G.L.'s Family History Pages

Browns

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				Keith's first sketch reconstruction of the house at Kew
				On this page I am going to put all the documented information I have on 'Kew' Brown and his family. I shall also try to give a connected account of the same people based on information given to me by family members. I would be glad to get any more information anyone has, and I would also appreciate corrections of information. G.L.
				David Robert 'Kew' Brown
				From Church and Civil Records: The documentary evidence I have so far found for the life of David Robert "Kew" Brown is fairly limited.
				The first record is the church record of his marriage on June 11,1879, in Buff Bay, to Elizabeth Walker. It was the second marriage for both husband and wife. He was described as a planter of Bybrook aged 45, and he signed the register, while Elizabeth was from Rose Hill and made her mark, signifying that she was illiterate. The marriage was performed by the Rev. I T H Chandler and the witnesses were David Moore, and, interestingly in light of later events, Ann Stamp, who made her mark.   The civil birth record of their daughter Louisa, born January 24, 1880, little over 7 months after the wedding, raises the possibility that Elizabeth was already pregnant at the time of the ceremony. The record also gives Elizabeth's original surname, as she is described as 'Elizabeth Brown late Eliz. Walker formerly Watson'. The registrar - Edward Skyers - had trouble spelling the place of residence; the first spelling seems to have been Cu, which was crossed out and replaced by Cew!   The next record is the civil record of the death of Elizabeth Brown (spelled Browne in the record) aged 45, on October 12, 1890. The cause of death is given as 'costiveness and heavy pressure on the right side many years'. David Brown (or Browne - spelled both ways in this record) is described as a labourer, of Kew, Portland.   Just under a year later the civil register records on September 8 1891 the marriage of David Robt. Brown aged 53, planter of Kew, to Ann Stamp, widow, aged 52, planter of Bybrook. The marriage was performed by the Rev. W. J. Dewdney at St. George's Church, Buff Bay, and the witnesses were Isaac Williams and Elizabeth J. Cousins. The most interesting information from this record is the name of 'Kew' Brown's father which is given as 'Charles Brown, dec'd'. The name of Ann Stamp's father, Robert Thompson, also provides her original surname.   From the ages given so far for David Robert Brown it would appear that he was born between 1834 and 1838, during the period of apprenticeship, which would mean he was born free.   The final civil record for 'Kew' Brown is that of his death on September 7, 1916, at Bybrook. The cause of death is given as senility and 'hemiplalegia'; the certifying doctor was G. D. B. Gordon, M.D. who was a Black doctor, trained in the U.S.A., who was then acting M.O. in Buff Bay. 'Kew' Brown's age is given as 98, which would give him a date of birth in 1818, some twenty years earlier than the previous records suggest. If this date of birth is correct 'Kew' Brown's age when he married Elizabeth Walker would have been 61, while she would have been only 34. Does this perhaps indicate that he deliberately reduced his age at the time of his marriages from vanity or a sense of propriety? Similarly Ann Stamp's given ages do not tally, indicating that she may have been 18 years older (i.e. 70) than she said she was when she married in 1891. Interestingly 'Kew' is spelled 'Que' on Ann Stamp's death certificate in January 1919. From the recollections of Hya and Manley:

The rest of what we know about 'Kew' Brown comes chiefly from Manley's memories of what he learned from his grandmother, Louisa Hartley nee Brown, the daughter of 'Kew' Brown. Manley's information, Thu. 23 Mar 2000 : Maama Lou's father, 'Kew' Brown, came to Skibo from St. Thomas and liked the property. He never kept his money in banks and paid cash for the estate with a Great House and made arrangements to take possession in a month. He never took a receipt; when he returned to take possession the scalawag Englishman said he never paid for it and demanded that he showed the receipt or pay again - he paid again. 'Kew' Brown was responsible for financing the building of the St. George's Anglican Church in Buff Bay. [However, it is stated elsewhere that the church was originally built in 1814; I have not so far found references to any extensive rebuilding at a later date.] The bricks [stones?]which were used came from England as ballast for the ships that came to Buff Bay then known as St. George's to load up bananas when there was a wharf there. He would come to church on his horse and buggy driven by an employee. It is said that his money was buried all over the property. His estate was the first place that a cricket field was established in Portland. His place was the stop over when the Governor visited Portland. 'Kew' Brown married again and Maama Lou told me why she was so particular about her utensils. She had her own cup and plate, knife and fork and did not want anybody to touch them. When I asked her why? I then learned that her stepmother had made two attempts to poison her so she could inherit as 'Kew' Brown had made it clear that everything would go to his daughter when he died. She was lucky on both occasions. She had packed lunch for her to take to school. A poor schoolmate, wanted to exchange lunches and she did. The next day the girl died and she suspected that the food had something to do with it. When she visited Kingston she would walk through a short cut over the hills in the Blue Mountain. She would leave at Sundown and by Sunrise she would be in Kingston. On a return from Kingston she was so exhausted she went to bed but her stepmother insisted on her having some soup she had prepared. She took it to her room and fell asleep. When she awoke there were a lot of dead ants in her soup. She gave it to the dog. He died during the night. She never ate from people and was always washing her utensils. Hya's memories: Tue. 14 Mar 2000 I had once asked Moms how Kew Brown came by so much land, had he acquired it by dishonest means. She had grown very indignant and said that he had worked hard and bought the land. From old tales that I used to hear bandied about, Kew Brown was one of the richest men in Portland, and had been on friendly terms with John Stedman's father. More from Hya Kew Brown had been born during the slave period, and was a small boy at the Emancipation; He went to work and saved his money and bought land. He was very strict, religious, Moms said that no fires were lit on Sundays. It was a holy day and the Sabbath was kept. They ate food cooked on Saturday. He married late in life, probably explaining the single child. Anyway, Kew Brown lived to be 98, not needing glasses, in possession of ALL his teeth. From Aunt Lus I got that no one did a stroke of work. They simply lived off the land, and paid taxes by selling off some of the land. She was scathing when she talked of how they did not even pick the fruit which was in abundance, they picked up fallen fruit! They were generous to a fault, sharing everything with all and sundry. I understand that on August 1 a cow, a pig and a goat were killed and the entire village were invited to the 'ballground' for a feast. On the ballground was a cricket pitch as I recall. Christmas probably saw a repeat. The family were Anglicans, records would have been kept in the church at St. Margaret's Bay because that is where I was christened.

Several of us hope to go over to Kew on Thursday to have a look around, take some photos, give Keith the setting for his reconstruction sketch and look at the possibility of a family outing there shortly. Joy   UPDATE! Vin, Keith, Richard and I made the trip over to Kew this morning. It was a gorgeous day, and the place was really great. As soon as we get some photos developed I'll put some on the site. I hope we can go over there again while Dave and Audrey are here. - Joy Oh dear! A slight problem! After nearly 50 years in Jamaica I have for the first time experienced grass lice - and I itch! May be a family trip is not such a good idea! More on this anon. G.L.