Great x4 Grandfather Richard Knight Brealey

My Great x4 Grandfather Richard (1808 - 1892) was a carpenter, wheelwright, and father of eight.

Richard Knight Brealey was born around 1808, in North Tawton, Devon, to George Brealey (22), a carpenter, and Elizabeth Brealey (nee Knight).

Richard was baptised on 17th January 1808 in North Tawton.

Richard was the fourth of nine children (five daughters and four sons):

• Betty  1802 -
• Lucy  1804 -
• Mary  1806 -
• Richard Knight  1808 -
• Ann  1812 -
• Henry  1814 - 1814 (10 days old)
• John  1815 -
• Henry  1818 -
• Margaret  1820 - 1844 (23 years old)

All nine were baptised in North Tawton.

In 1814, when Richard was six, his younger brother Henry passed away, aged only 10 days old.

On 27th June 1830, Richard (22), a carpenter, married Martha Hill (25), in North Tawton, Devon. Martha was about three months pregnant when they married.

Both were able to sign their name of their record of marriage.

Richard Knight Brealey's Signature

Richard and Martha had three sons:

• George  1830 -
• Robert  1833 -
• Richard  1835 -

In 1837, when Richard was twenty-nine, his wife Martha passed away, aged thirty-two, in North Tawton. Richard was then a young widower, with three infant sons.

Richard soon remarried. On 2nd September 1838, Richard (29) married Ann Hill (about 28) in St Edmund's Church, Exeter. They married in the presence of Ann's father George Hill. Again Richard signed his name, but Ann left only a mark. Though Martha and Ann both had the maiden name Hill, it looked unlikely they were closely related.

At the time of their marriage, both Richard and Ann resided in Edmund Street, Exeter.

Drawing of St Edmund's Church and Edmund Street, Exeter, c 1830's. Richard lived and married here in 1838.

Photograph of St Edmund's Church and Edmund Street, Exeter, c 1860's

Though Richard and Ann married in Exeter, they soon returned to his native North Tawton.

Richard and his second wife Ann had four children:

• John  1839 - 1845  (5 years old)
• William  1841 -
• Martha  1843 - 1845  (2 years old)
• Henry 'Harry'  1845 -

Richard may have named his daughter Martha after his first wife.

1841 Census:

In 1845, when Richard was thirty-eight, two of his infant children, John and Martha died of measles. Both were buried on 11th May 1845 in North Tawton.

Only two days later, Richard's youngest son Henry was baptised on 13th May 1845. He was born right in the middle of a local measles outbreak that killed two of his older siblings.

Six years later, in 1851, when Richard was forty-four, his second wife Ann passed away, aged forty-four, in North Tawton. She was buried on 6th September 1852, in North Tawton.

In his mid forties, Richard had lost two wives and two young children. He was a single father with five young sons, ranging from five to twenty years old.

1851 Census:

Three years after his second wife Ann's death, Richard married again for a third time. On 26th June 1854, Richard (46) married Agnes Evans (36), in North Tawton.

Richard and Agnes had one daughter:

• Selina  1856 -

1861 Census:

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

By the late 1880's, Richard's wife Agnes had grown blind.

Tragedy struck Richard and his family in 1889, when Richard was eighty-one years old.

Firstly, Henry 'Harry', Richard's youngest son from his second marriage, was charged with manslaughter, having hit his mistress Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Redway, who fell back, hit her head, and died. He was sentenced to ten days hard labour.

Secondly, William, Richard's second son from his second marriage, who was dying from stomach cancer, in great pain and suffering from depression, killed himself, slitting his throat with a razor.

1891 Census:

Interestingly, by the 1890's, an elderly Richard was able to keep a servant.

Many of Richard's sons followed him into carpentry, becoming carpenters, joiners and wheelwrights. Richard himself worked as a carpenter into his eighties.

In 1892, a about a week or two before his eight-forth birthday, Richard passed away. He was buried on 2nd January 1892 in North Tawton.