Aha!! ..... Finally we get to good old Thomas Clymow Brown!!
He, and more particularly his wife Grace Trewhela have been a thorn in my side for many years but perhaps finally DNA might open an obscure overgrown path that might lead us to her origins.
I have tried many times to identify Grace but have always come to a seemingly impenetrable wall. There is some discussion on this problem elsewhere on this forum but I will outline what I know once again. There are a number of discrepancies in the source information but ...........
Thomas Clymow Brown, a letter carrier of Trannack, married Grace Trewhela of Chyandour November 19th 1837 at Gulval. Thomas stated that he was a bachelor and that his father was Abraham Brown, an innkeeper whilst Grace stated she was a spinster and that her father was John Trewhela, a butcher. Subsequent records indicate that Grace was born at Crowan about 1809.
The only known John Trewhela who was a butcher and who could have been the father of Grace was the husband of Mary Holman but he had a daughter Grace Holman Trewhela baptized in 1800 and she survived until 1852. Further complications with this link are that John and Mary had a daughter named Martha baptized in November 1809.
Now it is possible that there were two daughters named Grace but the second would have to have been born in 1808 or 1810/11 given John and Mary also baptized children 11th July 1807 and 8th August 1812. The other possibility is that Grace's father is incorrectly recorded on her marriage record.
Before any further cogitation on this I will outline the remainder of what I know about Grace and her husband.
Thomas Clymow Brown, as stated above, claimed that he was a bachelor when he married Grace Trewhela however subsequent research showed that he was actually a widower.
Thomas was baptized at Camborne 13th February 1808 to Abraham Brown and Jenefer Quintrall who married at Camborne 13th July 1801. There was an earlier son named Thomas Clymo and a daughter Elizabeth Bennetts Brown also baptized at Camborne.
Thomas Clymow Brown was first married at Madron 14th April 1832 to Elizabeth Richards Stevens but there appear to have been no children. (I have checked the signiature in both marriage records and it is undoubtedly the same person.) Elizabeth Stevens was baptized at Zennor 28th August 1808 to Andrew Stevens and Elizabeth Richards and she was buried at Penzance 7th May 1737. Thomas then married Grace Trewhela some six months later with this marriage producing three children:-
Elizabeth Jane Brown born 1839 Penzance - GRO Index shows mother's maiden name as TREWELLA
Thomas Clymo Brown born 1840 Penzance - GRO Index shows mother's maiden name as TREWHELLA
Abraham Brown born 1844 Penzance R.D. - GRO Index shows mother's maiden name as TREWHELLA (death also registered March Qtr 1844)
In 1851 Grace Brown appears in the Census as a laundress at the Royal Hotel in Truro. She stated she was married, age 43 and born at Crowan.
In this same Census Thomas Brown was recorded as 'House Keeper' at 75 Boscawen Row in Truro with children Jane and Thomas.
In the 1861 Census Thomas and Grace Brown are at 113 Boscawen Row Truro with son William (age 16) for whom I can find no GRO/FreeBMD Birth registration.
By 1871 Grace is a widow still living at Boscawen Row but this time with son William now recorded as age 19 and granddaughter Elizabeth age 10.
Interesting to note that in 1871 Grace says she was age 67 thus reflecting a birth year of about 1803/4 whilst in 1861 she was age 54!!
Elizabeth Jane Brown appears to have married James Morriss at St Clement 27th December 1858.
Thomas Clyma Brown married Emma Jane Williams at St Clement 2nd September 1860.
Thomas Brown appears to have died in the Truro R.d. in 1868 at the age of 59 and Grace in 1893 age 82. Once again the information leads us to a different birth year for Grace!
I will be interested in any potential links provided by your DNA match and in the meantime will try and find more information to fill in some of the gaps.
CT
AHA!!! - I just had another look at the GRO index based on the 1871 Census and have found the birth record for William Brown1!
His birth was registered in the December Qtr of 1851 with mother's maiden name recorded as TRENHELA!!
William's age in the 1861 Census should therefore be either 9 or 10 and if you have a close look at the original Census page you can see that it has been altered. The first digit which appears to be a '1' has actually been scribbled out and what looks like a '6' is actually '10' with the '1' written above but just touching the '0' thus making it look like a number six.