Robert Fairbrother
In view of the many incorrect statements that have been made about the family of Robert Fairbrother and his supposed connection with Mrs FitzGeorge I have decided to set out here the information that I found about him and his children when investigating her background. References to 'Highfill' are to P.H. Highfill &c., A biographical dictionary of actors ... 1660-1800 (Southern Illinois University Press, 1978) volume 5, and references to 'Huberty' are to Michel Huberty &c., L'Allemagne Dynastique, iii (1981) 1777-84.
The surname Fairbrother was not uncommon in London in the early nineteenth century and there is a possibility of some confusion. An unidentified Robert Fairbrother married a Sarah Leach at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 24 November 1799. However, it seems likely that the below mentioned Robert Fairbrother was the son of William Fairbrother, of Leather Lane, 1757, and of Saffron Hill, 1764-67, in the parish of St Andrew, Holborn, Middlesex [baptisms of his children] who had by a wife Margaret at least three children baptised in the parish:
1a. Margaret Fairbrother, baptised 24 March 1757 [Register].
2a. Margaret Susanna Fairbrother, baptised 1 January 1764 [Register].
3a. Robert Fairbrother, baptised 27 December 1767 [Register] probably the same person as the following:
Robert Fairbrother, born 1768/9 [age at death]. Probably the Fairbrother, dancer at Haymarket Theatre, 13 December 1784; probably tumbler at Sadlers Wells, 15 September 1785; acrobat at Bristol, 1785-6; tumbler at Sadlers Wells, 1787-8, danced in ballet there, 1789-93 (also at Sadlers Wells, 1790 and 1792); of Saffron Place, St Andrew Holborn, 1793 [baptism of son]; of St Giles-in-the-Fields, 1794 [baptism of daughter]; received regular salary at Drury Lane to 1807 as 'a sort of confidential general factotum and secretarial handyman to Richard Brinsley Sheridan' the patentee and manager of Drury Lane Theatre [Highfill; his sons were named after Sheridan, 1807 and 1808];about 1807 became an undertaker; of 33 Brownlow Street, Drury Lane, undertaker, 1808 [Critchett's Directory; not in directories 1806-7]; of 23 Bow Street, Covent Garden, undertaker, 1809 [Critchett's Directory]; of Drury Lane, Undertaker, 1813 [baptism of daughter]; of 66 Drury Lane, undertaker, 1815-17 [Critchett & Woods' Directories]; Sheridan sought employment for him in 1815 as 'an old and true servant to me and to the theatre, though latterly discountenanced' [Highfill]; he 'lost several thousands by' Sheridan 'but would never allow a word to be said in his disparagement' [J.C. Francis, Notes by the way (1909) 290]; received payments at Drury Lane Theatre again from 1816; witness to marriage of daughter Mary Emma, 1817; was 'subsequently attached to the directorship of the West London or Tottenham Street, Theatre' and left the stage in 1826 [Highfill]; Boase says that he was an undertaker at 66 Drury Lane until 1828 [Modern English Biography, v 302]; joined daughter Mary Emma in Edinburgh, after 1826 [DNB sub Ebsworth]; witness to will of Robert William Elliston, 8 July 1830 [Highfill]; of 4 Montgomery Street, South Leith Parish, Edinburgh, 1831 [marriage of daughter]; cabinet maker, 1840 [marriage of daughter Margaret]; said in DNB to have been a member of Glovers' Company but his surname is not found in the Apprentice Bindings 1760--94, Freedom Admissions 1748-1851 or Court Minutes 1773-1804 of that Company. He died at 4 White Hart Street, Kennington 1st Part, Lambeth, Surrey, undertaker, 11 January 1841, aged 73 [GRO Death certificate; not 72 as in Highfill; death not in The Times; no W/A in Archdeaconry or Commissary Courts of Surrey 1840-50, in PCC 1841-43, or EDO 1841-42]. Engraved portrait of 'Robert Fairbrother, prompter at Drury Lane Theatre' by P. Roberts listed in Evans's Catalogue of engraved portraits [N&Q 8S xii (1897) 390] and reproduced in Highfill v (1978) 138. As of St Andrew Holborn, Middlesex, and by licence of the Vicar General dated 2 April 1792, he had married at St Andrew Holborn, Middlesex, 14 April 1792, Mary Bailey, of St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex [Registers, Page 28; William Bailey a witness]. She is said to have been 'brought up in a nunnery at St Omer' [DNB sub Ebsworth], had been introduced to him by Joe Grimaldi and is said to have been daughter of Grimaldi's landlady who invited her son-in-law into her fur brokerage business' [Highfill]. She went to Scotland with her husband [DNB sub Ebsworth] but died of dropsy at 2 Angel Place, Webber Street, Blackfriars Road, Southwark, aged 69, being described as the wife of Robert Rairbrother, gentleman [her son B.S. Fairbrother, informant, 4 August 1838]. They had issue:
1a. William Bailey Fairbrother, baptised at St Andrew Holborn, Middlesex, 31 March 1793 [Registers]. Witness to marriage of brother Samuel Glover Fairbrother, 1818. He died 'in early life, unmarried' [Barton Hill in N&Q 8S xii (1897) 250].
