Looking For The Parents of Peter Brewer (d. 1851) Bath, England to Tasmania

Hank Graham's October 2, 2018 post, "YFull's YTree Update v6.06," mentions one of the newer Brewer DNA Project sub-groups, that being "Peter Brewer, Bath, England to Tasmania" (no. 8 on the list). There are two direct male descendants, one a great grandson and the other a great-great grandson, of Peter Brewer who have taken Y-Chromosome DNA tests. One descendant has added advanced testing, FTDNA's BigY-500 test, followed by analysis of the results by YFull. As the post states, the descendant of Peter Brewer is identified by SNP (haplogroup) I-FGC56815, found here in the current YTree. He is presently grouped with three others who have this same SNP. The other tested descendant of Peter Brewer has been assigned (by FTDNA) the predicted haplogroup I-P37 (he has not taken a BigY-500 test).

Elizabeth Lindsay is the contact person for researching Peter Brewer. She is a descendant and has provided the information that follows. Elizabeth, and other descendants, would like to establish the parentage of Peter Brewer, and would like to discover exactly how he is related to his Uncle Theodore Brewer (see what follows). Those who read this and have any information or leads that might help establish Peter Brewer's ancestry, are urged to contact Elizabeth directly and/or add their insight by using the Comments option. For those who have an active Ancestry.com account, Elizabeth's Ancestry tree can be consulted. Sources for much of what follows can be found there, and there are also some terrific family photographs. The descendants of Peter Brewer and Elizabeth Harrington are all well accounted for. It's Peter's ancestry that we are interested in finding.

This is what is known about Peter Brewer, as provided by Elizabeth:

Peter Brewer was born in Bath, England sometime between 1790 and 1800. He was an only child and orphaned when very young. His natural parents have not been identified. Peter was raised, and given a good education, by his uncle Theodore Brewer who was a surgeon-dentist in Bath, who died in 1821. In 1824, Peter emigrated to Tasmania (at the time known as Van Diemen's Land)* sailing aboard the Heroine. In 1826 he made his first application for a land grant and eventually owned several thousand acres in the Northeast of Tasmania. In 1833, Peter married Elizabeth Harrington (1811-1891) of Shropshire in England, at St. John's church in Launceston, Tasmania. Elizabeth is a daughter of Ann Harrington, and the identity of her biological father is not known. The couple had ten children (born between 1834 and 1850), six of whom survived into adulthood and had children of their own. Peter Brewer died on 8 August 1851 at "Bowood," near Bridport, Tasmania. Elizabeth has provided this photo of Peter Brewer. Peter's record of death as recorded in Tasmania, give his age at death as 52 years. However, the death notice published in a Tasmanian newspaper, the Cornwall Chronicle, gives his age as 62. The later would place his year of birth as 1788 or 1789, the former at 1798 or 1799.

Peter Brewer (d. 1851)

And here is a photo of Peter's wife, Elizabeth Harrington.

Elizabeth (Harrington) Brewer (1811-1891)

As mentioned above, Peter Brewer was raised (in Bath, Somerset, England) by his uncle, Theodore Brewer. "Uncle" was what Peter called Theodore Brewer. But it is not known exactly how they are related. Theodore Brewer, and his wife, Phoebe Jefferies (married in 1791 at Stanton Drew, Somerset, England) had six children of their own, born between1792 and 1805, and Peter was educated with them. Of the six children, two were sons, George Frederick Brewer (b. ca. 1799, d. 1821 in Kingston, Jamaica) and Gore Thomas Brewer, who was baptized on 13 August 1801 at St. Michael's in Bath along with his sister's Matilda and Harriet. There are no known descendants of either. George Frederick Brewer did not marry and he died apparently in his early 20s. Since so little is known of Gore Thomas Brewer (the name known only from the baptism record) and since no separate baptism record for George Frederick has been found, it is thought that he and George Frederick may in fact be one person. The important point here being that there are no known male descendants of Theodore Brewer who might be available for Y-DNA testing to see how, or if, they might match the tested descendants of Peter Brewer.

Theodore Brewer was a surgeon-dentist. Records show that he lived his adult life in Bath, England. He was buried there, at St. Michael's Church on 1 November 1821. During his life he was a family physician to the Earl of Shelbourne in Caine, Wiltshire, where he and Peter had permission to ride in the woods of "Bowood House," which name Peter would use for his own house in Tasmania.

Theodore was baptized on 4 January 1766 at St. John the Baptist, Frome Selwood, Somerset, the only son (his father's will) of George Brewer and Elizabeth Naish. George Brewer (b. 1742, bur. 13 Dec 1802) was also a surgeon-dentist and lived at 69 Park Street, Grosvernor Square in London.

George was a son of Andrew Brewer and Elizabeth Harrill. Andrew Brewer was baptized on 15 November 1712 at Bath Abbey and was a son of William Brewer and Mary Hearth. He was a cordwainer who lived in Bath. Andrew and Elizabeth had 11 children, five of whom were sons. In addition to George, there was Andrew (b. 1755, m. Charlotte Haywood), Jeremiah (1758-1793) and James (b. 1760). Little is known of the last two.

William Brewer, the earliest known ancestor of this line, died in July 1736. His birth is estimated as about 1685.William's estate was admitted to probate on 12 July 1736. William was also a cordwainer. he lived at Broad Street in Bath. In addition to Andrew, he had a son Henry (b. 1710) who married and had three sons (John, Henry and James). William's property on Broad Street was divided between his two sons, Andrew and Henry.

If there are any direct male descendants of William Brewer around today, we would invite you to take a Y-DNA test with the Brewer DNA Project, in order to see how you might match up with the descendants of Peter Brewer.

