Thread: Donald Brown, Queen's porter?

Hi guys, hoping you can help,

I have a Donald Brown, married to Isabella Short. He was born 1832 in Aberdeenshire, she was born 1844 in Coldstream, Berwickshire.

I've done some searches, having come across what I initially thought was a ridiculous match on A*. I'm now thinking it might actually be correct.

A Donald and Isabella turn up in the 1881 and 1891 censuses at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Their names, ages, places of birth, everything checks out. Osborne House is a house that was built for Queen Victoria, and it's where she lived when she visited the Isle of Wight. Donald's occupation in those two censuses is given as "Queen's porter". Already pretty cool, right?

I investigated Donald's parents, and I determined them to be John Brown and Margaret Leys, and it's at this point that things get really interesting. It seems Donald wasn't the only member of his family to serve the Queen. His two brothers, John and Archie, also served her, on her estates at Balmoral. John Brown is the John Brown, who became so important to the Queen after her husband's death.

The one concern I have is that I know, for a fact, that Isabella died in Australia, in 1920. What I don't know is when she went there, or why. I have no idea when Donald died, or whether he went to Australia with her. So, is Isabella in my tree the same Isabella whose husband is in service to Queen Victoria in 1881 and 1891, or have I been led astray?

I realised I was in danger of making too many assumptions, so I decided to see if I could find another Donald and Isabella who might be my Donald and Isabella. So far I've been unsuccessful. The only census matches for these two are the 1881 and 1891 censuses in Osborne house.

Could anyone who has access to Australian records please check whether Donald ever ended up in Beechworth, and also when Isabella went over, as obviously if it's prior to 1881, the people on the Isle of Wight can't be my relatives. Anything else around these two would be great. I've run out of evidence at this end without absolutely satisfying myself that I'm on the right track.

banditfivealive,
What were you going to say?
orinoco77.
Yes I see Donald and Isabella on 1881 and 1891 and as you say he is a porter to Quenn Victoria;s household.
Also ties in with the Isabella in 1851 in Berwickshire with parents.
If Donald and Isabella then went to Australia who is the Isabella aged57(s) born Coldstream working as a servant for a solicitor in Pont St Chelsea in 1901.
Where was Donald in 1901?
THE John Brown was born 1826 and died 1883 so the date of birth of Donald in 1832 would fit as being JB's brother.
Have you any photos of Donald to match up with the portrait of John brown.
Have you found a marriage in Scotland for Isabella and Donald?
The marriage in Australia was for a marriage of an Isabella Short but if Donald had died then she would have remarried as Isabella brown.
I have some cd's of Australian marriages so will take a look but hopefully someone here will find it more quickly.
Regards
Lola

Thanks, Lola5, that's exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for. I've got too close to this, and I'll be prone to dismiss anything that doesn't match my theory (stupid human nature!). I'll look into Isabella and the solicitor as a priority, but that doesn't necessarily prove anything at this point, as I don't know when Isabella went to Australia, nor whether Donald went with her (maybe he was dead).

I'm pretty sure there's more than one Isabella Short from my family in Beechworth in the right time period, so possibly any marriage you've found could be for one of them. I can't find a marriage for Donald and Isabella anywhere now that I'm looking, but I've had that relationship in my tree for a long time and can't now remember where it came from. If I figure that out it could save a lot of problems. It might possibly have come from the death record of a child of Isabella's, as the Australian records gave the parents of the deceased, and I got a lot of information about my Australian family that way.

Hi Bandit,

Thanks for the reply. Not really sure what you're saying. Are you saying my Donald and Isabella are likely to be the ones on the IOW, or not? The two deaths for Donald look interesting, particularly the earlier one. If that was correct, it would mean Isabella was on her own by 1901 and would presumably have been forced to find work. It might also explain a later decision to follow her parents to Australia (assuming we're definitely talking about the right people). It's hard work this lark. You'd think the families of the famous and well-connected might be a bit easier to trace!

Hi Bandit. My connection to these two is through Isabella, who is the daughter of Thomas Short and Mary Ann Wilson, and my great-great-great grandfather's first cousin. She was born in Coldstream in 1844, and died in Australia in 1920. I have a transcript of the register entry for her death, which gives her name as Isabella Brown (so she definitely married a Brown), her age and her parent's names. This shows that the Isabella who died in Australia is the Isabella who was born to Thomas and Mary Ann in Coldstream, but doesn't indicate anything about where she lived or who she worked for.

The census records in the IOW show Isabella Brown, married to Donald Brown, who was born in Coldstream in 1844. That's the limit of the connections I can make from the currently available evidence. I must have had some more evidence for her marriage to Donald Brown at some point, because he was already in my tree when I started to search for more info on Isabella, but I don't remember what that evidence might have been at this point.

I'm going to try an exact search for Isabella Brown on A* and see what possibilities there are. I'll also try searching for Isabella Short, in case I've messed up and my Isabella only married her husband in Australia.

Sorry, Lola, Donald was born in Crathie, Isabella was born in Coldstream. Apologies if that was confusing!