Hi

I too am researching my family the Bretts. My Bretts come from Little Hadham but suspect they have other members of the family resided in the Pelhams.

I have come up a brick wall. John Brett was born in (approx) 1801 and was married to Jane Charge. One of his sons George had a son Isaac who is my great grandfather.

I have tried for many years to find John Brett birth in the church records to no avail. I would be very grateful if anyone knows about this side of the Brett family.

Kind regards
Catherine Kilgour

It would be interesting to discover if the Pelham Bretts have any connection to Sarah Brett, a servant girl of Standon Green End, not far south of The Pelhams. Sarah has a small but important part in British aviation histoty.
On 15th September 1784 one Vincenti Lunardi, a secretary to the Ambassador of Naples, I believe, took off in a baloon from the artillery grounds at Moorefields in London on what was to be the first aeronautical flight over English soil. During some 2 1/2 hours he passed over Barnet, St. Albans, Codicote and Bengeo.
Obviously he preffered to have some in flight entertainment and therefore took with him his dog, his cat, a chicken (cold and roast) and a good supply of wine. Unfortunately the cat disliked aeronautics and so whilst flying low over North Mymms he passed the cat. for safekeeping, to a "lady of quality". who chanced to be at hand.
On approaching Standon Green End it became apparent to Lunardi that he was running out of flying time and it that a prompt landing was essential. He therefore threw out a rope and called to workers in the field to catch it and help him land. They refused as they didn`t wish to assist someone who arrived " in The Devil`s house". I suspect that were terrified of the apparition.
Elizabeth Brett was made of sterner stuff and calling on the men to follow her example caught hold of the rope. The men reluctantly followed her example though some still declined saying that they were" too short" or
" not liking it". Thanks to Elizabeth Brett the first flight in England landed safely.
It is interesting to note that neither the lady at North Mymms nor Elizabeth Brett ran away whilst the men on the ground appear to have been pretty spineless. Certainly it was a brave venture by Vincenti Lunardi, but we are not told how much of his store of wine he was forced to consume (for medicinal purposes).
Lunardi became the center of an impromtu celebration at the Bull inn at Ware. I think it unlikly that Sarah was invited.

Hi, Isaac’s brother James was my great grandfather – James moved to Barkingside in Essex after his marriage in 1878. I have a line gleaned from Ancestry.co.uk that goes back as far as c1614.