2a. Mary Emma Fairbrother, born 2 September 1794 [Boase; DNB] and baptised at St Andrew Holborn, Middlesex, 28 September 1794, as from St Giles-in-the-Fields [Registers]. In chorus at Drury Lane, 1812-13, to at least 1817-18; as Mrs Ebsworth in chorus and ballet, 1817-18 [Highfill]; translator and author of dramatic pieces. She died at Walworth, Surrey, 13 October 1881, aged 87 [DNB; Boase]. She had married by banns at St Dunstan in the West, London, 22 June 1817, Joseph Ebsworth [Registers, Entry 284], son of Joseph Ebsworth. He was born at Islington, Middlesex, 10 October 1788. Of Stangate Street, Lambeth, watch jeweller, 1818 [baptism of daughter]; actor, dramatist, musician [Boase]; of Gray's Walk, Lambeth, musician, 1822-4 [baptisms of children]; moved to Edinburgh, 1826 [DNB], bookseller, 1828-43, remained there until death, 22 June 1868 [Boase; DNB]. They had with other issue:1b. Emilie Marguerite Ebsworth, baptised at St Mary Lambeth, Surrey, 5 July 1818 [Registers, Entry 6047, 'Emilie Margaret']. Living, 1897 [N&Q 1897]. She had married Samuel Houghton Cowell, son of Joseph Leathley Cowell, actor and author. He was born in London, 5 April 1820; comedian and comic singer as 'Sam Cowell'; he died at Blandford, Dorset, 11 March 1864 [G.B. Bryan, Stage Deaths (1991) 297; The Era, 20 March 1864, 6b; New York Times, 3 April 1864, 2d; no W/A 1864-6]. They had issue:3a. Robert Paul Fairbrother, baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 3 July 1796 [Registers, Page 244]. Said to have been a 'theatrical printer' and, incorrectly, to have been the father of Mrs FitzGeorge [Highfill].1c. Sydney Cowell, born 1846. Actress. She died 1925. She had married George Giddens, born 1845. Actor. He died 1920. They were divorced.2b. Rosalie Covil(?) Ebsworth, baptised at St Mary Lambeth, Surrey, 24 November 1822 [Registers, Entry 943].
2c. Florence Cowell, born 1852. Actress. She died 1925. She had married Alfred S. Tapping, actor. He was born 1851 and died 1928. They had issue:1d. Sydney Tapping, born 31 July 1872. Actress as 'Sydney Fairbrother'. She died 4 January 1941, aged 68 [G.B. Bryan, Stage Deaths (1991) 426; The Times, 6 January 1941, 7e; The Stage, 9 January 1941, 6b; not 10 January as in Who's Who in the Theatre]. She had married 1stly, Percy Sydney Buckler, actor. She married 2ndly, Trevor Lowe, actor. He was born 1878 and died in London, 5 February 1910 [G.B. Bryan, Stage Deaths (1991) 794; The Era, 12 February 1910, 17e].
3b. Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth, born 2 September 1824 and baptised at St Mary Lambeth, Surrey, 19 September 1824 [Registers, Entry 1565]. Clergyman; F.S.A.; editor of The Roxburghe Ballads (6 vols. 1883-99) and many other works. He died at Godington Road, Ashford, Kent, 7 June 1908 [PPR Calendar; DNB; biography in J.C. Francis, Notes by the Way (1909) 290 &c]. His will proved 16 July 1908 [PPR folio 1058, effects £171-2-3].
