The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
Brecht One Name Study
Progress Report
Progress To Date
Great Grandparent: George Frederick Brecht
- His Parents: Heinrich Brecht and Mary Somes
- His Grandparents: Johann Friedrich Brecht & Maria Catharina Schocke
Mini Family Tree (Direct Ancestors)
The family tree to date may be summarised:
Brecht Family
Possible
Andeas Brecht 1597 - ?
Hans Brecht
Hans Jurgen Brecht 1653 - 1725
married
Ilse Maria (geb Jahns) 1676 - 1725
Jurgen Friedrich Brecht bp 13.11.1725, buried 23.5.1778
married 2.12.1738
Anna Maria Juliane
Johann Friedrich Brecht bp 5.8.1742
married 19.1.1769
Maria Catharina Schocke
Heinrich Fridrich Ludwig Brecht bp 7.7.1784 Bodenfelde, Lower Saxony
may have followed his Uncle Jurgen Christoph Brecht to London
where Jurgen was a sugar-refiner
Definite
Heinrich/Henry Frederick Ludewig Brecht b c 1783/4 d 28.5.1838 (age 54)
Married
(1) Mary Somes b c 1780 d 3.1.1819
married 14.07.1808
(2) Harriet Piper b 6.1.1802 bp 24.1.1802 d 1.10.1871
married 21.04.1837
George Frederick Brecht b c 1834/5 d 19.8.1909
Married 12.12.1856
Mary Ann Walland b 17.11.1838
Arthur Brecht b 28.01.1877 d 22.12.1946
Married 25.12.1899
Ellen Elizabeth Curran Saunders b 6.11.1877 d 19.3.1960
Doris Ivy Brecht b 15.03.1912
d 29.6.2003
Married 11.07.1936
Frederick Bower b 12.09.1910
d 10.9.2006
Colin Malcolm Bower b 12.01.1944
Married 15.10.1966
Christine Elizabeth Collier b 26.03.1946
Link to Family Tree
George Frederick Brecht & Descendants
Summary of research to date
This is a rare name in England and at one time I registered our research as a One-Name Study.
A lot of information has been provided by cousins of my mother and myself. We hold more records of the Brechts than any other family name.
Two Brecht brothers (Arthur and Walter) married two Saunders sisters (Ellen and Ruth). The two families have passed down many myths and mysteries, e.g. did Heinrich/Henry Brecht come to the UK from Belgium or Germany?
The Brechts and Saunders ran businesses in the East End of London and Essex and there were family rows and splits.
In USA some Brechts adopted the name Bright, in England some of the Family adopted the name Brett to avoid anti-German sentiments.
We corresponded with a non-related descendant of Pastor Ernst Brecht who was the first pastor of the German Lutheran Church in Hull.
Some of the most exciting parts of the project have been:
- the discovery of two first cousins (and meeting the one who remained in England) who were born in South Africa but who sought work in England.
- the discovery of two more first cousins living in Australia
- finding other second cousins and learning about their branches of the family
- learning the approximate birth date of Heinrich (Henry) Brecht (1783/4) after many years of searching
- learning the date of the burial of Mary Somes (1819) which meant that some of the children born later had a different mother (harriet Piper?
- the discovery of the German Family Tree!!
Birth Marriage & Death Certificates Held
- Births:
- Marriages:
- Deaths:
Certificates Held - Brecht Family
Census Records Held
- 1841 Harriet (Brecht) Colvin & family
- 1851 Harriet (Brecht) Colvin & family
- 1861 George Brecht Senior & family
- 1871 George Brecht Senior & family
- 1881 George Brecht Senior & family
George Brecht Junior & family
Amalie Brecht (not related)
- 1891 George Brecht Senior & family
- George Brecht Junior & family
- Henry Brecht & family
- 1901 George & Mary Brecht & family
- William & Elizabeth Brecht & family
- Frank Brecht (not related)
- Edward Brecht & family
- Henerina Brecht Widow &
- Charles & Hannah Brecht
- Arthur & Ellen Brecht & family
- Albert & Jessie Brecht
- Augustus & Elizabeth Brecht & family (not related)
- 1911 Mary A. Brecht, Widow
Mary's Children & family
Arthur & Ellen Brecht & family
Henerina Brecht, Widow & family
Edward Brecht
Henry & Helen Brecht & family
James & Margarett (Brecht) Collier & family
William & Ellen Brecht & family
Charles & Julia Brecht & family
Albert & Jessie Brecht & family
Walter & Ruth Brecht & family
John & Louisa Brecht & family
Other Descendants
Lucy Ann Brecht (Mrs) & family
George & Frederick Brecht (brothers)
Sidney, John & Ethel Brecht (Siblings)
William John Brecht
George Brecht (in Pentonville)
Unrelated & Unrelated (?)
Arthur & Annie Brecht & family
Gustav & Anna Brecht & family
Doris Helene Helm Brecht
Other Research Undertaken
- IGI - Sheets held for Brecht name (one entry since then)
- Parish Records
- Wills
- Businesses - various businesses were run by the Brecht and Saunders families
in Spitalfields, Bethnal Green, Stepney/Mile End, Poplar and Plaistow including:
per Kent’s London Directory
1814 Brecht, H manuf of printing colours
12 Fashion Street, Spitalfields
per Johnstone’s London Commercial Guide & Street Directory 31 August 1817
1817 Brecht, Henry, Colour manufacturer
12 Fashion Street
per Kent's Original London Directory
1823 Brecht H manuf,of painting colours
12-Fashion-str. Sptalfi.
per Pigot's Directory
1824 Henry Brecht, Colour Manufacturer, 24 Fashion Street, Spitalfields
1836 Henry Brecht Senior, Colour Manufacturer, Bonner St, Globe Fields
1856 Henry Brecht, Coffee Rooms, 67 Shadwell High Street
1862 George Brecht, Dairyman, 102 Shadwell High Street
1883/6 George Brecht, Painter, 14 Baggally Street, Burdett Road E
1898/1900 George Brecht, Furniture Dealer, 273 Barking Road, Plaistow
1898/1900 Henry Brecht (son of George Brecht), Beer Retailer, 344 Grange Road, Plaistow
1902 Walter Brecht, Laundry, 102 First Avenue, Plaistow
1905 George Brecht, Confectioner, 37 Grundy Street, Poplar E
1906/7 Mrs Mary Brecht, Confectioner, 1 Preston's Road, Poplar E
1909/1914 William Thomas Brett (Brecht) Fried Fish Shop, 30 Poplar High Street E
1933/8 Mrs Ruth Emily (Saunders) Brecht, Drapers, 151 Balaam Sreet, Plaistow E 13
1939/50 Doris Brecht, Drapers, 151 Balaam Street, Plaistow E 13
1940/6 William Brecht, Newsagent, 141 Baalam Street, Plaistow E 13
- Correspondence - significant information provided by cousins
- Visits - Christ Church, Spitafileds, Fashion Street, Spitalfields and site of Bonner Street, Bethnal Green
- Photographs - as Visits
- Misc Info/Documents
- Progress Made in 2004
- Progress Made in 2005
- Progress Made in 2006
- Progress Made in 2007
- Progress Made in 2008
- Progress Made in 2009
- Progress Made in 2010
- Progress Made in 2011
- Progress Made in 2012
- Progress Made in 2014
- Progress Made in 2015
- Progress Made in 2016
- Progress Made in 2017
- Progress Made in 2018
- Progress Made in 2019
- Progress Made in 2020
- Progress Made in 2021
- Progress Made in 2022
- Progress Made in 2023
There is still much to do!
Colin Bower
12 October 2023
Links to:
