GRO (St Cath's) Indexes:
NB: These Indexes are
provided as a FINDING AID only - do not assume data is correct as it
was extracted from hard to read microfilms.
No Responsibility for errors will be accepted by the author!
Births
Marriage
Death
- The 'Great
Escape'
&
F/Lt.
E. G. Brettell
- Lt Col.
John B. BRETTELL
- The MacDuff Brettells
Brettell, the settlement, now called Hawbush,
is due north of Amblecote (West Midlands). Paul Henzey, a Protestant
Lorrainer and glassmaster, escaped from France
with other Frenchmen in the late 16th century and went to the 'Stourbridge' area
when King James Ist put a ban on Glassmakers using charcoal for their
furnaces in 1617 . He started work
in Oldswinford, using local coal
then moved to Amblecote and finally to Brettell which
was
the centre of the coal field. The
Henzey family made Brettell their main home and intermarried with
the local families including the Brettell's. It was one of the Henzey's
who changed the place-name Brettell to Hawbush
(information supplied by John Hemingway, Archaeological Officer,
Dudley Archives)
A search of UK Street names at http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ reveals the following addresses:
BRETTELL LANE, BRIERLEY HILL,WEST MIDLANDS,DY5
BRETTELL LANE, DY5
BRETTELL LANE, STOURBRIDGE,WEST MIDLANDS,DY8
(The above being all different versions of the same Brettell
lane)
- Maps depicting Brettell lane (Thanks once again to Mel SHAW)
From PUB AND BEER GUIDE FOR THE MIDLANDS
The main road through Silver End is Brettell Lane, part of the busy old ridge road running from Dudley through Brierley Hill and down to the old glassworks industries at Audnam and Amblecote. The road was originally a turnpike and was designated as such in 1727 but was eventually made a 'free' public highway in 1871. Unfortunately, the attractive tollhouse which stood here was demolished shortly after the Second World War. Whilst it is thought that the road may be named after the Brettell family, it is more likely that it's name is derived from the fact that it led to Silver End which was once known as Brettell which, in turn, may be a corruption of Bredhulle - an ancient name for the hill or ridge on which Silver End stands
Amblecote Historical Society has a link to Streets in the area, including Brettell Lane
A search of UK Street names at http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ also reveals the following addresses:
BRETTELL STREET, DUDLEY,WEST MIDLANDS,DY2
This street runs off Well Street, not far from where it crosses Stourbridge Road (A4101)
From John Hemingway, Archaeological Officer, Dudley Archives:
From Kath Connors, a Brettell descendant:
"Joseph Cartwright Brettell was Mayor of Dudley in 1830. He was a mine surveyor & went to the Middle East searching for tin and oil until they were hunted out by the then powers to be."
BRETTELL ROAD, LEICESTER,LE2
This street runs between Whitteney Drive and Pasley Road Leicester near to Glenhills Way (A563)
and
BRETTELL STREET, LONDON,SE17 (Walworth)
Walworth, SE17, is part of the London borough of Southwark and borders on to Camberwell and Kennington. The modern Brettell Street runs NNW-SSE from Aylesbury Road at the northern end to Merrow Street and is not far from St Peters church where Catherine Louise Brettell was married in 1895. As these Brettells do not seem to have been of great significance I do not believe the street was named after them.
The Southwark Local Studies Library, which holds the local history collection of the Borough of Walworth, cannot explain the choice of the name.
Comparing the 1894 Booth against the 1862 Stanford map (online at Motco) indicates no street in this location. Comparing the present day location against the Booth & Stanford indicates that the locale has been significantly altered and no such street or alignment presents itself. Most of the current street names do not exist on the 1862 map, the entire area seems to have been altered, the streets renamed and new ones created. The current Brettell Street would have run between what was then Shaftesbury Street and Clarendon Street and the only landmark in this area in 1862 was St Peter's Nat Schools.
On Charles Booth's Poverty map of London produced in 1889 the area looks much the same as it did in 1862 - EXCEPT for Brettell Street - running between Portland Street and Villa Street (right in the centre of the map). In 1862 this street was called Guildford Street (and would now appear to be an extension of Merrow Street).
Brettell Street Walworth was Guildford Street in the 1881 census (London/Newington/St Peter, Walworth/ District 22d). It appears as Brettell Street in the 1891 census. In both censuses it was off Villa Street (between Villa and Portland St).
Brettell Street existed on Charles Booth's survey of London map of 1899.
In the 1901 census Brettell Street ran off Portland Street.
(St Peter,
Walworth Civil Parish Newingnton, County of London RG13/379 District 21)
Victorian London - Streets
- B:
Source: GENDOCS
Brettell Street WALWORTH [Charles Booth's Survey of London
1899]
Brettell Street, Walworth SE17 [Royal Mail Postcode CD-ROM 1997]
The houses/flats shown in the picture below, together with many in that area, belong to the Church Commissioners. Canterbury Cathedral gave their land in Walworth to Church Commissioners in 1862. They were managed in the late 1800s by Miss Octavia Hill, the reformer who was instrumental in the founding of the National Trust. Miss Hill was a passionate advocate for housing which made a reasonable return for the Church's mission and these dwellings now form part of the 'Octavia Hill' Estates.
Walworth was bombed during the Blitz of 1940. Many buildings in the Walworth area were demolished by the London County Council and Greater London Council redevelopment between 1958 and 1965. I suspect this might have been when the name Brettell street was reallocated. Visit Walworth History Web Page.
Conclusion? The original Brettell Street came into being between 1881 and 1889 and I have no idea when it came to be in it's current location.
My
Dad, Ray Brettell, in Brettell Street Walworth, 2001.