Frank Charles Brownhill.

My name is Frank Charles Brownhill. I was born on the 8th March 1939, at Woolwich, London, the first son of Charles Brownhill and Kathleen Mary Brownhill, formerly Muttett. I belong to the Brownhill Family of Bedfordshire, which dates from AD 1562.

I married in 1969 and have five daughters and two sons, ranging in age from 41 years to 17 years, plus four grandsons, and one granddaughter born last Sunday.

For most of my career, which started in 1954, I was an insurance man, with wide-ranging experience in all branches of domestic insurance, including accident claims, life underwriting, company pension schemes, Home Service and broking. I have dealt with insurance claims at litigation level and held supervisory rank in a major insurance company. I have also been involved in the drafting and checking of insurance policies. I have handled British, American and European insurance claims.

For a while I served as a Director and Motor Manager of the family firm of insurance advisers, Brownhill Morris & West (Insurance Services) Ltd. (now known as the Brownhill Insurance Group) of Bromley, Kent. This firm was started by my brother, John Keith Brownhill, who was responsible for the introduction of the Neighbourhood Watch home insurance policy and the inclusion of the 'no claims discount/bonus' in such policies. John has now retired and the company is managed by his three daughters.

I left insurance some years ago and set myself up as a professional will writer and record searcher. I retired in 2004 when I reached the age of 65 years.

In 1958 I failed my National Service medical and was rejected for military service, so I decided to trace my family tree/ancestry. I joined the Society of Genealogists in 1959 and met many interesting and helpful people. One, Herbert Shipman, became a good friend. He had conducted a one-name study into the Shipman name. The President of the Society of Genealogists, Lord Mountbatten, was very keen on one-name studies and, along with 'Bert' Shipman, encouraged me to begin my own. So I started by copying the Brownhill entries from the General Register Office registers at Somerset House.

I received a letter from Harold Brownhill of Nova Scotia, Canada, who had commenced collecting data about the Brownhills in the early 1950s. Between us we spent the next few years compiling a reference work on our family name. He gave me a great deal of useful information. Harold belongs to the Brownhill Family of Ecclesfield, Yorkshire.

I took a break when I married in 1969 and Harold Brownhill, who was bedridden and elderly, eventually died. However, in recent years I have resumed my hobby. I am now updating my records and, with the help of modern computer programmes , double-checking the family trees that I compiled forty years ago. I am also seeking to re-establish contact with the Brownhills, Brownells, et cetera worldwide. I am willing to provide Brownhills and those who have Brownhill ancestry with information from my records that relates to their own ancestry. I do not charge for this but I like to receive information in return. I am slowly publishing general information on this website.

I am a past member of the Guild of One-name Studies and past member of the Society of Genealogists. I strongly recommend that anyone who is contemplating tracing their own ancestry check with the Guild register as it is possible that their surname may be the subject of intensive research. This could save them time and money.

Both through my work and my hobby I have handled wills for over forty years. I have been trained in the drafting of wills and did so on my own account from 1994 to 2004. Through my hobby I have copies of wills dating back to the 16th. century.

I now live in Tonbridge, Kent, England.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the late Herbert (Bert) Shipman (possibly the original one-namer), George Eglesfield, Mr. Pearman, and Lord Mountbatten for encouraging me to start a one-name study  fifty-two years ago and giving me much help and advice. Without their backing and support this project would never have been started and this website would not now be under construction.

I have researched and written a draft History of The Catholic Church, Corpus Christi, in Tonbridge, Kent. This was at the request of the parish priest. The book, however, has not yet been published.

Frank C. Brownhill.       31st. March 2012