Again, the hope here is to eventually learn the identity of Peter Brewer's biological parents. Y-DNA testing of direct male descendants of William Brewer would determine whether or not Peter's natural father was also a male Brewer of this family. Remember, Peter calls Theodore Brewer, his uncle. Could it be that Peter's father was a yet undiscovered brother of Theodore, who died before his father wrote his will? A Y-DNA test of a direct male descendant of William Brewer would make that a possibility. Could it be that Peter's father was a sister of Theodore? If this is the case, then autosomal DNA testing of any descendant, male or female, of William Brewer may be of help (the descendants of Peter have also taken autosomal DNA tests). Elizabeth tells us that her understanding is that Peter was very young when orphaned and taken in by Theodore, "I am guessing that he was under 5 years old," and he may have been born about the same time that Theodore's first child was born and died (daughter Matilda H. Brewer b. 19 Sept. 1792, was buried a week later). Elizabeth also thinks that Peter was "probably a Brewer by birth." Apparently his standing, as a Brewer in this family, was helpful in his getting permission to emigrate and acquire property in Tasmania.

Some additional info that may be of help: There are baptism and burial records for Theodore and Phoebe Brewer's  children in the records of St. Michael's Church in Bath. And images of those records can be found at Ancestry.com in their collection titled, "Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1531-1812." No baptism record of a Peter Brewer has been found there. There are also these following burials from the time period when Theodore's children were baptized:

• Henry Brewer, 7 June 1799
• Jane Brewer, 4 July 1802
• Henry Brewer, 25 January 1803
• Mary Brewer, 10 September 1803
• Mary Brewer, 4 May 1804
• Decy Brewer (possibly Decima Brewer who did not marry), 18 December 1804

Might one or two of the above have been Peter's biological parent or parents?

Two of Theodore and Phoebe Brewer's daughters married and have descendants. Daughter Matilda Catherine Brewer (ca.1796-1859) married Simeon James Magnus. They had two sons, George Brewer Magnus, Sr., and Theodore Brewer Magnus. Simeon and his two sons came to New York in 1835. Simeon was a fringemaker and can be found on U. S. census records in Brooklyn up until his death in 1909. Simeon's estate was probated in Kings County on 11 May 1909. George Brewer Magnus married Catherine O'Rourke and lived in Brooklyn until his death on 24 August 1906. He is buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. Family names among his descendants include Lange, Keskin, Beithaupt, Schoonmaker and Volpe. Simeon's son Theodore Brewer Magnus was married twice. First to  Phoebe Ann Whitney, and second, on 14 April 1864, to Sarah Margaret Ring. There were four children by each marriage. Theodore died 21 October 1909 and is also buried at Green-Wood Cemetery. His estate was probated in Kings County on 9 November 1909. Among Theodore's descendants are the family names Lutz, Pierson and Maimone.
Theodore and Phoebe Brewer's daughter, Harriet (1797-1850) married William Henry Stone in 1818 at St. Michael's. They had six children, two of whom are known to have married. The family lived in Bristol in Gloucestershire. Family names among descendants include Amey, Allen, Stone and Mare.

Elizabeth also mentions that there was a Peter Gunning Brewer, born 1 February 1801 in Walcot, Bath, Somerset. His mother was a Sarah Brewer, who is "possibly the daughter of James Brewer and Joanna Tucker of Beckington, Somerset." It has been suggested that Peter's father was Rev. Peter Gunning, or perhaps the Rev. Peter Gunning's father. Rev. Peter Gunning was married in Bath in 1805 to Sarah Phillott. Y-DNA testing of any direct male descendants of Rev. Peter Gunning, would tell us whether or not Peter Gunning Brewer and Peter Brewer of Tasmania may be one and the same.

Also, a couple by the name of Peter Brewer and Ann Diggit were the parents of a Peter Brewer born at Wembury in Devonshire, England. There are a few trees on Ancestry.com that place the son Peter Brewer as our Peter Brewer whose parents we are searching for. Elizabeth is convinced that the two Peter Brewers are NOT the same individuals.

And finally, another male member of the Brewer DNA Project, through the autosomal DNA (Family Finder) test, has been matched to our descendant of Peter Brewer at the level of 4th to 5th cousin (as estimated by Family Tree DNA). This member has also taken a BigY-500 test at Family Tree DNA identifies his haplogroup as I-A6543, while YFull assigns him to I-Y15575. While the two would be the same broad branch on a YTree, our descendant of Peter Brewer and his Family Finder matched member of the project, do not share a direct paternal line ancestor within a meaningful period of time. The two belong to different sub-branches of haplogroup I. These two lines of the very large parent haplogroup I, first branched from I about 27,500 years ago, when YFull shows I branching into I1 and I2. If there is more recent common ancestor between our two project members, as suggested by the Family Finder test results, then that ancestor would be found on one of the many other lines of ancestry that each of our members have. A relationship of 4th to 5th cousin implies that the two tested individuals would have a common ancestor among their 3-great or 4-great grandparents. Elizabeth states that so far a potential common ancestor for the two who have tested has not been found.

Again, the purpose with this post is to help discover the identity of the biological parents of Peter Brewer of Bath, England and Tasmania, who died in 1851. Perhaps some of the information presented above will be familiar to someone out there, if not now, perhaps in the future. If anyone has any leads or suggestions, please contact Elizabeth directly. And if there are any known direct male descendants of William Brewer, please consider helping out by contacting the Brewer DNA Project and taking a Y-DNA test.


*Tasmania was not officially named, Tasmania, until 1856, five years after Peter Brewer's death. During his lifetime, it was known as Van Diemen's Land.

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