Born: Baptized January 5, 1755 Oborne Township
Parish. I presume that she was actually
born sometime in December.
Died: October 11, 1779. Buried Hull, York, England.
1st Spouse: Dr. David
Brooks. Married
August 10 or 20, 1776. Sources
vary regarding the date: England
Marriages, 1538-1973 shows the date to be the 10th while Oborne Township records indicate the 20th. Regardless, she should have been about 5
months pregnant at this time.
Children: Thomas Brooks
(Most likely an only child)
2nd Spouse: John Brooks?
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 indicate that when Ann Brooks died
she was the widow of a John Brooks. I
have been unable to find a marriage record to confirm this.
Parents: John
and Ann Luffman of Oborne,
Dorset, England.
Siblings: William
Luffman, bp. May 30, 1748
Donsabelle Glover Luffman, bp. September 3, 1750
John
Luffman, bp. February 10,
1752
Ann’s father, John was baptized July 8, 1721 and
buried November 19, 1760. He was the son
of Mathew and Sarah Luffman. Mathew and Sarah had 3 other children:
William, bp November 9, 1718; Mathew, bp. February 26, 1723; and Sarah, bp.
August 4, 1728. The elder Mathew likely
passed away abt. 1730 as Sarah remarried to a John Pitman on February 13, 173?. The family
history may continue back to a William Luffman who
had a will dated in 1562 in Wiltshire County, England.
My theory regarding how Ann met her first husband is
that sometime in Mid-1775 through mid-1776, staunch Loyalist Dr. David Brooks fled America to England. (Click on his page for more details about
this.) I have found 5 ships that
departed New York in late May and arriving at various English ports in late
June or Early July of 1775. (I have not
found passenger lists for these vessels.)
While in England, Dr. David Brooks met Ann Luffman
and she became pregnant about March of 1776. Oborne Township, Dorset, England records indicate that
the Banns of Marriage (see below) were announced August 20, 1776, but that no
civil license was ever issued. The Banns
would not have been valid because they were not announced in the groom’s home
parish, and if they were, objections would have been raised because he was
still married to Hannah. The groom’s
pre-existing marriage that was neither dissolved nor annulled would be grounds
to prevent the marriage. I propose that
Dr. Brooks now “escaped” back to New York prior to July. In studying Oborne
records, the David Brooks that would have “married” Ann Luffman
was not from the area, nor did he die there.
The couple did not settle there, nor is there any record of any births
for them or for her individually. It is
most likely that Ann (Luffman) Brooks went to London
to have her child alone. But was she
really alone? Read on…
(Banns are an announcement of your intention
to marry and a chance for anyone to put forward a reason why the marriage may
not lawfully take place. Banns need to
be read in the parish where each of you lives as well as the church in which
you are to be married if that is another parish. You must have your banns read
out in church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding.
This is often done over three consecutive Sundays but does not have to be. From the Church
of England.)
I have questions:
How is it that Dr. David Brooks came to be in Oborne
and therefore to meet Ann Luffman? Why Oborne? Here is where I’m going to commit another
wild act of speculation. John Luffman, Ann’s closest brother may be John Luffman, the cartographer/engraver. John Luffman
produced many maps and books from 1776 until 1820. (See: Jonathon Potter, ltd.) There is little biographical information about
him except that Webster’s Quotations,
Facts, and Phrases notes he was born in 1756, died in 1846, and flourished
in London. (Various sources) I have not been able to find any vital
records to back up those dates. Of the
many John Luffmans that did exist in England, Ann’s
brother most closely meets our criteria.
That being said…
John Luffman did travel
extensively and did make maps of America, including one that focuses on New
York, Long Island, and the surrounding area.
John had to have been there in order to collect his measurements to
produce these maps. He was there! And he
was there at the right time to have met Loyalist Dr. David Brooks. I have been wondering what specific act did
Dr. David Brooks do to get him on the list of 26 individuals that the
Continental Congress wanted brought in for
questioning. Did he aid and abet the
King’s Mapmaker? If so, John Luffman and Dr. David Brooks may have retreated to England
together. They may have stayed with the Luffman family in Oborne where
Dr. Brooks may have met John Luffman’s younger sister
Ann. Then, after getting her pregnant,
the family may have gone through the motions of announcing the Banns so that
they could save face and then asked Dr. Brooks to leave.
Next, John Luffman may have
taken his sister Ann to London where he had residence (98 Newgate
Street according to Exeter
Working Papers in Book History.) and there she had her baby, Thomas Brooks.
I know, a lot of ifs and maybes, but it is all plausible. I’m curious if British Generals Cornwallis
and Howe had a copy of John Luffman’s New York map
when they defeated General Washington at New York in 1776. Anyhow…In England
Births and Christenings and England
Death and Burials, Ann is noted as a widow when Thomas is born and also at
her death. Dr. David Brooks is as good
as dead to her? However, a John Brooks
is noted as her spouse. Is that her
brother John Luffman posing is her spouse, taking the
name John Brooks to help make things appear more legitimate? There is no record of a marriage. Something of interest to note is that John Luffman, identified as being a seaman having just arrived
off his ship, testifies on June 2, 1802 in Proceedings in the Old Baily Court to being robbed.
This all also helps answer another question I have:
How did Thomas Brooks know to look for his half brothers in New York? His mom died when he was 3 and he never knew
his father. I’d say that Uncle John Luffman, aka John Brooks, told Thomas Brooks about his
father and family. Whew!
Back to the Genealogy Main
Page