WILLIAM BROWNFIELD was born on the 30^th of January 1772 and was christened on February 23, 1772, in St Alphege’s Church, Greenwich.¹ He was named William after his Father, who at that time was working as an able seaman in the naval yacht, Katharine, based in Deptford dockyard. When he was aged five, his father transferred to HMS Robust and went away to sea for longer periods, although William may have seen him at Christmas 1778, when the ship was tied up for repairs in Portsmouth Dockyard. William was apprenticed to Thomas Halfpenny when he was 14, on May 18, 1786.² He completed his apprenticeship on 15^th November 1792 and The Company of Watermen and Lightermen  awarded him his freedom on June 6, 1793.³ Three months later on September 3^rd 1793 at St Margaret’s church, Lee, in Kent, a village three or four miles south of Greenwich, William married his apprentice master Thomas’ daughter, SARAH HALFPENNY.⁴ Sarah had been christened on September 26, 1771 in St Alphege’s church.⁵ Her mother was also called Sarah.

THE GREENWICH WATER FENCIBLES

When William had finished his apprenticeship he worked on the river but he was an active and energetic man. “When the security of the country was threatened by the war with the French in 1798, he took a leading part in the formation of a corps of volunteers, whose services were at once accepted by the government and of which he eventually held the principal command. The corps was enrolled as the Greenwich Water Fencibles”⁶ They were then under the command of a Captain Colegate. The Greenwich Water Fencibles were in a way a forerunner of the R.N.V.R. and probably recruited mainly from local watermen. Its strength was a Commandant, 3 Captains, 6 Lieutenants, 24 Masters, 24 Mates and 157 Gunners and Privates. It supplied almost all its own equipment including “two brass field pieces on Gover’s principle”. ⁷ Their uniform was a jersey, a woollen comforter, a white waistcoat and flannel trousers. They were armed with cutlasses, pistols, pikes and tomahawks.

In 1807, a powerful fleet under the command of Admiral Gambier consisting of 25 sail of the line, more than 40 frigates, sloops, bomb vessels and gun brigs, with 377 transports to convey over 27,000 troops under Lord Cathcart, with Sir Arthur Wellesley as second in command, set off for Denmark. By August 1st, they were off the entrance to Gothenburg. On the 2nd of September, Copenhagen was bombarded by both sea and land forces. Many fierce fires were started and on the 5th, the Danish governor issued a flag of truce. Terms were signed on 7th and the Danish fleet of 17 ships of the line, seven frigates and 25 gunboats became British prizes¹⁵. The Greenwich Water Fencibles, probably with William in the party, were sent as prize crews to bring back these Danish ships, captured at what became known as the second Battle of Copenhagen.¹⁶

In 1809/10, the Greenwich Water Fencibles took part in the ill-fated Walcheren Expedition. The fleet sailed from the Downs on 28th July 1809 with orders from the Government for ”the capture or destruction of the enemy’s ships, building or afloat, at Antwerp and Flushing: the destruction of the arsenals at Antwerp, Terneuse and Flushing; the reduction of the Island of Walcheren, and if possible, the rendering of the Scheldt no longer navigable for ships”. Unfortunately due to timidity and poor leadership only Flushing was taken and the expedition became bogged down on the low lying island of Walcheren; here, many of the army died of disease and eventually it was decided that the situation was untenable and the army withdrawn¹⁷. The Greenwich Water Fencibles were later thanked for their services in the London Gazette. In 1811, they helped the press gang in the neighbourhood to fill up the fleet.¹⁸

By this time William had risen to command the Greenwich Water Fencibles and “In the year 1813, the then Prince Regent (later George IV) reviewed the corps on Blackheath, the Prince being afterwards entertained by Captain-Commandant William Brownfield and the Officers of the corps.” ²¹ The unit was disbanded in 1814.²²

 Despite his involvement with the Greenwich Water Fencibles William was busy making his way in the world and at the age of 27, in 1799, he was able to buy two houses in Crane Street by the river. These semi-detached houses, backing onto the river Thames, were the property of a John Alexander, a carpenter from West Wirkham in Kent and his wife Elizabeth. They had been left to Elizabeth by her father, John Bryant, late of Bromley in Kent. The deed states that for the sum of £215, William Brownfield made the absolute purchase of:

”All those two Messuages or Tenements (formerly three) and the ground & soil whereon the same stand, together with the sheds, bankside, wharf and appurtinances thereto belonging, situate, lying and being in a street or place commonly called or known by the name of Crane Street in the Parish of Greenwich aforesaid in the County of Kent”.⁸

When he bought them, there seem to have been sitting tenants, as the deed goes on:

 “and were heretofore in the several tenancies or occupations of Robert Firkinson, George Davis and Elizabeth Bunk, widow and now in the occupation of Joseph Bennet and Mary Bunk, widow.”

