Brook Street, Hastings

[Laura]

My Great, Great Grandad was born in 1887 in Brook Street, Hastings.
Unfortunately there is no entry for a father on his birth certificate, however I know his mother was Emma Bare a dressmaker living at 23 Brook Street Hastings at the time of the birth.

Would anybody know any history of this area or of any orphanages as I was told he was eventually adopted. There are no records of them on any census forms. Is anyone able to help me on any history of this area. Many thanks.

[patrickvic]

Had a look in the Local History section in the Library but could not find one single person with that unusual surname mentioned in births, deaths and baptisms around that time_ _ _She may have come from out of town..There are no records kept of any persons in the local orphanages or school registers around that time so far as I know_ _ _As to Brook Street at about that time the hose had not long been built_ _ _

[Laura]

Thank you so much for your help, I was coming round to the idea that maybe she came in from out of town, I did a search on the house and it seems she didn't hang about as other families moved in. Also thanks for the info regarding Brook Street. :w00t:

[patrickvic]

I Googled surnames Bare and it seems that there not many of them about in 1871 when they had a census,the name means unarmed or defenceless etc though there is a place in Lancashire with that name and she might have come from there..Presumably he was baptised at some time,any idea what religion he was brought up in ?

[Laura]

I asked my dad about religion, he has no idea, we presume his was CofE. Ive since discovered my Great Great Grandad boarding with a family in Battersea, London when he was 13. Bit of a mystery as he is not listed in any census records until that time.

Also my dad was told by his dad years ago that the Bare family originally came over from Germany the surname was spelt differently "Bauer" . The surname Bare comes up alot in London.

[patrickvic]

Could this be Bayer ?,it has the same sound and the Registrar could have misheard..Bayer is a German name from Bavaria and there were a lot of them in S.W London in 1881..Possibly she came down here for the birth and when they returned to London he could have been brought up as one of the family,Emily posing as an aunt which was quite common in those days..I looked up Surnames..Bayer on Google and a site Bayer Family Surnames gives quite a lot of information,see Distribution of Bayer in UK in 1881..This could be going off in the wrong direction but that is not unusual,it is like a maze a lot of wrong turnings_ _ __ _ _

[Laura]

We dont know what year the family originally came over from Germany, obviously it was long before my Great Great Grandad was born which was 1887. I can see what you are saying, and it could be a possibility, thanks for your input I will certainly check this out.

Thanks again.

[patrickvic]

If I may be allowed to make a suggestion,why not go backwards instead of forward and try and find out where Emily was born,the house and family ? there just might be a connection with his place of residence in Battersea_ _ _I do not know if records were kept of births around that time,at least before the 1871 census,did it give her age on the forms ?..23 is near the centre of the town and can be seen on Google Maps or more clearly on Virtual Earth,the house is now called May Cottage and is nearly twice the size of the other houses in the street..

[Laura]

The information on my Great Grandad's birth cert.

Sub-district "Saint Mary in the Castle"
1 July 1887, 23 Brook St. S.Andrew U.S.? (can't read last letter)
George Stanley Bare - Mother Emma Bare (dressmaker)
registered on 18th July 1887
signature of registrar Benjamin Tree

Unfortunately it didn't state her age, if only it had.!! Thank you for the info on the house, I certainly would like to take a visit to Hastings to see the house for myself.

[patrickvic]

Try Google,type Flickr-Photosharing,click search,type in Brook Street,Hastings,England..click on picture to enlarge,you can then save the picture to a file on My Pictures where it can be printed out..I am still finding my way around Flickr but if you perservere you can get there..It is the same with Virtual Earth which can be very fiddly,it showed the wrong house in Brook Street and it has a different colour outside decoration,taken some time ago ? The picture of the Prince Albert is included because it might be where they kissed the babies head !