Maria Brettell was christened on 7th June 1829 in Halesowen, presumably in the parish church of St. Johns. Maria was the fifth of eight children to Benjamin and Nancy Brettell. The first mention of Maria post-christening appears in the 1841 census when she was 12, giving a birth year of 1829. At this time she was with her mother and siblings, appearing under the name of Maria (sometimes Meria) Brittle in the household of Joseph Fowler.
Maria’s first child, Timothy, was illegitimate, he was born in March 1846 when Maria who was living with her widowed mother at “Back of Garrats Lane”, was only 15 years old. When Timothy was 3, Maria married Thomas Cooper, aged 23, on 25th June 1849 at St. Giles, Rowley Regis. On the marriage records she appears as a spinster and was living in Mincing Lane as was her husband to be, Thomas Cooper, so possibly they were cohabiting. Maria’s mother Nancy was a witness; bride, groom and both witnesses made their mark and so were probably illiterate. Maria’s child, Timothy, was given the Cooper name in the 1851 and 1861 censuses but appears as Brettell (when presumably he had a choice) on his marriage certificate and in later censuses. It seems unlikely therefore that Thomas Cooper was Timothy’s father.
Maria’s first child by Thomas Cooper, Hannah, was born out of wedlock in 1848 a year before she married Thomas in 1849 (but was probably living at the same address). Maria would have been 18/19 at the time of Hannah’s birth. Maria’s second child by Thomas Cooper was also called Thomas, born in 1849.
Thomas Cooper Snr. died in July 1850, a year after marrying Maria. He died in Allahabad, Bengal, India where he was serving as a private in the HM 32nd Regiment who were taking part in the 2nd Anglo-Sikh war at the time, I do not know if he died from disease or as a war casualty. In the 1851 census the widowed Maria appears as Maria Cooper in the household of Nancy Tromans at “122, back of Garratts Lane, Rowley Regis”, Nancy, her widowed mother, having taken the name of her third husband, William Tromans in 1845. Maria appears with her children, Timothy Cooper (later known as Timothy Brettle), Hannah Cooper, and Thomas Cooper and her sister Mary Ann Brettle, brothers Benjamin and Josiah Brettle. Mary Ann Brettle appears on this census twice: as daughter, unmarried female 20, and then as lodger, unmarried female 18. Also listed are Benjamin Brettle, son, male 2 and John Brettle, son, aged 1 month. I suspect that these were the illegitimate children of Mary Ann Brettle, with the confusion over two Mary Ann Brettles listed on the census because of the family being vague over Mary’s status. Nancy was probably too old at 50 to be the mother of these children and the other possibility, Maria, gave the surname Cooper to her illegitimate children not Brettle. Absent from the 1851 census but present on the 1841 census are Nancy Brittle, 25, and Lucy Brittle, 24, having moved out of the family home between these dates. Fanny Brittle who would have been 10 was absent and I assume died before 1851.
In the 1861 census Maria, who was 34, appears as Maria Cooper, a boarder, in the household of her unmarried 22 year old younger brother Josiah Brettle at 126 Garratts Lane (which may be the same as “Back of Garrats Lane” or at least neighbouring). Her children, Timothy, Hannah and Thomas are present; also appearing is Solomon Cooper who was born in 1852. I assume he was another illegitimate, child of Maria as Thomas Cooper, her husband, died in 1850. Sister Mary Ann Brettle (aged 28) and her two children Benjamin and John are absent, having moved out: Mary Ann having married James Griffin in 1855 and Benjamin Brettle having married Selena Worton in 1853.
By the 1871 census Maria had moved to 171 Waggon St. in Old Hill (not far from Garrets Lane) and was the head of the household. She was a nail maker, as was her unmarried daughter Hannah (aged 24). Her unmarried son, Thomas (aged 22) was a coal miner, and William Cooper, scholar, aged 5 completed the household. It is unclear if William was the son of Maria or of her daughter Hannah Cooper. Timothy Cooper (Brettell) was absent, having married in 1865 and Solomon Cooper who would have been 21 had also moved out although he was not married until 1896.
The 1881 census has Maria as a widow and head of household living with daughter Hannah, aged 34, and son William, aged 16 in Terrace St. which is off Powke Lane, again close to Garratt’s Lane. Thomas Cooper is absent, having married in 1871.
In the 1891 census Thomas Cooper reappears as the head of the household in Terrace St. with his wife Maria (nee Atkins), daughters Alice and Mary Jane and son William. Maria Cooper (aged 61) is present in the household as the widowed mother of Thomas. Hannah and William, sister and brother of Thomas make up the rest of the household.
Maria Brettell cannot be found in the 1901 census suggesting that she died between 1891 and 1901. There is a possible death registered in Dudley for the third quarter of 1896 with a birth year of 1828; considering the large variation of birth years through censuses this may be Maria’s correct death record.
You can see from the information above that Maria had a hard and complicated life with a number of children both legitimate and illegitimate. The chart follows later on from Maria Brettell with her son, Timothy Brettle, and then continues with the descendants of Edward Brettle and Nellie Oldfield, starting with Nellie Brettle, and also the descendants of Timothy Brettle and Lucy Shilvock starting with Arthur Brettle.