Joseph Belcher	= 1901	Annie Maria May (Barnes)
April 6, 1879 Aldbourne	Click to see a photo of the couple in 1934. plus an article about them from the Dabchick.	b. 07/May/1881
1911 census		1911 census
Blacksmith
d 3/Aug/1966		d 1974(93)

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Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Ethel (Betty) Margaret Linda Mary Kathleen Maria Elsie Joan Mollie Barnes Click to see photo Derek Thomas Click to see photo b. 1901 b. 1905 b. 1907 b. 16/Mar/1909 b. 1910 b. 1913 b. 1917 b. 1919 1911 census 1911 census 1911 census 1911 census 1911 census = William Hayes in 1929 Click to see wedding photo. = Mr W E Harle in 1932 See cutting = Mr Clack in 1942 = Mr Noone in 1948 d. 6/May/1968 Killed in France 1944 See Aldbourne cemetery Gill Hulme (in Brind Facebook group December 2013): My great grandmother. One of her sons was Joseph Belcher Brind, my grandfather who lived in my home with my family for many years until his death in 1966. His sister Mrs Evans (my mother's Aunt Nancy) was often at our house visiting and was a very sweet lady. Found in the Brinds group on Facebook (supplied by Jo Hutchings). Described as Molly Brind (but no-one ever got a death certificate under the name Molly Brind), wife of Theo Brind, mother of Mrs Evans. I think this is really Mary (Belcher) Brind wife of Thomas Brind, called Molly because Thomas's first wife was a Margaret (therefore Molly).

I am hoping someone may be able to give me news of my in-laws after letters and Christmas cards have gone unanswered. The original family was Annie and Joe Brind, who lived at 96 Manchester Road, Swindon. They had seven daughters and one son. I married the son, Derek, who was killed in the Second World War in 1944. I've always kept in touch with the various sisters, until the last few years when letters have not been answered. One was Mrs Margaret Clack of 4 Ambrose Road, Swindon. Another was Mrs Joan Clack of 96 Manchester Road, Swindon. Her husband was called Bert. She had two daughters. Mrs Mollie Noone of 3 Poole Road, Moredon, was another sister-in-law. She had three sons, Kevin, Roger and Liam, plus four girls. My son, David Brind, would like to keep in touch with his relatives. I realise some of them may no longer be alive, but I thought if I could get the address of one of the Noone boys, they might be able to give me some information which I could pass on to David, who lives in New Zealand. Living so far away it's not easy to get any information about people, as I haven't any family in England, still alive. I would be very grateful for any assistance. (Mrs) EDNA KIRKCALDY 4/41 Kays Avenue Hallam Victoria 3803 Australia

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Annie and Joseph Brind photographed in June 1934. The house looks like it might have been in Aldbourne. The striking thing seems to be their hands which are both very gnarled, by modern standards. Annie may even have a crooked finger. This photo was supplied by Gill Hulme. Click to return to tree. From the Dabchick the Aldbourne magazine: WHO LIVED IN A VILLAGE LIKE OURS ? Amongst the personalities who have lived in Aldbourne in years past, those who were born in the village and went on to claim a little bit of 'history' in their own right are especially interesting. One of those was Joseph Belcher Brind. There are dozens of people with that surname in the Registers of St. Michael's church from the 1630s onwards. In Joseph's case, his name appears when he was christened shortly after being born on 6 April 1879 to Thomas and Mary Brind. The 1881 census shows Joseph living with his three sisters and a brother in West Street. His father is a 'coach proprietor and mail contractor'. By 1891, Joseph's family had grown to four sisters, three brothers, mother and father and grandfather; eleven in total in a four roomed cottage in West Street! In 1894 Joseph, age 15, became an apprentice to William Smith of Aldbourne, saddler and shoeing smith. Thus, began Joseph's trade as a blacksmith. In June 1901, aged 22, Joseph married Annie Maria May Barnes. By Christmas that year they had their first child. It then seems that they moved to live in Marlborough Road, Swindon where Joseph appears to have started his own blacksmith's business. Sadly, according to a newspaper report of September 1909, he was declared bankrupt and his equipment sold at auction. In the 1911 census, Joseph was still living in Swindon and still shown as 'farrier and smith'. By then Joseph and Annie had five children! In WW1, Joseph's skills were required as millions of horses were commandeered for the war. AtXmas 1914 he was on a troopship to India with the 6th Hampshire Reserve Battery of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). At Xmas 1915 he sent a card to his youngest daughter, Joan aged about 2, then living back in Castle Street, Aldbourne. The card shows the sergeants of Trimulgherry military base in SE India where Joseph was a Staff Sergeant Farrier with the 2/3 Wessex Brigade of the RFA. By May 1918 he was back in England based at 6th Battery, RFAin Sussex from where he sent a birthday card to wife Annie. By its style, the card must have come from India and features th´ 'swastika', the Indian 'well-being' symbol. Son Derek was born in December 1919, so Joseph must have been back in Aldbourne, albeit briefly, earlier that year! After his return from service, Joseph and his family settled in The Butts in a cottage which he named 'Trimulgherry'. From there he made his brief 'claim to fame' because in May 1920 he formally applied for a patent for an improvement to a 'printers' composing appliance'. As recorded in the North Wilts Herald of July 1921, the patent was granted a year later, no doubt a proud moment for Joseph and his family to get a minor headline in the newspaper. The 'improvement' was to help secure individual pieces of metal typeface in a frame. The description in his own words is too complex to repeat here but its details with diagrams can still be viewed via the internet at 'Espacenet' under Patent No. GB 162922. Thus, Joseph Belcher Brind's invention remains to be viewed by the world just on 100 years later. Why and how he got to develop the patent is not known. It seems a far cry from farriering and blacksmithing. Joseph and his family lived in The Butts for many years. He was photographed there with his wife Annie in 1934. Sadly, son Derek was killed in war action in 1944. Joseph lived on to the ripe old age of 87, dying in 1966. Wife Annie died in 1974 aged 93. No doubt some readers will remember them. The extensive Brind family have at least two amazing 'family tree' websites with lots of details and photographs. If you can, just search the internet for 'Joseph Belcher Brind'. Permission to reproduce the photograph was kindly given by Gill Hulme, one of Joseph's grandchildren. Joseph Belcher Brind, farrier, blacksmith, soldier and one time 'inventor', once lived in Aldbourne. Alan Heasman
Derek Thomas Brind photographed in about 1930. Click to return to tree. see more photos of Derek & Mollie Brind
Wedding of Dorothy Brind and William Hayes in 1929. Click to return to tree.
Mollie Brind photographed in about 1935. Click to return to tree. see more photos of Derek & Mollie Brind