4a. Samuel Glover Fairbrother, baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 20 August 1797 [Registers, Page 271]. Apprenticed to and succeeded Lowndes, as printer at Exeter Court [N&Q 1897]; of 6 Broad Court, printer, 1819-21 [baptisms of children]; of 1 Exeter Court, Strand, 1823 [Todd infra], of John Street, Harper Street, 1823 [baptism of son]; of Williams Buildings, New Cut, Lambeth, 1825 [baptism of son], of 6 Angel Court, 1826 [baptism of daughter], of Exeter Court, 1828-9 [baptisms of children], of 2 Haddon Place, Waterloo Road, 1832 [Todd infra and baptism of daughter], of 1 Exeter Court, 1832-4 and 1838, of 31 Bow Street, Covent Garden, master printer, 1840-55 [W.B. Todd, Directory of printers (London, 1972) 67]; of Exeter Court, printer to Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1832-3, and to Covent Garden Theatre, 1835 [N&Q 1897]; of 31 Bow Street, St Paul Covent Garden, printer, 1841 [HO107/741-5-7] and 1851 [HO107/1511-137-18]; described as deceased at marriage of daughter Emma, 1846; bankrupt, 1855 [The Times, 27 January 1855, 9b]. He died in Strand RD, June Quarter 1860 [GRO Death Indexes, 1b 278]. He had married 1stly, by banns at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 26 October 1818, Harriot Henley [Registers, Entry 607]. She died and he married 2ndly, by licence of the Faculty Office dated 18 July 1836, at St Clement Danes, London, 23 [not 25] July 1836, Sarah Ann Freeman, of St Paul Covent Garden, Middlesex, spinster [Registers; Marriage Allegation]. She was born at Worcester, 1802-3 [1851 Census]. Aged 35, 1841; aged 48, 1851. As Sarah Fairbrother she received half share of estate of mother Joyce Freeman of Wyle Cop, St Julian, Shrewsbury, widow, who died 8 December 1850 [her will dated 11 November 1850 proved Consistory Court of Lichfield 19 December 1850]. Perhaps the Sarah Ann Fairbrother who died in Wandsworth RD, December Quarter 1874, aged 72 [GRO Death Indexes, 1d 439]. They had issue:1b. Robert Christopher Fairbrother, baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 22 August 1819 [Registers, Entry 2662]. Of 8 Tavistock Court, Covent Garden, witness at registration of printing press of uncle Benjamin Smith Fairbrother, 1837 [Todd (1972) 67]; of Bow Street, printer, 1839 [marriage]; of Martlett Court, printer, 1840 [baptism of daughter]; of 9 Martlett Court (south side), Long Acre, St Martin-in-the-Fields, printer journeyman, 1841 [HO107/740-8-8r]. He died from 4 North Place, Hampstead Road, St Pancras [probate act], at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, 17 September 1860 [PPR Calendar]. His will as of 17 Little Queen Street, Holborn, dated 1 September 1855 proved 26 October 1860 [PPR folio 641, Under £100]. He had married at St Pancras, Middlesex, 3 January 1839, Jane Ralston, of Rathbone Place, daughter of James Ralston, deceased [Registers, Entry 3]. Aged 20 [1841]; sole legatee and executrix to husband, 1860. They had issue:5a. John Henry Fairbrother, baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 9 November 1798 [Registers, Page 295]. He was buried at St Mary, Islington, Middlesex, 4 January 1799, infant [Registers, Folio 254r].1c. Emily Ann Fairbrother, born 2 September 1840 and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 18 October 1840 [Registers, Entry 405]. Aged 9 months, 1841 [Census].2b. Harriet Rebecca Fairbrother, baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 15 July 1821 [Registers, Entry 810]. With parents, aged 20, 1841 [Census].
3b. Thomas Henry William Fairbrother, born 25 June 1823 and baptised at St Mary Newington, Surrey, 13 July 1823 [Registers, Entry 442].
4b. Henry Paul Fairbrother, baptised at St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey, 5 June 1825 [Registers, Entry 435].
5b. Emma Selina Fairbrother, born 1 October 1826 and baptised at St Mary le Strand, Westminster, 5 November 1826 [Registers, Entry 658]. As of Church Street, of full age, daughter of Samuel Fairbrother, printer, 'deceased', she married by banns at St Mary Lambeth, Surrey, 1 March 1846, Henry William Goodfellow, minor, printer, of Church Street, son of John Goodfellow, deceased, silver plater [Registers, Page 201, Entry 401].
