The Brignall Family in England and Canada

Bringhenale - Domesday Book

What can we learn about the ancestors and family of Sarah Ann Brignall, who married Donald Brown (1840-1918)?

According to the Internet Surname Database, the surname Brignall has its origin in the village of Brignall, located in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. “The place name is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 in the spelling of 'Bringenhale',” a name which may mean “bright place.” According to the same website, Thomas de Briggenhale appeared in the Poll Tax rolls for the county of Yorkshire in 1379.

According to the parish records of Settrington, Yorkshire, England, John Bignal (Brignall) and Isabel Dale were married there on November 29, 1759. Among their children was John, who was born on October 18, 1774 in Settrington. The parish records of Terrington, Yorkshire, show that John married Sarah Pickering on April 16, 1798 in Terrington. They resided in the ancient village of Scagglethorpe in the parish of Settrington and had five children, including Thomas, born on July 7, 1803, and Joseph, born on June 3, 1811. Harmon Fairchild's notes say that Joseph was born in Wintringham, but this appears to be a mistake. The Brignall family moved to Wintringham, but the Settrington parish records show that both Thomas and Joseph were born in Settrington parish.

All Saints Parish Church, Settrington

Thomas Brignall was married to Mary Mook in 1824. They emigrated to Canada in about 1836 and were living there in Pickering Township of Ontario County, Ontario in 1851. Interestingly, the oldest child of Thomas and Mary was Sarah Ann Brignall, born in 1825. The Sarah Ann Brignall (1845-1933) who married Donald Brown (1840-1918) may have been named after her older cousin or after her mother's sister, whose name was also Sarah Ann.

Haigh Clapham and Ann Goodare were married in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in August of 1800. Haigh is said to have been a merchant. Haigh and Ann had several children including Harriet, who was born in 1818 in Wakefield. On December 28, 1836 in the village of Sherriff Hutton, Joseph Brignall married Harriet Clapham. They may have been servants who worked for the Ingram family there. Harmon Fairchild's notes say that Joseph and Harriet had three sons before having a daughter, Sarah Ann. One of the sons, named Haigh after his grandfather, was christened in Sherriff Hutton on July 22, 1838. Another son, John, was christened on August 1, 1841. All three boys died before 1851. According to the British census of 1851, Joseph Brignell, 39, his wife Harriet, 33, and their daughter Sarah, 6, were living at that time in the village of Earswick in the parish of Huntington, Yorkshire, close to the city of York. (Sarah was born in Earswick.)

As mentioned in an earlier post, Joseph Brignall and his family sailed from Liverpool to New York in the John Bright in May of 1855. According to the ship’s manifest, Joseph and Harriet were both 40 years of age and Sarah A., was 9. The 1861 census for Mariposa Township in Victoria County, Ontario, has Harriet Brignal, 45, who is married and living with Sarah A., who is 16. Also living them is a girl named Ellen Much, who is four years old. (Was Ellen an orphan Harriet took in?) All are listed as belonging to the Church of England. On a separate page of the census there is a Joseph Brignal, 45, a farmer who is married but apparently living by himself. His religion is listed as B. Christian, which stands for “Bible Christian.” The Bible Christian denomination began in England and spread to Canada. It was later absorbed into the Methodist Church of Canada. 

In the 1871 census Joseph, 60, and Harriet, 55, Brignal are listed as living in Fenelon Township, Victoria County. Ellen is now 13. Joseph is a farmer and their religion is “B. Christian.” In the 1881 census Joseph, 67, and Harriet, 65, Brignell are living in the city of Listowel, in Perth County, Ontario. (The Donald Brown family moved to Listowel sometime between 1871 and 1874.) Joseph and Harriet’s religion is “E. Meth.”-- apparently Episcopal Methodist. Joseph’s occupation is “Dealer in s___” (indeciperable). That brings us to the census of 1891. Joseph, 81, and Harriet, 75, now have a 17 year-old adopted daughter named Elizabeth. They are living in Listowel. Their religion is “United Brethren” and Elizabeth’s is “S. Army” (Salvation Army).

The following description of Joseph and Harriet is in Harmon Fairchild's notes of 1888 and probably comes from Sarah (Brignall) Brown: Joseph is "a small man" with a "light complexion" and "blue eyes." His wife is "large weight, 230 pounds."

Harriet Brignall died in Listowel on Monday morning, March 28, 1892. The funeral notice says she was 76, but if the record of her christening and the 1851 census are correct, she was actually three years younger than that. According to the funeral notice, the funeral was to "take place from her late residence, corner of Alma and Reserve Streets." She was to be buried in the New Cemetery. I have not yet learned the details of Joseph's death and burial.