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The following information has been extracted from papers of the "Senyard Collection", held by the Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London, England, EC1M 7BA, telephone +44-(0)171-251-8799, website: http://www.sog.org.uk, which I received from John Brew of Seattle. The following data is a summary of that information, to which I have added many notes from other sources.

1. William Brew, watchmaker, married Margaret [Maddock?] on 21 February 1838 in Limerick, Ireland. Their children were:

1. William, christened 21 February 1838 in the Parish of St. Michael, Limerick, Ireland (I.G.I. 1994)
2. Benjamin Maddock, christened 12 January 1840 in the Parish of St. Michael, Limerick, Ireland
3. Elinor Anne, christened 1841 in the Parish of St. Michael, Limerick, Ireland (I.G.I. 1994)

2. Benjamin Maddock Brew, draper and traveler. He married Susannah Hill, daughter of Joseph Hill, confectioner, on 17 April 1863, in the Parish of St. Michael Bassishaw [now demolished], City of London. She died in late 1879 (Islington, 4th Qtr. 1879, Volume 1b, Page 291). Their children were:

1. Arthur Wellesley (apparently named after the Duke of Wellington, although the connection is unknown), born ca. 1865, who died in Islington in 1874, aged 9 (Islington, 1st Qtr. 1874, Volume 1b, Page 199)
2. Eleanor, born 1868
3. William, who appears on the 1881 census as a scholar in Totteridge Park School, aged 12, and born in Hackney, Surrey, suggesting a year of birth of 1869
4. Benjamin Maddock, who appears on the 1881 census as a scholar in Totteridge Park School, aged 11, and was born in 1870 in Hackney, Surrey (Hackney, 1st Qtr. 1870, Volume 1b, Page 467). He married in Paddington in 1897 (Paddington, 2nd Qtr. 1897, Volume 1a, Page 113)
5. Joseph Hill, born 25 June 1871 in Hackney, Surrey (Hackney, 3rd Qtr. 1871, Volume 1b, Page 429)
6. Frances Gertrude, born in Islington in 1873 ( Islington, 1st Qtr. 1873, Volume 1b, Page 357)
7. Gilbert George, born late 1874 (Islington, 4th Qtr. 1875, Volume 1b, Page 411)

According to the 1881 census, the following persons were living in Benjamin Maddock Brew senior’s household:

After Susannah died, Benjamin remarried, in August 1884, to Esther Ada Cabely [?], by whom he had another three children:

8. Kathleen Ada, his 10th child, born in Dunster House, Hornby Lane, on 10 January 1888, who married Murray Partridge in 1922 and had two sons, one of whom was Clive (who was living in Ealing in April 1987; his wife died of cancer in 1986, aged 55; had a son Roger, who is a sculptor)
9. Leslie Maddock, his 11th child, born 28 March 1889, who married three times, and died 7 October 1973, after being wheelchair-bound for several years. He joined the Army on 17 July 1916 and served in World War One as a Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps in France. He was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches in December 1918. His first wife was Eleanor Mary Howard, whom he married in 1916, but died in child birth on 4 June 1929. She left a will : "Eleanor Mary Brew, 15 Duppas Hill Road, Croydon, Surrey, wife of Leslie Maddock Brew, probate London 9 June 1929, effects £1272 19s. 5d." By her, Leslie had son:

1. Brian Leslie Maddock, who was born 26 February 1920; called up for service in August 1939 and served 6 years and 10 months, during which time he saw service in the United Kingdom (31st City of London Rifles A.A. Battalion), in the Middle East (from Cairo to Tripoli), in Italy, Austria, Greece and Macedonia. He was demobolised in 1946, after which he completed a year's apprenticeship in the automobile industry, but then returned to his father's business. He left in the 50's to start his own business, a Volkswagen dealership by the name of "European Cars" which was successful until the VW factory decided to do away with their distributors in the mid-sixties.

Leslie Maddock married his second wife, Phyllis Huntsman, in 1930, who died of cancer on 23 February 1946, aged 46. By her, he had a further three children:

2. Richard Maddock, born 13 December 1930, member of Greater London Council in 1981; awarded a C.B.E. on the Queen's New Years Honours List, 31 December 1981 (London Gazette, 30 December 1981)
3. Bridget, born 6 February 1932
4. Angela, born 24 May 1943

On 5 October 1961 Leslie married Celia Martin, who died 30 March 1984. She was a widow with two of her own children, Betty, who married a Shakespearean actor by the name of Dench, brother of actress Judy Dench, and Gregory, who married and lives/d in Australia

10. Eileen, his 14th and last child, born in Denbigh Road, Ealing, on 8 December 1895, who married a man by the name of Le Grand. She was still alive in 1987, aged 92.