6b. Caroline Louisa Fairbrother, baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 16 January 1828 [Registers, Entry 52]. With father at Bow Street, Middlesex, theatrical profession, aged 23, 1851, born at St Clement Danes [Census; Huberty iii (1981) 182-3, thought this a mistake for her aunt of the same name and profession]. One of this name apparently married [not in Scotland, 1855-57], George Jupp. He was of 27 Elder Street, Edinburgh, comedian, 1857 [birth of son]. They had issue:1c. George Jupp, born at 27 Elder Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, at 9 a.m. on 17 March 1857 [Calton and Bonnington District Birth Register, parish 685/6, Entry 115].7b. Walter Benjamin Fairbrother, baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 16 December 1829 [Registers, Entry 749]. With parents, aged 13, 1841; with father, printer compositor, 1851 [Census]. As of Tavistock Court, printer, he married by banns at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 1 April 1851, Emily Wade, of Cornwell Road, daughter of William Wade, veterinary surgeon [Registers, Page 26, Entry 51].
8b. Fanny Fairbrother, baptised at St George the Martyr, Southwark, 22 August 1832 [Registers]. Not with parents, 1841 [Census].
?9b. Margaret Fairbrother, aged 2 in 1841 [this child appears in the household of Samuel Glover Fairbrother in the 1841 Census, but may not have been his child].
6a. Edward Harwood Fairbrother, baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 13 October 1799 [Registers, Page 31; not mentioned in Huberty iii (1981) 181]. He was buried at St Mary, Islington, Middlesex, 30 March 1800, infant [Registers, folio 259r].
7a. Margaret Rebecca Fairbrother, born 15 March 1801 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 16 March 1801 [Registers, Page 366]. Aged 40, 1841. She died in St Saviour RD, December Quarter 1881, aged 80 [GRO Death Indexes, 1d 76]. As of 27 Kensington Gardens, she had married at St Nicholas, Brighton, Sussex, 3 November 1840, Richard Bartram, of 130 St James Street, grocer, son of William Thomas Bartram, draper [Registers, Page 57, Entry 113; N&Q 1897]. Of Bow Street, St Paul, Covent Garden, grocer, aged 29, not born in Middlesex, in household of Samuel Glover Fairbrother, 1841 [HO107/741-5-7].
8a. Benjamin Smith Fairbrother, baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 18 June 1802 [Registers; BTs, Page 8v]. Witness to marriage of sister Ann, 1825; responsible for playbills at Covent Garden Theatre, 1835 [N&Q 8S xii (1897) 249]; of 27 Bow Street, Covent Garden, 1837, when his printing press at 13 Princes Street, High Holborn, was registered [Todd (1972) 67] and in 1838 [burial of 1st wife]; of 3 Clewer Street, Kennington Cross, 4 August 1838 [informant of mother's death]; of 2 Kennington Lane, music ruler, 1840 [2nd marriage]; administrator to 1st wife, 1841; of 264 (High) Holborn, music paper ruler, 1841-2 [baptisms of daughters]; of Blackfriars Road, wine merchant, 1844 [baptism of son]; kept Equestrian Coffee House, 124 Blackfriars Road, 1844-6 [Boase], next door to Surrey Theatre, where was acting manager [as early as 1832 (N&Q 8S xi (1897) 390]; of High Holborn, music paper ruler, 1847 [baptism of daughter]; of St Martin's Lane, theatrical treasurer, 1851 [HO107/1482-27]; of 17 New Compton Street, St Giles-in-the-Fields, accountant, 1861 [RG9/173-7-12]; at Licensed Victuallers' Asylum, Asylum Road, Old Kent Road, 11 July 1870 [N&Q 1897]; said to have been 'Prompter, stage manager, and treasurer in succession at the chief theatres in London' [DNB sub Ebsworth]. He died 28 August 1878, aged 76 [DNB sub Ebsworth]. He had married 1stly, by banns at St Benet, St Paul's Wharf, London, 27 January 1828, Catherine Coward, widow [Registers], nee Featley [her administration]. She was buried as of Bow Street at St Paul Covent Garden, 11 March 1838, aged 35 [Registers]. Her administration