrock and Grays Thurrock in the 1874 Post Office Directory for Essex.

BRE

BRE (formerly the Buildings Research Establishment) includes the Victorian house Bucknalls, with the site of the brickworks lying in the wooded South East corner of the area. I have been in touch with their honorary archivist who was aware of the brickworks site, and will contact me if anything else turns up.

To Conclude

On the assumption that St Stephen's Brickworks had an absentee owner Thomas Pearson (1821-1876) would seem a very well qualified candidate, without an obvious rival.  It would be possible to find out more of his career, and particularly how he seems to have worked his way up from humble origins by, for example, buying his children's birth certificates and finding out how he described his occupation - and where he was living. (The various places of birth of his children may mean he was moving between building contracts.) However such research is unlikely to throw any light on any link with the St Albans area.

At this stage of the research it is unlikely that any further information will turn up online (or in my library of Hertfordshire books). In the absence of any contrary evidence it seems sensible to assume that Thomas Pearson was the owner of the brick works at Bricket Wood.

If you have any further evidence one way or another please tell me