It is likely that William soon moved into one of the pair of houses, as in a list of Freemen of the Guild of Watermen and Lightermen at the Guildhall Library, William Brownfield of 3 Crane Street is recorded for 1803 – 1827 ⁹ (although he gained his freedom in 1792 and did not die until 1845). This is the only time that a number is quoted. (In the 1881 census, by which time the street numbers are recorded, number 3, is the first house in the street next to the ‘Yacht Tavern’.) There is no doubt that William was an astute businessman and in 1913, he sold the two houses in Crane Street to the Naval Hospital for £1800, a profit of nearly £50,000 in today’s money. The hospital already owned the properties on each side and no doubt felt that to have the complete row was financially beneficial. The coup de grace however, is that the day before the documents were signed, he had agreed to rent the properties back,¹⁰ for an annual rent of one peppercorn, with a lease for two years, but in fact continued to live there until he died in 1845¹¹, probably receiving the rent from the house next door.

In 1802, William bought a half share in a smack the “John and Ann”. Entry No 127 in the Board of Trade register of London Coasting Trade, dated 4^th September 1802, states: ¹²
Owners:    William Brownfield and Thomas Irwin of Greenwich, Waterman
Vessels name:    John and Ann
Of what place:   London
Masters name:    William Hartful
When and where built: Built at Maldon in Essex in the year one thousand eight hundred as appears by a certificate of Registry granted at London 8^th Sept 1801 N151 now delivered up and cancelled
Surveying Officers:  Thomas Peters, C.Welstead, and J.Hapsard.
Whether British, foreign, or British plantation built: British
Number of decks:   1
Number of masts:   1
Ships extreme length aloft:  43,,9
Ships extreme breadth, at the broadest part, distinguishing whether taken above or below
the Main Wales:    above - 15,,5
Heighth between decks:   in well - 8,,11
Depth of Hold:   --  “  --
Tons Burthen:    39 & 27/94
Kind of Vessel:  Square stern’d and square tuck’d smack with stern sheets.
Whether any or no galley:  No
Kind of Head (figurehead): No

The record is amended:

Endorsed at London 28 Feb 1803 to Samuel Thompson
Endorsed at London 11 Oct 1808 to James Rotherham
Endorsed at London 27 Oct 1809 to William Hill
Endorsed at London 28 Dec 1809 to John Robson
Be it remembered That I William Brownfield of Greenwich in the County of Kent Waterman have this day sold and transferred one third part or share in and to the ship or vessel (being a smack) mentioned in the within Certificate of Registry unto Samuel Ford of Greenwich in the County of Kent aforesaid Fisherman Witness my Hand the twenty seventh day of October in the Year of our Lord one Thousand eight hundred and nine.

In the Presence of     Willm Brownfield
 W Baker           }
 WW.Billing      }

also:  London    6 Oct 1810   William Pierce  Master
     - “ -    16 Nov    “      John Robinson     -  “ -

The earlier records in the Board of trade register show that the ‘John and Ann’ was bought from the builder on November 13, 1800¹³ by John Jones, gentleman and John Jones junior, Deal Merchants both of Limehouse. The master was Thomas Hawkins. She was sold again on September 8^th, 1801¹⁴ to Ralph Fenwick of Greenwich dealer in ships stores, from whom William bought her in 1802.

William was also very busy working in the community and held a number of appointments:¹⁹

1807/08  Overseer of the poor for the Parish of Greenwich

1809 William was a witness to a deed of gift to the Almshouses at about the time his mother went to live there.

1810 Commission of Sewers - William Brownfield on the jury.

Commissioners of the Court of Request (for the recovery of small debts within the hundred of Blackheath):  Commissioner for Greenwich - William Brownfield.

