CONTENTS

Section

1 The Early Days	c1480-1600	South Marston
2 John Brende	1551-1606	Yeoman, Highworth
3 John Brind	1590-1634	Yeoman/Husbandman, Highworth
4 Thomas Brind	1617-1649	Highworth
5 Henry Brind	1650-1722	Innholder, Highworth
6 William Brind	1691-1732	Innholder, Highworth
7 Walter Brind	1722-1796	Goldsmith, London
8 Walter Brind	1763-1832	Ribbon manufacturer & silk merchant, London
9 General Sir James Brind	1808-1888	and descendants
10 Arms. Future research

AUTHOR'S NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Some think that history is of no value, but I and I hope you consider that it is something to cherish, the past has shaped the lives of all those mentioned in these notes and I am sure it has had some effect on yours. According to surname dictionaries our name is likely to be derived from either a mutated form of Old English 'brand' meaning 'the act or result of burning', or from the Middle English 'brende' meaning 'burnt' used as a substantive of 'a place cleared or destroyed by burning'. Therefore it was given to a dweller on burnt land, or a person who was branded, or possibly the one doing the branding. Our name has changed over the centuries from Brend(e), or Brynd(e) then to Brind and sometimes in the odd document to Bryn, Breemd and Breind. As early as the 13th century the name appears to have been in limited use in Berkshire, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. It is likely that the families living in Western Berkshire and in the Wiltshire villages of Aldbourne, Liddington, Ogbourne St George, South Marston and Wanborough etc are connected, but as yet no link has been found. To date the earliest our name has been found in this area is: Aldbourne 1539 South Wilts Mustering Elcombe 1539 South Wilts Mustering Highworth 1482 WRO 1337/6 Liddington 1722 On memorial in church Ogbourne St George 1463 PRO SC2/209/43 South Marston 1493 WRO 192/17 Stanton Fitzwarren 1511 PRO SC2/208/28 Wanborough 1460 Bodleian. Brind (TPI866),6.19/I, folio 55, no 66 recto. (Original source document not known) Ramsbury 1566 British Library Add. Ch.24441 there if there were a common ancestor he would have lived in the 14th century of earlier. A DNA Y-chromosome test of male Brind descendants from the above villages should answer this question. In due course it should be possible to determine if we are descended on the male side from the original inhabitants or Britain, or, the Saxons from DNA Y-chromosoms. A Viking check has been run by Oxford Ancestors Ltd on the author's DNA and no link has so far been found to known Viking DNA. This pamhlet is a brief history of one Wiltshire family back to about 1480. Since the 15th century each generation of the family has had to earn its keep. Our ancestors appear to have been in general about the middle of the social order of their times, to be pedantic probably slightly minus up to 1700, with some elements on the plus side thereafter. Some were fortunate to have a good education and be well endowed with brains, health, determination, luck and a few other qualities and rose to the top of their professions. Others had a poorer hand and a rougher passage through life. We should however all be extremely proud of the following who brought honour to our family and whose memories and achievements should be forgotten:

Thomas Brind Prime Warden Goldsmiths Company 1813 7 Walter Brind Prime Warden Goldsmiths Company 1820 8 Charles Brind Prime Warden Goldsmiths Company 1848 7 General Sir James Brind   1808-1888 9 General Sir John Brind   1878-1954 Admiral Sir Patrick Brind   1892-1963   Major General Peter Brind   1912-1999   Bryony Brind Principal Dancer, Royal Ballet 1984-1991 9

Others whose careers are of interest are:

Captain William Darby Brind a Master Mariner and commander of whaling ships in the South Seas 1794-1850 7 Brigadier Frederic Brind a Master Mariner and commander of whaling ships in the South Seas 1802-k1857 8 Brigadier James Brind   1909-1996

We are also indebted to:

Henry Brind Innholder 1650-1722 5 Walter Brind Goldsmith 1722-96 7

whose success and hard work laid the foundations for our well-being.  

