Brinds in the 1851 census at 5 North Croft Lane, Newbury.
HO107 1685
| David | head | 61 | Hairdresser | Newbury |
| David | son | 28 | painter | Newbury |
| Hannah | wife | 25 | Lambourn, Berks | |
| Matilda | daughter | 5 | Scholar | Newbury |
| David | son | 3 mo | Newbury |
There seems to be something wrong with this census. It seems likely that the head of household is the grandfather to the children and that the parents are David and Hannah. Ten years later the census has the following Brind household at North Croft Lane.
| Frederick | Head | 38 | House painter | Newbury |
| Ann | Wife | 35 | Newbury | |
| David A | Son | 10 | Scholar | Newbury |
| Arthur | Son | 8 | Scholar | Newbury |
| William | Son | 4 | Scholar | Newbury |
| Henry | Son | 2 | Scholar | Newbury |
| Sarah | Daughter | 2 months | Newbury |
It could be a co-incidence but Frederick and Ann are exactly the same ages as David and Hannah. My guess is that Frederick called himself David until his father stopped living with them (there is no record of a David Brind dying between the carying out of the two censuses) or the census enumerator wrote down David twice by mistake. Ann is a common short form of Hannah. These two families are likely to be the same people.
It would be strange to have two painters called Brind who were exactly the same age in the small town of Newbury. Even if they were twins, it's unlikely they would both have married a woman of the same age. Also their son David appears in both censuses. It would be an incredible co-incidence to have two Brind painters with similar aged and named wives who both had a son called David of exactly the same age.
The record of births does not help very much. There were two David Brinds birth certificates issued in Newbury at the relevant time, one in January to March 1849, the other (for a David Alfred) between October and December, 1850. Of course the older David Brind would have been 11 when the census was taken in 1861. It's possible someone might enter an 11 year old as a 10 year old, but in this census the David is given a second name A (presumably Alfred). No one would make the error of describing a child of over a year as three months old.
However, it is odd that Ann is now saying she was born in Newbury whereas previously Hannah said she was born in Lambourn, Berkshire.
The 1881 census for Newbury reveals the following:
| Ann | 57 | Head | W | Newbury | Shop Keeper | Self | Lambourne, BEK |
| David A | 30 | Son | U | Newbury | Butler | Brind, Ann | Newbury, BEK |
| Henry | 21 | Son | U | Newbury | Smith | Brind, Ann | Newbury, BEK |
Ann is now saying she comes from Lambourn and is admitting to being born a couple of years earlier. Perhaps she wanted to appear younger when her husband was alive. Frederick (David?) seems to have died in the fourth quarter of 1870.
Also in the 1851 census at 81 North Brook Street, Newbury.
| Mary Brind | Serv | Unmarried | 17 | Chieveley,Berks |
For Mary's family history hit this link.
And in the 1861 census at a drapers shop in Newbury. RG9 720. Oddly I can't find any reference to this James Brind in the parish records or the birth register.
| James Brind | Apprentice | Unwed | 15 | Ewelme,Oxfordshire |
Jonathan Brind, August 2002.