granted 30 April 1841 [PCC, Under £50]. He married 2ndly, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 25 April 1840, Eleanor Hester Vernier, widow, daughter of John Baster [Registers, Entry 325]. She was born at Chelsea, Middlesex, 1802-3 [1851 Census] or 1804-5 [age at burial]. Music paper ruler, with child Isabella Vernier, aged 18, born at St Clement Danes, Middlesex. French and musical professor, 1851 [HO107/1482-27]. She was buried at Victoria Park Cemetery, from 526 New Oxford Street, London, 27 June 1858, aged 53 [Registers, RG8/42-51]. They had issue:1b. Susanna Mary Ann Fairbrother, born at 264 Holborn, St Giles-in-the-Fields, 7 March 1841 [GRO Birth Certificate], and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 25 April 1841 [Registers, Entry 152]. Aged 10, 1851.9a. Sophia Amelia Fairbrother, baptised at St Mary Lambeth, Surrey, 15 July 1804 [BTs and Registers, Page 146, both have 'Sophia & Amelia daur (sic) of Robert & Mary Fairbrother' apparently a mistake; called Sophia Amelia at baptisms of children]. Aged 35, 1541; called Sophia Amelia in 1851, her name and condition struck through [Census]. She died (as Sophia) in Lambeth RD, March Quarter 1861 [GRO Death Indexes, 1d 253]. She had married John Brockwell [not Brockett as in N&Q 1897], contractor and builder. He was born at Lambeth, c.1802 [Census]. Of Providence Street, Walworth, bricklayer, 1827 [baptism of daughter]; of Lambeth, plasterer, 1829 [baptism of daughter]; of 4 White Hart Street, Kennington, informant at death of father-in-law, 1841; there, bricklayer, 1841 [HO107/1055-2-8]; there, master bricklayer, 1851 [HO107/1573-1-16]; there, bricklayer, 1858 [Directory]; of 15 Chester Street, Lambeth, bricklayer & builder, 1861 [RG9/353-92-25]. They had issue:
2b. Eleanor Anne Vernier Fairbrother, born at St Giles-in-the-Fields [1851, 1861 Census], 13 October 1842 and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 20 November 1842 [Registers, Entry 365]. Aged 8, 1851; of 3 New Compton Street, St Giles-in-the-Fields, lodger, silk embroideress, 1861 [RG9/173-2-2].
3b. Edward Samuel Fairbrother, born at St Giles-in-the-Fields [1851 Census] 30 July 1844 and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 20 October 1844 [Registers, Entry 421; ? 20 November 1842 in IGI], Aged 6, 1851; aged 16, painter, with father, 1861.
4b. Georgiana Alice Fairbrother, born at St Giles-in-the-Fields [1851 Census] 21 January 1847 and baptised at St Martin-in-the-fields, 15 August 1847 [Registers, Entry 397]. Aged 4, 1851; of 3 New Compton Street, St Giles-in-the-Fields, lodger, silk embroideress, 1861 [RG9/173-2-2, as 'Alice'].1b. Sophia Amelia Brockwell, born 1 November 1827 and baptised at St Peter Walworth, 28 November 18827 [Registers, Entry 439, Page 55]. Aged 12, 1841 [Census].10a. Ann Russell Fairbrother, born 30 November 1805 and baptised (as 'Ann') at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 5 December 1805 [Registers, Page 36] and again (as 'Ann Russell') 9 November 1806 [Registers, Page 73]. Actress and dancer as 'Ann Russell', 'Mrs C Hill' or 'Miss Cehill'. She died at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 4 December 1890 [G.B. Bryan, Stage Deaths (1991) 1091; The Clipper, 20 December 1890, 651e; New York Dramatic Mirror, 3 January 1891, 13b]. She had married at St Marylebone, Middlesex, 1 November 1825, Charles John Hill [Registers, Entry 924, Page 308], son of John Hill. He was born in London, 4 February 1805. Actor and stage manager. He died at Jersey City Heights, New Jersey, U.S.A., 23 September 1874 [G.B. Bryan (1991) 611; The Clipper, 3 October 1874, 214f; The Era, 18 October 1874, 10b; N&Q 1897]. They had (? with other) issue:
2b. Emily Mary Brockwell, born at William Street, Lambeth [1851 Census], 7 August 1829 and baptised at St Mary Newington, 18 October 1829 [Registers, Entry 540, Page 68]. Aged 21, 1851 [Census].