3. Joseph Hill Brew, who married Florence May Child, born 1874 in Pancras, the daughter of James Joseph Child, a cabinet maker from Pancras, and his wife Charlotte, on 27 August 1899 in St. Matthews Church, Denmark Hill. Joseph died on 30 July 1937 and Florence on 9 July 1953. Joseph left a will : "Poveys Farm, Burgess Hill, Sussex, and 10-11 Wormwood Street, London, died 30 July 1937, probate 28 September 1937 to Florence May Brew, Benjamin Maddock Brew [and others], effects £2359 15s 10d." Their children were:

1. Benjamin Maddock, born 14 July 1900. He married firstly Rosamund Kemp-Hopper and secondly June Fetherell, and died 8 March 1987. There was no issue.
2. Florence Eileen, born 15 December 1901 at 29 Brownhill Road, Catford. She married Leonard Senyard on 19 January 1924, and died 22 October 1984. There children were.

1. Jean Patricia Senyard, born 2 May 1926
2. Margaret Elizabeth Senyard, born 6 December 1930
3. Michael Howard Senyard, born 16 April 1936

3. Gladys Margaret, born 8 November 1906. She married William Clifford Lichfield Bray on 19 September 1945, and died 27 December 1980. There was no issue.

(Photocopied extract from an unknown London magazine or newspaper article, no date, but after 1886)

The subject of our present biographical notice was born in Limerick. In the course of time he changed Limerick for London, but not before he gained such honours in his native country as fully entitled him to take the position of a leading furnisher in the capital of the Empire. To begin at the commencement of his career : this month, eight and forty years ago, Mr. Benjamin Brew first put in an appearance on the banks of the Shannon. After the fashion of those practical times, he commenced the business of life young, being only thirteen years of age, but the necessity of thus early earning his living did not prevent him from pursuing his education in higher branches, for, as Thomas Moore, his fellow-countryman puts it, he continued "to rove through Erudition’s bowers," specially with those having to do with art matters. The best evidence of this industry and skill therein is that afforded by a list of the prizes which Master Benjamin captured from the local school and Kensington Department of Science and Art. We cannot enumerate all the awards here, but are able to affirm that their money value reached a total of over £100, the coveted [illegible]raven prize and medals among them. In 1857 he had the distinction of receiving from the hands of Earl Granville one of the first national medals for drawing, and at that time he was the youngest student in the Kingdom in receipt of such honours. Before five years had elapsed he was made buyer, both in the English and Continental markets, for the furnishing departments of Messrs. Todd & Co. of Limerick, and that important position proved to e but the stepping-stone to greater responsibilities in the well-known house of Messrs. Cannock, Tait & Co., of Limerick. As manager and buyer in that establishment, Mr. Benjamin Brew was brought into contact with the leading manufacturers, not only of the Green Isle but of Great Britain, and France. After seven years of such service, entailing a visit to London every seven or eight weeks, he decided that his pencil and experience would be best employed in the Metropolis, where he had made so many friends. Thus, just upon twenty years ago, in conjunction with the late Mr. Cawley, he started at that noble corner of Finsbury Pavement which still bears the name of Brew. Most of our readers will remember how the ordinary-looking brick building had to give place, sometime ago, to the beautiful Queen Anne structure which is now one of the handsomest of our city edifices. That this rebuilding and extension were justified and demanded by the development of the business may be gathered from a list of a few of the notable orders which have passed through Messrs. Brew & Company’s hands. The list includes the furnishing of the Great Eastern Railway offices at Liverpool Street; the Manchester Hotel, Aldersgate Street; the Grand Hotel, Birmingham; the St. James’ Hotel, Derby; the Junior Oxford and Cambridge Club, and a score of similarly colossal establishments. The handsome appointments of the s.s. "Stirling Castle" show to this day what they can do in the furnishing of our floating palaces, while not a few vessels are, from time to time, employed in carrying their shipping orders to distant ports. We noticed, when calling recently, a very extensive order for the Grand Bristol Hotel, Buenos Ayres. Another order which we observed in preparation was for the Grand Hotel Boulevard, Bucharest. In the higher branches of furnishing, Mr. Brew has been not less successful, as is evidenced by the fact, that he received the medal and diploma at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition for the manner in which he furnished the Royal reception rooms. Other awards – such as the Gold Medal at the Building Exhibition – might be added to this list, but sufficient has been mentioned to show that the faculty of securing medals which characterised Mr. Brew in his boyhood has not deserted him now that he has arrived at maturity. We may also mention that among orders executed for the Corporation of London, there was the decoration of the Guildhall for the reception of the Kings of Greece and Belgium, and the presentation of the freedom of the City to Prince Albert Victor on his coming of age; and last, but not least, the grand Jubilee Ball at the Guildhall, already noticed in the columns.

Much more information is available on Benjamin Maddock Brew in the "Senyard Collection" housed at the Society of Genealogists, the address of which is stated at the top of this page.

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