Brimage family tree/

The surname "Brimage" is relatively uncommon in the UK, appearing (before the modern travel patterns) most frequently in Devonshire, the Channel Islands, and London. One branch of the family carries the oral tradition that it is of French origin, and the repeated returns to the Channel Islands by children of succeeding generations might support this proposition. Seafaring and bootmaking seem to have been primary occupations.

Some history books trace a connection between the names Birmingham, Bermingham, Berminghan, Bremigan and Brimage. The Birmingham family is noted in historical works from the time of the 12th century Norman invasions, particularly in the County of Kildare in Ireland. One theory is that they derive their name from the town of Birmingham in the county of Warwick, and there is mention of a Castle Bermingham in Warwickshire. See the note on generation 1 of the second group regardingthe absconding soldier born at Castle Brimage in the County of Warwick.

In the known family, there appear to have been four main streams of descendants during the recent 200 years. These may be labelled the Guernsey family, the Liverpool family, the Canadian family, and the Australian family. Of these, the Australian family has been the most prolific, initially settling in Adelaide SA, and over time spreading to Melbourne VIC, Perth WA and Hobart TAS. This is the ancestral family of Pam Grierson (nee Brimage) of Melbourne.

Within the Australian family, for many years there was a distraction arising from the discovery in the Diary of Private John Easty, of the 53rd Marine Company, relating to the first fleet to Australia in 1788, that his close friend was Private Thomas Brimage of the 53rd. This diary, one of the very few written by enlisted men in connection with the settlement of Australia, is held in Sydney. They managed to get into some scrapes together, and Brimage was listed as beneficiary in Easty's will. As the migrant ancestor of most of the Australian family, Captain Thomas Brimage, Master Mariner, was born in 1836, a number of family members assumed that Private Thomas Brimage must have been an ancestor. John Brimage of Melbourne has researched this line thoroughly, and has demonstrated that Private Thomas Brimage died aged 35 in Amboyna, India, after 15 years 3 months continuous service, and couldn't possibly have been an ancestor. In terms of time and location, he may have been a brother of John Brimage, born about 1771 in Devonshire, probably at Teignmouth. Private Brimage was a member of the Plymouth Marine Division, not far from Teignmouth. However, Brimage's attestation papers have him born at "King's Norton" (which was in Worcestershire 1837-1912, Warwickshire 1912-1924, and abolished in 1924 to become part of Birmingham South, according to FreeBMD).

These records include work by John Brimage of Melbourne, John (Jack) Parker of the Liverpool family, Marie Holland, La Societe Guernesiaise of Guernsey, Tom Miller of Liverpool, Jeanne Blondel of Guernsey, Betty Duck (nee Brimage) of Canada, and Libby Shade.

There is no known connection at this time to the many Brimages in the USA. Only documented connections will be added to this family tree.
David Grierson 2012

This family tree is provided for mutual information within the family.
The information given will be referenced by official documents, family bibles etc.
Information that is uncertain or unreferenced will not be published.
For privacy of the present generations, the family tree will halt at the generation born around the start of the 20th century.
Discussion gladly entered into.