From 1809, William joined the Vestry and at this time George and Mathew Munyard were also members. A few years later William’s sons would marry three of the Munyard girls. The Vestry was a committee which met after church at St Alphege’s and held considerable power, being concerned with the civil as well as the ecclesiastical administration of the parish and would be the equivalent today of the District Council. Many of the meetings were concerned with setting and collecting the local rate, which at his first meeting on October 16, was set at one shilling and five pence in the pound for maintaining the poor, and one penny for cleaning and repairing the highways in the Parish. This rose rapidly and by June 1810 was two shillings for the poor and two pence for the highways. At the Vestry on March 31, 1812 considerable objection was raised to the cost of building the new county gaol at Maidstone and the consequent increase in the County Rate for the parish from £133-16s. to £2281-1s during the previous four years.²⁰
At the first meeting of the Vestry which William attended on October 16, 1809, a plan to erect an obelisk “in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the accession of the sovereign” was thrown out and an alternative plan to use the money to build Almshouses on waste ground in London Road, was agreed. William was nominated as joint Churchwarden at the Vestry on April 24, 1810 and first signed the Vestry Minutes as Churchwarden for the meeting of June 22, 1810. In March of the following year, a complaint was made that the Auditors of the Royal Naval Asylum (this became the Royal Naval School, in the Queen’s House) had refused to pay the rate for the maintenance of the poor and the repair of the highways. There was much indignation and it was ordered that the Officers and Servants of the Royal Naval Asylum were generally liable and it seems that the churchwardens were left to sort it out. On 22^nd March there was much discussion about a piece of land which had been left to the Parish by a Reverend Plurne, but which had never been taken into use as it had been occupied. This had become vacant and William had authorised the payment of £45 to purchase this land for the Parish; William appears to have prevailed. The last time that William’s signature appears in the minute book is on March 6, 1812, when there was a decision to raise a petition to the Commons against a Bill authorising the erection of Toll Gates within the Parish.

In 1822, a Thomas Halfpenny was born in Crane Street, to Edward Halfpenny, a waterman and his wife Hannah.²³ He was presumably a relation of Sarah Brownfield, When the census was taken on June 6, 1841, William is recorded living at Crane Street:²⁴

William Brownfield 70 (M) Independent
Sarah Brownfield 70 (F) Wife
Mary Dewdney 43 (F) F.S. (female servant)

