Richard de Brownhill.
1. Richard de BROWNHILL was born about 1265.
The Brownhill Family dates from AD 1290, when Richard de Brounhull witnessed a charter. As, in order to do this, Richard must have been an adult it is reasonable to assume that he was born at least 20-30 years earlier and, therefore, his probable date of birth can be put at about AD 1265. The information that I have on Richard was given to me in the early 1960's by Harold Brownhill of The Brownhill Family of Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, who was living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Richard de Brounhull is the earliest member of the Brownhill Family so far discovered. Having spent nearly fifty years researching the Brownhill families I am reasonably certain that all Brownhills living today are descended from Richard de Brounhull and /or his immediate family and are, therefore, all related. However, some present day Brownhill Families are descended through the female line. It has been suggested that, because there are a number of places named Brownhill in England and Scotland, that more than one Brownhill family originated. The problem with this theory is that no early records of Brownhills have been found in these places. The possible exception is Scotland and on this I am keeping an open mind. However, until I have evidence to the contrary I am taking the view that the Scottish Brownhills are descended from Richard de Brounhull or his family. In the 1950's Harold Brownhill of Nova Scotia spent a great deal of money employing record agents in England and Scotland to examine the old records but they found no connexions between persons named Brownhill and the Brownhill place names, except Cheshire. In Cheshire there was a place named Brownhill and that is where the early Brownhills are found.
In common with other families, the name has appeared in the records over the centuries spelt in a number of different ways. The most common are Brownhill, Brownell and Brownill, which are the ones which appear to be in existence today. Other spellings have included Brownall. Brawnall, Brownoll and so on. For convenience of indexing I have used/will use the Brownhill spelling for all pre-1900 entries, especially where in different records different spellings have been used for the same individual, but where alternative spellings have appeared in the records I have shown/will show these spellings in the notes.
I am a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies
Frank C. Brownhill - The Brownhill Family of Bedfordshire.
Richard de BROWNHILL had the following descendants:
|