Mary Ann Brough

History of

Mary Ann (Marian) Brough and Robert Evans

by R. Clayton Brough, James H. Brough and Marie B. Nielson, November 2003

Mary Ann (Marian) Brough was born on 3 May 1836 in Longton, Staffordshire, England, to Richard Brough and Mary Horleston. She was christened on 15 May 1836 in St. John's Parish Church (of England), Lane End, Longton, Staffordshire. In 1840, Mary Ann's father, Richard Brough, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). When Mary Ann was nearly 21 years old she also joined the LDS Church, and was baptized on 25 April 1857 by C.C. Shaw of the LDS Longton Branch.

As a young lady, Mary Ann Brough worked in the Potteries around Longton. On 25 December 1865, Mary Ann Brough married Robert Evans of Longton in Blurton, Staffordshire. At the time of their marriage, Mary Ann was more than twenty-nine years old and Robert was nearly twenty-two years old.

Robert Evans was christened in St. James Parish Church of Longton on 28 January 1844. According to British Census records of 1871, 1881, and 1891, Robert Evans was a coal miner for much of his life. Robert Evans father--who was also named Robert Evans--was a coal miner from Denbighshire, Wales.

It appears from various records that Robert Evans and Mary Ann Brough lived in Staffordshire all of their lives. They had three children: Robert Evans, born 11 September 1866 in Trentham; Samuel Evans, born on 22 August 1868 in Longton; and Robert Evans, born 16 November 1871 in Longton. According to the British Census of 1871, Robert and Mary Ann were living in Stoke-upon-Trent during the 1870's and 1880's. In the 1881 Census, Robert is listed as a "coal miner" and Mary Ann is listed as a "potters transferer."

Mary Ann Brough Evans loved and honored her parents and was present at the death of both of her parents--Richard Brough, who died in 1873 in Trentham and was buried in the Parish Church of Dresden, and Mary Horleston Brough, who died in 1879 in Longton and was buried at St. John's, Lane End, Longton.

In November 1890, Samuel Richard Brough, an American nephew of Mary Ann Brough and a son of Thomas Brough--who was one of Mary Ann's older brothers and who had emigrated to the United States in 1856--personally visited Robert Evans and Mary Ann Brough in their home at "58 Lord St. Woodhouse N Longton." (The 1891 British Census records Robert Evans and Mary Ann Brough as living at "58 Lord Street, Longton.") According to the diary of Samuel Richard Brough, he resided with Mary Ann Brough and Robert Evans in their Longton home from November 8 through November24, 1890. During this seventeen-day period, Samuel was able to collect genealogical and historical information on his Brough ancestry and relatives from records maintained at the Parish Churches in Longton, Trentham, Dresden and Stoke-on-Trent.

Mary Ann Brough Evans died on 24 July 1891. Robert Evans died in May 1897. They are both buried in the sectional area of "Block 29 (Row 1, Grave 3)" in the Longton Cemetery near Spring Garden Road in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

According to the 1891 and 1901 British Census, Samuel Evans was a "green grocer" and then a "builder's labourer", while Thomas Evans was a "potter crewman" and then a "potter's placer."

Efforts are currently being made by James (Jim) H. Brough in England and R. Clayton Brough in the United States to find and contact living descendants of Samuel Evans and Thomas Evans and invite them to freely join the RBFO.