William and Sarah lived on the smarter, north side of Crane Street, with their garden running down to the river. Entering Crane Street from the Naval Hospital end, on the corner with it’s entrance in Park Row was a large public house, originally called the George, which had been extensively rebuilt during the 1830s and renamed the Trafalgar Tavern. Two brothers called Kay had drawn up the plans for the building and they saw to it that naval associations were kept alive; rooms were named after Nelson, Hardy, Hawke, Howe, Duncan and Collingwood. Trafalgar was no idle name either, as a large riverside room had balconies modelled on the stern gallery of HMS Victory. This was one of three taverns that became celebrated for whitebait suppers in the nineteenth century. From being a dish served casually at the many weatherboarded inns along the waterfront, whitebait suppers and public dinners grew into a fashionable Greenwich ritual. By the 1830s, it became the custom for the Prime minister of the day and most of the Cabinet to make the journey from Whitehall, generally just before the House rose for the summer. A decorated Ordnance barge brought parties to the various Greenwich Taverns. The Liberals chose the Trafalgar; the Tories preferred the very large Ship Hotel by the Western gate of the Hospital, where the Cutty Sark now lies or the Crown and Sceptre at the other end of Crane Street²⁵. Next to the Trafalgar was another smaller public house the Yacht Tavern and in the 1841 census, the Brownfield’s house was the second after this. In between, lived a William Kay aged 45, with his 30-year-old wife and their nine children.²⁶ Mr Kay was a sail maker, but whether he was related to the Joseph and John Kay who had rebuilt the Trafalgar, is unknown. William’s house appears to have a small jetty at the bottom of the garden.
On the other side of William and Sarah lived an elderly lady, Sarah Nevill aged 70, of independent means, with a 13-year-old female servant Sarah Brown. It is difficult to know which was the other half of Williams’ pair of houses. Then followed three more families and the harbour master’s office, where Charles Rowland was in residence.²⁷ A 1913 map shows six plots between the ‘Yacht’ and the larger corner plot, which was presumably the Harbour Masters Office; there is then a small gap possibly stairs or a slipway and then the Crown and Sceptre Public house. Beyond the Crown and Sceptre, it was possible to walk past the Trinity Hospital almshouses down an alley known as High Bridge, to another public house the Golden Anchor on the corner of Bennett Street. The opposite corner formed the beginning of Crowley’s Wharf, where 5 families were recorded as living in 1841, including William’s sons William and Thomas Brownfield and their families. They lived next door to each other, at one end, next to a building in multiple occupation known as Bachelor’s Hall²⁸. Crowley’s Wharf was continuous with Ballast Quay and it is possible that the names were used indiscriminately. At the end of Ballast Quay, although the recording is rather confused, was Crowley House, where Crowley Mellington an Iron manufacturer and his family lived. Further along Ballast Quay, in houses facing the river lived another 11 families, who included James Brownfield the younger brother of William and Thomas with his family and a 17-year-old female servant. By the time the Victorian map had been printed, the Harbour Masters Office had been moved to the end of Ballast Quay. Three of the five surviving children of William and Sarah therefore lived within a few doors of each other, along the edge of the river and within a short walk from their parents. In the 1851 census, which is after William’s death, his daughter Sarah Ann aged 47, married to Robert Roberts, a merchant, was living just around the corner from William’s house in the opposite direction, at number 27 Park Row, next to the Police Station. Also in the house were her 25-year-old unmarried daughter Mary Ann, a cook and a housemaid.²⁹
However, in providing a surety for £50 to support the admission of his grandson Alfred to the Naval School at Greenwich in January 1842, it states “that we William Brownfield of Crowley’s Wharf Greenwich in the county of Kent Ship Owner and James Brownfield also of Crowley’s Wharf Greenwich in the aforesaid County”³⁰. It seems unlikely that William actually lived in Crowley’s Wharf, as he was certainly living in Crane Street at the time of the census in 1841 and  Crane street is recorded as the address on both the death certificates for his wife in 1843 and himself in 1845.

Sarah Halfpenny died when she was 72 years old, at Crane Street on September 14, 1843 and was buried in the graveyard at St. Alphege’s Church on the 20^th of September³¹.

 William died eighteen months later of “natural causes”, aged 73 on March 28, 1845, at his home in Crane Street. The informant, present at the death of William was Maria Rofs also of Crane Street, Greenwich.³²

