Brown and Hollis Research
Thomas Brown
b. c1730, Sussex
m. Grace Hollis 1760 in Oving, Sussex
d. ?Thomas Brown was witness to a marriage of James Brown and Elizabeth Witten in Oving in 1755. It is likely that James and Thomas were brothers. James and Elizabeth had two sons James born 1755 in Oving and William born 1761 in Oving. James died and Elizabeth married John Bennett in Oving in 1764. They had a daughter Betty Bennett in Pagham in 1766. Betty seem to be a name associated with the family and a Betty Brown was born 1752 in Houghton, St Nicholas – 13 years before our Thomas' daughter Betty but the interesting thing is that her father was John Stiant Brown. Stiant was the maiden name of Elizabeth Quinnell’s mother – Elizabeth Quinnell being the person I believe to be Grace Hollis’ mother. The Stiants are associated with the name Betty and it looks as if either John’s Stiant Brown’s mother or Grandmother was a Stiant. John Stiant Brown was born in 1722 and although I don't think he is a brother of our Thomas Brown, I think there may be a connection with the Houghton Browns. John Stiant Brown's parents were Robert Brown and Jane. A Robert Brown can be found in Chichester and he had a son George Brown in 1765, a son James 1755 and a daughter Elizabeth 1768. Our Thomas Brown also had a son George, his brother was James and sister-in-law was Elizabeth. Children of Robert and Mary Brown were as follows:
JOHN BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 25 FEB 1747 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandWILLIAM BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 09 AUG 1749 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandRICHARD BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 10 JAN 1750 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandMOLLY BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 28 DEC 1752 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandROBERT BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 30 JUL 1754 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandJAMES BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 11 DEC 1755 Saint Peter The Great Or Subdeanery Of Chichester, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandGEORGE BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 23 JUL 1765 Saint Peter The Less, Chichester, Sussex, EnglandELIZABETH BROWN - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 18 APR 1768 Saint Andrew, Chichester, Sussex, England
I have not yet been able to find Baptism records to connect James and Thomas or Robert but I will continue to keep looking. A John Brown married Mary Duke in Oving in 1725 and he was from Houghton. They had a daughter Elizabeth in West Dean, Near Chichester, north of Oving, in 1738 but no other children are listed. It looks as if their Baptism records are missing. A possible connection?
Grace Hollis
b. c1735, Felpham Sussex
m. Thomas Brown in 1760 in Oving, Sussex
d. ?No Baptism record can be found for Grace in Oving, Felpham, South Bersted, Middleton on Sea or surrounding Parishes. The names of Grace's children suggest a connection with the family of Daniel Hollis and Elizabeth Quinnell. Daniel had a sister Grace Hollis who was three years older than him and he and Elizabeth had daughters Hannah b. 1733 in Felpham, Betty b. 1740 in Felpham and a son George b. 1743 in Felpham. They also had a son Daniel born in 1737 in Felpham. It is interesting that no records can be found for Betty or Daniel - as these were the parents' name, could it be that the children were known by something else and then later married in a different Parish to where they had been born, so their adopted name was used rather than the name given at Baptism? If so, could Betty Hollis be our Grace Hollis? Betty Hollis was born in 1740 and Grace Hollis was married in Oving in 1760.
Grace's daughter Grace Brown was married in Felpham and she had a cousin Thomas Hollis whose Grandchildren were named Charlotte and Charles. They were born in 1782 and 1789 respectively in South Bersted where we know John Bixley and Grace lived as the eldest son John was born there in 1795. John and Grace had children named Charlotte and Charles and were the first Bixleys to use these names that were consequently used by various Bixley lines in later years. This also suggests a connection with this Hollis family.