Apart from' the first section of these notes which coverthe period from about I480-I580 each section generally examinesone generation. The descendants of the brothers of our forebearsare shown in each case in the previous section. Also included isthe saga of the arms, I hope that the daughters of the family will forgive mefor not. including their descendants in this work, it would haveconsiderably increased the task, because what was done for onegeneration should have been undertaken for all the previousones. In conclusion I would like to acknowledge that the researchwas made comparatively easy due to the work done towards theend of the I9th century to record our pedigree from about 1700by Frederick W.Brind, Alfred W.Brind and Miss A.M.Brind. Theyworked with Sir Thomas Phillipps Bt the well known antiquary and bibliographer who produced some draft family trees in 1866,1867 and 1871, they are in the Bodleian Library and are ofcourse now superseded. Our thanks must. also go to General SirJohn Brind who wrote up their notes in 1956 in such a readableformat. In producing the information included in this pamphlet I would like to thank Dr S.W.Taylor BA. Phd. and Miss H. Marshall BA. FHG, FSG. a mediaeval Latin specialist for their work in Section I and transcribing two early wills in Sections 2 and 3.Also Jonathan Brind whose forebears lived in Aldbourne in the 18th century gave me much help and very kindly transcribedthe legal documents in Sections 5-7 and some of the more recentwills. Three documents have been left without transcriptionsso that readers can try their hand! Finally I would like to thank the Public and County RecordOffices, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group and the GuildhallLibrary Corporation of London for conserving and giving permissionfor copies of documents that they hold to be reproduced in thisbooklet. Thanks are also due to the Goldsmiths' Company, theInstitute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, the AntiqueCollectors' Club Ltd, the Department of Uniforms, Badges andMedals of the National Army Museum, the Oriental and India OfficeCollections of the British Library, the National Portrait Gallery,the Society of Genealogists, Oxford University Press, NewsInternational, the Daily Telegraph and C.Hibbert Esq for adviceor access to their records, or extracts from their work to becopied into this publication. This work is in memory of our forebears and is dedicatedto our successors. There is an old saying that we all die twice,once in the normal course of events and the second time when weare forgotten - let us not forget our own. May 2003 D.J.Brind Lieutenant Colonel

Wiltshire hundreds GLOSSARY Alehouse. Victuallers and alehouse keepers have been licensed by JPs since 1552. Bengal Artillery. A part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company. Church Courts. Dealt with ecclesiastical and many other matters of 15th-19th century life, e.g. wills. CCS. Colonial Civil Service. Copyhold. Land held by title written into the Manorial Court rolls (records). Demesne. The Lord's land. Distrain. Seize goods of a debtor. DNB. Dictionary of National Biography. EIC. East India Company. Enclosure Awards. A process for enclosing and re-allotting open fields, common meadows, commons, heaths, greens and forests. Extents. A writ directing the sheriff to seize the property of a debtor. Frankpledge. A mutual suretyship by which the members of a tithing were made responsible for one another. Freeman of the Goldsmiths Company. Successfully completed apprenticeship, or gained by patrimony. Goldsmith. Gold and silversmiths. Heriot. A fine due to the lord of the manor on the death of a tenant, originally his best beast or chattel. Hundred. A subdivision of a county having its own court. Husbandman. A tenant farmer. Indenture. A document used for contracts, title deeds etc. Two copies were made. ICS. Indian Civil Service. IGI. International Genealogical Index. Innholder. Held lease of inn (for 500 years). Inquisition. Examination, investigation, judicial inquiry. Intestate. When a person died without leaving a will. If property was involved or there was money in an A/C then application for probate had to be made and letters of administration (admon) issued. Inventories. List of belongings of a deceased person. Manorial Records. Until the 18th century the manorial system provided a framework for the lives of much of the rural population. Manorial boundaries did not coincide with those of the parish and any one parish might include portions of several manors. The records consist of court rolls, surveys, maps, and other documents relating to the boundaries, wastes, tenancies, misdemeanours and customs of the manor. Up to 1732 they were often in latin. Many have been lost or destroyed. Mark. Goldsmiths initials or other mark stamped on silverwear to show maker. Mercer. A dealer in silk, cotton, woollen and linen goods. Messuage. A house with outbuildings and yard and sometimes garden. Measurements. See separate page in this section. Musters. From the Anglo-Saxon period, able-bodied men between ages of 16 and 60 were liable to perform military service. Peculiar. A group of parishes not necessarily adjacent or in the same county who were exempt jurisdiction of the arch deaconry and were subject to a dean or bishop. PRO. Public Record Office. £.s.d. Pounds, shillings, pence. Quitclaim. A formal release of property. Quit Rent. A fixed annual payment made by a manorial tenant to be released from services to the Lord of the Manor. Subsidies. (Lay Subsidies). The main means of raising money up to 1660 (except during the Civil War). Distinction was made between taxation of goods (moveables) and land. Tithes. A tenth part of the main produce of land and labour, e.g. wool, pigs, milk was paid to the local church. Toft. A homestead or hillock. Virgates. An old land measure commonly 30 acres. WRO. Wiltshire Record Office. WRS (WAS) Wiltshire Record Society. Yard of Land. Commonly 30 acres. Yeoman. Man holding (not necessarily owning) and cultivating small landed estate.

An extremely thorough Brind family history was assembled by General Sir John Brind, in March 1936

Return to index

Source documents

Index

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Draft Pedigree of Brind of Wanborough & Stanton Fitz-Herbert