This is the last Will and Testament of me William BROWNFIELD the elder of Crane street, Greenwich in the County of Kent, Gentleman.
I direct that all my just debts funeral and testamentary expenses may be paid as soon as can be after my death
And I ratify and confirm the three several Indentures of Lease Appointment Release and Assignment dated respectively the twenty first and twenty second days of May one thousand eight hundred and thirty three whereby I have conveyed settled and assured unto a trust for each of my three sons William BROWNFIELD, Thomas BROWNFIELD and James BROWNFIELD their respective heirs and assigns a freehold messuage and premises in East street Greenwich aforesaid and numbered 23 and in the said Indenture more particularly described.
And I give and devise to my daughter Sarah Ann ROBERTS wife of Robert ROBERTS in case she is living at my death her heirs and assigns All that my freehold messuage and premises with the appurtenances situate no 1 in East street Greenwich aforesaid now or late in the occupation of Mr Lowe. But in case my said daughter shall die in my life leaving lawful issue Then I give and devise the said messuage and premises with the appurtenances unto such lawful issue as well Sons as Daughters share and share alike if more than one as tenants in common and not as join tenants their several and respective heirs and assigns and if only one then the whole thereof to such only one or his or her heirs and assigns.
I give and devise to my daughter Mary FRY wife of John FRY in case she is living at my death her heirs and assigns all that my freehold coach house stable yard and premises with the appurtenances situate at or near East street Greenwich aforesaid and near to the said messuage last described and now in the occupation of Mr Quartermain. But in case my last named daughter shall die in my lifetime leaving lawful issue Then I give and devise the said coach house stable yard and premises with the appurtenances unto such lawful issue as well sons and daughters share and share alike if more than one as tenants in common and not as joint tenants their several and respective heirs and assigns if only one then the whole thereof to such only one his or her heirs and assigns.
And all such which said freehold houses and premises before mentioned purchased of Mrs Wilkinson’s. And as to all those my three freehold messuages and premises situate in Park Row Greenwich aforesaid now or late in the occupations of Mr Williams, Mr Swan and Mrs Haddington and all my freehold messuage and premises situate in Bear Lane Greenwich aforesaid now or late in the occupation of Mrs Morris and which said four last mentioned messuages and premises I purchased of Mr Partridge and all that freehold estate and premises situate in Union street Greenwich aforesaid let on lease to Mr Wiltshire and all those my two freehold messuages and premises in Stockwell street Greenwich aforesaid which I purchased of Mr Tompany and others and let on lease to Mr Smith and Mr Abraham and all those my three freehold premises situate in Clarks Buildings East street Greenwich aforesaid which I purchased of Mr Fountains Executors and now or late in the occupations of Mr Aylmer Mr Sutton and Mr Clark and all other my freehold estates whatsoever and wheresoever situate not heretofore by me disposed of and also as to all those my two leasehold messuages and premises one situate in the Trafalgar road Greenwich aforesaid and in the occupation of Mr Bayley and the other situated in Creed Place Trafalgar road Greenwich aforesaid in the occupation of Mr Martin
And also as to all my Stock or Annuities in the Bank of England mortgages and securities for money and all other my Personal Estate and Effects debts and credits whatsoever and wheresoever situate which I shall die possessed of I give devise and bequeath the same respectively and every part thereof and all my term estate and interest therein and thereto with their respective rights members and appurtenances unto and equally between my said three before named sons William BROWNFIELD Thomas BROWNFIELD and James BROWNFIELD and my said two daughters the said Sarah Ann ROBERTS and Mary Ann FRY as tenants in common and not as joint tenants their several and respective executors administrators and assigns for their several and respective absolute use provided always that if any one or more of my said five sons and daughters before named shall die in my lifetime leaving lawful issue who shall survive me Then and in that case and in every such case and notwithstanding anything heretofore contained it is my will meaning and intention that the issue of such son or daughter or sons or daughters so dying as aforesaid shall stand in the place of the parent for and in respect of the part and share which the parent would have been titled to if they he or she had survived and in my said freehold and residuary real and personal estate and effects as aforesaid and I do give devise and bequeath the same respectively with their respective appurtenances to such issue accordingly that his or her heirs executors administrators and assigns as tenants in common and not as join tenants
And I direct that the rents and profits of the property estate and effects to which such lawful issue may be or become entitled as aforesaid shall during their respective minorities be laid out and applied by the Executors for the time being of this my will in for or towards their her or his support maintenance education and cloathing and in proportion to their respective parts and shares therein
And I hereby nominate constitute and appoint my said son William BROWNFIELD my said Son in Law the said John FRY and my said daughter the said Sarah Ann ROBERTS Executrix and Executors of this my Will
And I direct that they respectively shall be answerable only for so much property estate and effects as the respectively shall receive and that any one of them shall not be answerable for the others of them nor for the acts deeds receipts of the other or others of them the joining in receipts for conformity not withstanding but each of them for himself or herself and his and her acts deeds and receipts only
And that they respectively and their respective executors and administrators shall and may out of the monies coming to their hands under this my will reimburse themselves respectively all loss costs and expenses they respectively may be put to under this my Will
 And hereby revoking and making void all former Wills Codicils and Testamentary Dispositions by me made I declare this only to be my last will and Testament
In testimony whereof I the said William BROWNFIELD the testator have to this my last Will and Testament contained in three sheets of paper set my hand at the bottom of the two first sheets thereof and also my hand at the foot or end of this the third or last sheet thereof this sixteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty three.