3b. Charles Thomas Brockwell, born at William Street, Lambeth, 1831-2 [Census]. Aged 10, 1841; aged 19, employed by father, 1851 [Census].
4b. Robert Fairbrother Brockwell, born at Princes Road, Lambeth, c.1833 [1851 Census], and baptised at St Mary, Lambeth, 24 January 1836 [Registers, Entry 1833, Page 230]. Aged 8, 1841; aged 17, employed by father, 1851 [Census]; with father, bricklayer & builder, 1861 [Census].
5b. Joseph Ebsworth Brockwell, born at White Hart Street, Lambeth [1851 Census], and baptised at St Mary, Lambeth, 24 January 1836 [Registers, Entry 1834, Page 230]. Aged 6, 1841; aged 15, employed by father, 1851 [Census].
6b. Nathaniel Brockwell, born at White Hart Street, Lambeth [Census], 13 January 1838 and baptised at St Mark, Kennington, 9 June 1844 [Registers, Entry 228]. Aged 4, 1841 [Census]; aged 13, scholar, 1851 [Census].
7b. Mary Caroline Brockwell, born at White Hart Street, Lambeth [Census], 18 November 1841, and baptised at St Mark, Kennington, 9 June 1844 [Registers, Entry 229]. Aged 9, scholar, 1851 [Census].
8b. Margaret Harriet Brockwell, born at White Hart Street, Lambeth [Census], 3 April 1844, and baptised at St Mark, Kennington, 9 June 1844 [Registers, Entry 230]. Aged 6, scholar, 1851 [Census]; aged 17, 1861 [Census]. She married in Lambeth RD, September Quarter 1860, John Charles Fairman [GRO Marriage Index]. He was born at St Marylebone, Middlesex, 1840-1 [1861 Census]. With father-in-law, g(?)n maker, 1861 [Census]. They had (? with other) issue:1c. James John Fairman, born at Lambeth, aged 4 months in 1861 [Census].1b. Charles John Barton Hill, born at Dover, Kent, 26 September 1828. Apprenticed to uncle Samuel Glover Fairbrother, printer, 1840-6; in his household, aged 13, 1841 [HO107/741-5-7]; known as 'Barton Hill', actor, manager and playwright; of Hillbrook, Paradise Valley, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., claimed incorrectly to be nephew of Mrs FitzGeorge, 1897 [N&Q 8S xii (1897) 250]. He died at Paradise Valley, Pennsylvania, or Altamonte Springs, Florida, 25 January 1911 [G.B. Bryan (1991) 611; The Clipper, 4 February 1911, 1266b; New York Dramatic Mirror, 1 February 1911, 13b].11a. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Fairbrother, born 4 February 1807 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 7 February 1807 [Registers, Page 84; not mentioned in Huberty iii (1981) 181]. He was buried at St Mary, Islington, Middlesex, 27 September 1807, infant [Registers].
?2b. Robert Hill, a child of this name, aged 9, was in the household of Samuel Glover Fairbrother in 1841 [HO107/741-5-7].
12a. Charles Brinsley Fairbrother, born in Drury Lane [1861 Census], 29 August 1808 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, same day [Registers, Page 145]. 'A printer with his elder brother' [N&Q 8S xii (1897) 250]; of Crop Court, Long Acre, St Martin-in-the-Fields, printer, 1841 [HO107/740-8-29r]; of Crown Court, Little Russell Street, Lambeth, printer, 1861 [RG9/353-92-25]; of 5 Rolls Buildings, Strand, printer, 1871 [RG10/368-43-25]. Perhaps the Charles Farebrother (sic) who died in Strand RD, March Quarter 1880, aged 72 [GRO Death Indexes, 1b 527]. He had married 1stly, before 1841, Caroline ... She was born in Germany, 1814-5 [1851 Census]. Aged 25, 1841 [Census]; aged 36, 1851 [Census]. She died before 1861; perhaps the Caroline Fairbrother who died in Strand RD, March Quarter 1858 [GRO Death Indexes, 1b 330]. He married 2ndly, between 1861 and 1871, Mary Ann ... She was born at Maidstone, Kent, 1819-200. Aged 51, 1871 [Census]. Perhaps the Mary Ann Farebrother (sic) who died in Strand RD, June Quarter 1872, aged 53 [GRO Death Indexes, 1b 362].
