My Bramhill family

More pictures of my family

So how come someone in Essex, UK, is putting together the history of the Liverpool Bramhills? The answer is that my immediate family moved south in the 1940s, when my father switched from deep-sea merchant ships to North Sea ferries.

My Bramhill line is possibly descended from William Bramhill, b 1753 in Huyton by Roby, near Liverpool.

A definite family tree begins with Thomas the blacksmith, whose son John (b circa 1819) is known to have had two sons, John and William James (1855-1919), although there were probably more children. Our line is via William James, who was a waterboatman helping tie up ships at Liverpool docks and he also crewed Liverpool Lifeboat No 2, which capsized in Liverpool Bay during a rescue in 1891 . William James married Sarah King, and their children included my grandfather William John (1883-1922), Tom, Alf, Sarah and Lizzie (died Croydon, 1969). They appear to have lived in near-poverty not far from the Pier Head, Liverpool. William John died in 1922 (aged 32) from lung problems resulting from (we believe) the Bibby animal feed works explosion in Liverpool in 1911 (I have further information about this - please e-mail me if you think it would help your research).

My paternal grandmother was Marie Prossor (1892-1953), and her family can be traced back to Northampton and Southampton, England, and Cashel, southern Ireland. Marie's father was Henry Prossor (1842-1928) and her brothers and sisters included Charles, Harry and Gertrude (Lloyd). Her half-sisters were Mabel Bramley of York and Effie, via whom we are linked with the Worster, Pollexfen, Hooper (US), Snow (US), Turpin (US) and Dennis (US) families. We do have a Prossor family tree back to Anthony Prossor, (1792-1872). The Prossors at www.prossor.com are distant relations. See the separate pages about the Prossors, the Lloyds, and the Baker family of Portsea.

My maternal grandfather and grandmother were George Laurence Unwin(1891-1975) and AnnWilliams (1892-1962) of Newborough, Anglesey. We also have links with the Mulvey family of Lancashire.

A bit about my mum and dad...

Capt William Frank Bramhill's early years were blighted by the breakdown of his parents' marriage and he alternated between poverty in Midgehall St, Liverpool, with his dad, William John, and the relative wealth of his mother's family home at 34 Kensington, Liverpool. (NB: two doors down from where, 40 years later, the Quarrymen would record their first disc; they later became The Beatles) There were also occasional forays farther afield (he lived for a while in old handloom weavers' houses called Touch in Tack, Rawtenstall, and in Hartington Road, Lozells, Birmingham).

At 13, Dad joined the Merchant Navy, with his mother paying for him to train as a seaman aboard the Mersey Training Ship Indefatigable. His first seagoing trip, to the West Coast of the US, was aboard the Harrison ship Astronomer. By 1939, Dad was well into his studies to become a ship's officer; he served throughout the Battle of the Atlantic, once firing an Oerlikon gun at a U-boat which surfaced beside the Harrison ship Merchant, as well as in the Med and Indian Ocean.

In 1946, Dad moved south, with Mum coming down to be with him in 1947.

In the next 30 years, his adventures included helping to rescue people from the sinking bow of the British Railways passenger ferry Duke of York, following a collision, taking rioting Tottenham Hotspurs fans to and from their infamous match against Feyenoord, and sailing his favourite ship farther north and south than any BR ship had been before or since, to the North Cape and to Morocco. Dad retired in 1978. Read dad's obituary in a national newspaper.

Mum's early years were spent "on the move" as her parents switched between houses and shops in Liverpool. Apparently, her mother liked shops, her father, a docker, liked houses, and they accommodated each other by doing turn and turn-about. Herb shops seemed to be a favourite, and they also managed a shop for Shuttleworths, which sold fizzy-pop. Mum had 17 addresses in Liverpool before she married in 1939.

The marriage led to five children - all boys.

Mum loved looking round houses for sale (the wanderlust never left her!) as well as hunting for bargains in the sales.

Unfortunately, she suffered from cancer from 1962 (when I was two), but thanks to the wonderful staff at Essex County Hospital, Colchester, and Black Notley hospital, she beat it three times - allowing her to see me grow up, get married, and have children of my own.

On mum and dad's gravestone are the letters ANC - Amo, Nosco, Credo; To Know, To Love, To Trust.

...my brothers...

The five boys - Frank, Les, Eric, David and myself - all live in Essex or Suffolk. The grandchildren and great grandchildren have spread their wings more, and live farther afield. If you want to contact any of my family, please e-mail me.

...and about my wife and children

Elizabeth Mary Bramhill's family names include Albrow, Hoggarth, Fletcher, Elvidge and White. Via www.hoggarth.co.uk we have traced that family line back to the late 1500s, when the Allin family left Wiltshire for north Yorkshire. Liz's family comes primarily from both Leeds and Great Barugh, near the North Yorkshire Moors, England, though there are roots in Suffolk and Liverpool.

Liz has three sisters, twins Catherine and Susan, and Emma. They were brought up in a Suffolk village. If you want to contact any of them, please e-mail me.