Signed:  W BROWNFIELD

Signed and declared by the said William BROWNFIELD the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who were both present at the same time and who in his presence at his request and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses attesting the same

Signed Chas R PARKER, John C PARKER, Greenwich³³

PROVED at London the 15^th April 1845 before the Worshipful Sherrard Beaumont Burnaby Doctor of Laws and Surrogate by the oaths of William BROWNFIELD the son John FRY and Sarah Ann ROBERTS (Wife of Robert ROBERTS) the daughter the Executors to whom Admon was granted having been first sworn duly to administer³⁴

William’s great aunt Elizabeth Spilsbury had been buried in a pauper’s grave at St Alphege’s in 1797³⁵. William’s father was an able seaman in the navy for 16 years, who became a boatswain’s mate for the last two years of his career, before being admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital as a wounded pensioner. His mother Ann was living in the Almshouses until her death in 1829. The family appears to have been quite poor until William, who left a considerable number of properties in his will. William was not employed for many years, describing himself as a ship owner and in the 1841 census as ‘of independent means’. He also held a number of voluntary positions, one of these was as commissioner to the poor at about the time that his mother Ann was given a place in the newly built almshouses. William appears to have been a bit of an entrepreneur and may have arranged this. His three sons all became pilots, a most respected profession, at least two with Trinity House Warrants. His grandson Mathew, son of James, was the first recorded doctor in the family, a profession, which has recurred in each generation since. It appears to be to William that we owe the beginning of the social and educational position, which the family now enjoys.

Following William’s death an auction was held of his considerable portfolio of properties, on Monday November 12^th at ‘Garraway’s’. An advertisement appeared in the Times on October 31:

Sources

William and Sarah

1. St Alphege’s Baptismal register, entry for William Brownfield 23 Feb.1772. Transcript in Greenwich Local History Library.
2. Apprentice Bindings, Watermen’s Company. Truelove Ltd. microfiche at Greenwich Local History Library.
3. Waterman and Lighterman’s Company quaterage book, London Guildhall Library.
4. “Halfpenny Index” by M.Timms, Northwich, Cheshire (1992). Letter from Rhonda Mckinnon November 25, 2000.
5. Ibid.
6. Newspaper cutting from the “South London Press”
7. Greenwich Local History Society Transactions, Vol VIII No. 4. p.222. Greenwich Local History Library.
8. The National Archive, Kew ADM 75/3, Crane St, Brownfield.
9. Waterman and Lighterman’s Company quaterage book, London Guildhall Library.
10. The National Archive, Kew ADM 75/3, Crane St, Brownfield.
11. Death certificate No. 473 Greenwich East District. 26 March 1845
12. Public Record Office, Kew. BT 107/3. London Coasting Trade 1802, 4 Sept, Entry 127
13. The National Archive, Kew. BT 107/2. London Coasting Trade 1800, 13 Nov, Entry 173.
14. The National Archive, Kew. BT 107/2. London Coasting Trade 1801, 8 Sep, Entry 151.
15. Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, Volume 4, page 542,(1905)
16. Greenwich Local History Society Transactions, Vol VIII No. 4. p.222. Greenwich Local History Library.
17. Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, Volume 4, page 580,(1905)
18. Greenwich Local History Society Transactions, Vol VIII No. 4. p.222. Greenwich Local History Library.
19. Information from St Alphege’s Parish Chest. Letter from Irene Absalom November 12, 2000
20. Vestry Minute Book. Original in Greenwich Local History Library.
21. Newspaper cutting from the “South London Press”
22. Greenwich Local History Society Transactions, Vol VIII No. 4. p.222. Greenwich Local History Library.
23. “Halfpenny Index” by M.Timms, Northwich, Cheshire (1992). Letter from Rhonda Mckinnon.
24. 1841 census. Greenwich, Crane Street. Family Records Centre HO 107/489/1 p.22
25. ‘Greenwich and Blackheath Past’ by Felix Barker page 116.
26. 1841 census. Greenwich, Crane Street. Family Records Centre HO 107/489/1 p.22
27. 1841 census. Greenwich, Family Records Centre HO 107/489/6 p.41
28. Ibid.
29. 1851 census. Greenwich, Family Records Centre, HO 107/1587 p.9.
30.  The National Archive ADM 73/181
31. St Alphege’s Burial register, LDS film #2544594. Transcript Mary Taylor.
32. Death certificate No. 473 Greenwich East District. 26 March 1845
33. Family Records Centre, London PROB 11, microfiche.
34. Principal registry of Wills, William Brownfield, probate November 24, 1862.
35. St Alphege’s Burials 1749 – 1812 LMA m/f X094/3