13a. Edmond George Fairbrother, born 13 August 1810 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 21 August 1810 [Registers, Page 226]. He was buried at St Mary, Islington, Middlesex, 5 September 1810, infant [Registers].
14a. Caroline Louisa Fairbrother, born in Drury Lane, 19 October 1813 and baptised at St Giles-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, 25 October 1813 [Registers, Entry 792; entry incorrectly attributed to Mrs FitzGeorge in Huberty iii (181) 181]. Aged 67, 1881 [Census]. She died in Hackney RD, March Quarter 1883, aged 69 [GRO Death Indexes, 1b 305]. As of 4 Montgomery Street, South Leith (address of her sister Mary Emma Ebsworth), daughter of Robert Fairbrother, she had married by banns at St Cuthbert, Edinburgh, Midlothian, 30 May 1831, Thomas Herbert Reynoldson, comedian [Registers, Page 176; also recorded at South Leith, Registers, Page 141]. He was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, 18-7-8 [1881 Census; age at death]. Of Beresford Street, Walworth, Surrey, composer of music, 1832 [baptism of daughter]; actor, dramatic author, his compositions and translations (sometimes using name 'Pelham Hardwicke'), 1839-59, listed by Boase; of Railway Station, Harrow Weald, Middlesex, dramatic author, 1851 [HO107/1700-11-1]; of 5 Wilmington Street, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, author journalist, 1861 [RG9/193-46-37]; of 2 Haven Cottage, Ealing, Middlesex, retired literary man, 1871 [RG10/1317-54-10]; of 16 Millard Road, Stoke Newington, dramatic author, 1881 [RG11/283-41-28]; of 16 Millard Road, February 1882 [Boase]. He died in Hackney RD, September Quarter 1883, aged 74 [GRO Death Indexes; not July 1888, aged 80, as in 'Theatrical and Musical Obituary' in Who's Who in the Theatre; no W/A 1883-5. They had (? with other) issue:1b. Caroline Mary Reynoldson, born 13 May 1832 and baptised at St Peter, Walworth, Surrey, 13 June 1832 [Registers, Entry 153]. Went 'with her parents to the U.S. when quite young' [F.S. Drake, Dictionary of American Biography (1872) 768]; 'Was adopted by Peter Richings, the popular singer and actor, and was brought to this country when an infant' [National Cyclopaedia of America Biography, ix (1907) 189]; adopted by Peter Richings (stage name of Peter Puget), actor, singer and manager (1797-1871), who had gone to America with his wife and first appeared on the stage in New York, 25 September 1821 [Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, v (1898) 245; F.S. Drake, Dictionary of American Biography (1872) 768; Dumas Malone, Dictionary of American Biography, xv (1935) 580-1; National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vii (1897) 449]; she was known as Caroline Richings; first appeared as a pianist in Philadelphia, 20 November 1847; leading soprano in Richings English Opera Troupe; she was 'one of the most admired stars in the country' [J.N. Ireland, Records of the New York Stage, ii (1867) 605]. She died at Richmond, Virginia, 14 January 1882 [not 1884; Dumas Malone, Dictionary of American Biography, xv (1935) 580-1, quoting Daily Dispatch, Richmond, 15 January 1882]. She had married in Boston, U.S.A., 25 December 1867, Pierre Bernard [see also Boase, sub Richings, where her original name is incorrectly given as Reed].(c) Anthony J. Camp, June 2008; amended August 2009, and 11 October 2022 [re death of Mary 1838]..
2b. Thomas Herbert Reynoldson, born at Lambeth, Surrey, 1838-9 [1851 Census]. Aged 12, 1851; with father, book binder, 1861 [Census].
3b. Francis Pinkney, Reynoldson, born at Southwark, Surrey, 1842-3 [1851 Census]. Aged 8, 1851 [Census].
4b. Benjamin Fisher Reynoldson, born at London, 1850 [1851 Census]. Aged 1, 1851 [Census].
5b. Eliza C. Reynoldson, born at Kingsbury [1861 Census] or Edgware [1871 Census], Middlesex, 1852-4 [Census]. Aged 7, scholar, 1861 [Census]; aged 18, 1871 [Census].