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I am trying to find out who my grand fathers parents are & their parents.

My Grand fathers name is Eric Douglas Brown born 10th Jan 1922 in london.

He lived in tooting until he was 10yrs old, he was one of 10 children.

I do know that we have a double surname which only the men in the family can use if they wish.

Wells - Brown or Just Brown.

I have discovered that one of my grand fathers was a freemason & there is a statue of him in scotland.

My own reasurch on this points me to William Wells-Brown & Frederick Douglas.

I do remember my grand dad telling me a story to do with slavery & freedom & quakers involvement.

What i am unsure of is who my grand fathers are ?

William Wells -Brown ?
frederick Douglas or ?
the quakers family also named Wells-Brown,that helped William & frederick escape to freedom.

William Wells Brown was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1814.

His father was George Higgins, a white plantation owner, but his mother was a black slave called Elizabeth.

His mother had seven children, all with different fathers. William served several slave-masters before escaping in 1834.

He adopted the name of his friend, Wells Brown, a Quaker who had helped him obtain his freedom.

I have been given information that my grandad eric was possibly a son of Arthur Archer Brown & Lucy Elizabeth Wheatley??

If anyone can help me, i will be so grateful.

Thanks for your help

N Brown

Yes, I was also about to post that I have seen this before :-)

You also had replies on your other thread. You can push it back to the top by adding a post - there is no need to start a complete new thread.

One of the marriages

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Dec 1899 (>99%)
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Brown Arthur Archer Croydon 2a 641
Wheatley Lucy Elizabeth Croydon 2a 641


Andy

Natasha is a bit bothered that we'll all think badly of her for doing so many posts - I've told her not to worry [but if she does it again I'll track her down and clock her one!!!!]

Ann X

this is a fantastic story by the way - I do hope you have written this all down for your grandchildren when you get them!!!

I've just googled for William Wells-Brown - there is absolutely stacks of stuff on the man - have you had a look?

William Wells Brown was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1814. His father was George Higgins, a white plantation owner, but his mother was a black slave.

Brown's mother had seven children, all with different fathers. William served several slave-masters before escaping in 1834. He adopted the name of his friend, Wells Brown, a Quaker who had helped him obtain his freedom.

Brown became a conductor on the Underground Railroad and worked on a Lake Erie steamer ferrying slaves to freedom in Canada.

In 1843 Brown became a lecturing agent for the New York Anti-Slavery Society. After obtaining a reputation as one of the movement's best orators, Brown was employed by the American Anti-Slavery Society where he worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips.

Brown, who settled in Boston, published his autobiography, Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, in 1847. He obtained a living lecturing on slavery and temperance reform in America and Europe. This inspired his book, Three Years in Europe (1852).

you really have a colourful ancestry - what an amazing man this William Wells-Brown was - photographs of him on the websites too and books written about him - I am well impressed I can tell you - canlt think why I've never heard of him before

Ann

I feel very proud, i always thought my grandad eric was story telling.

He always used to say make sure you remeber what i am telling you.

It was only recently when my brother decided to start using our surname wells-brown (men of the family only)

I thought look up what grandad had told me & to my surprise i found this all to be very true.

I am very excited about all of this

Thank you very much for helping me.

Natasha

I'd be very proud of this man too - an absolute hero - wonder what he would think about Barack Obama being in the White House!!! There are so many books written about him and so much information on google, pages of it

this is a piece of a website showing when he came to London



In 1849, Brown went to Europe as a delegate from the American Peace Society to the Peace Congress in Paris. He moved to London, becoming a journalist on several newspapers, and there, in 1850, commissioned the painting of a series of scenes representative of American slavery.

Because of the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, Brown stayed in England longer than he had originally intended. In 1852, he published Three Years in Europe, a travel book consisting primarily of letters the author had written friends and newspapers in America. In 1853, the first version of Clotel, or The President’s Daughter, was published in London. Brown’s British friends purchased his freedom in 1854, and he returned home the same year. After visiting Canada, Brown published a historical study, The Black Man, His Antecedants, His Genius, and His Achievements, in 1862.

Just to let you all know, my children are resurching with me.

We cant wait to see who our grand father is

William Wells-Brown

Frederick Douglas

The Quaker friend who's name was Wells-Brown who helped William & Frederick escape to freedom.

My grandad Eric's middle name was Douglas & his brother was called william or frederick i cant quite remember but all the connections are together.

My grandad also has simularitys in looks to them as well.

Very very excited

Natasha

just googled again - there are 58,000+ pieces on him on google!!

I really think you should contact the BBC and suggest they do a programme on Who Do you Think You are - it would be absolutely fascinating - I'm serious by the way

Ann

I am so confused but very excited, all of this has come quite a shock to me.

Your help is so appreciated, thank you so much xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eric's birth cert :

Births Mar 1922 (>99%)
Brown Eric D Wheatley Croydon 2a 687 Scan available - click to view

Lots of siblings:

Births Sep 1913 (>99%)
Brown George F Wheatley Croydon 2a 781 Scan available - click to view
Births Dec 1914 (94%)
BROWN Edward L Wheatley Croydon 2a 656 Scan available - click to view
Births Dec 1917 (>99%)
Brown Ethel M C Wheatley Croydon 2a 499 Scan available - click to view
Births Mar 1922 (>99%)
Brown Eric D Wheatley Croydon 2a 687 Scan available - click to view
Births Sep 1923 (>99%)
Brown Doris B M Wheatley Croydon 2a 667 Scan available - click to view
Births Dec 1924 (>99%)
Brown John A Wheatley Croydon 2a 553 Scan available - click to view
Births Jun 1927 (>99%)
Brown Ida I Wheatley Croydon 2a 655 Scan available - click to view

This is amazing Natasha!! How exciting for you..especially in todays political climate..(and all of us !) how proud you must be too. Can't help with look ups but..Good luck! x x x

Thank you lady dragonfly.

Natasha xxxxx

Mrs Grumpy

Thank you for your help, where & how do i click to view?

Thanks again

Natasha xx