Millennium Project
by Jon Malings
The 72 Deddington emigrants comprised: 10 single men, almost all aged around 20, 11 married couples, 9 of whom had children. Of the 38 children, 17 were aged under 7 years, 14 were between 7 and 13 and 7 were aged 14 or over.
These age brackets were important as they governed the price of the fare and the amount of "pocket money" each traveller was given by the parish. The journey to Quebec (food included) cost £5 for persons of 14 years or over; £2 for each child aged 7 to 13 years and £1 for children of 6 or under.
Pocket money was calculated to a different formula. Those under the age of 14 were give 15 shillings each. Older children accompanying their parents,like Robert Cowley aged 19, were allowed £1, while married couples and the single men travelling alone were given £1 and 5 shillings each.
The total cost of removing these 72 people to Quebec, including £36 head tax, came to £378. 10s. 4d.
By comparing the list of emigrants against the names of the dead, as published by the Liverpool Mercury on June 15th, it appears that at least 17, and possibly 21, of the Deddington emigrants died on the voyage.
But simple statistics don’t tell the full story. There appears to have been only one death among the 10 single men — Samuel Tustian. The Gilkes family — William, Sarah, and their four children — all died; John and Mary Cowley and their five children all survived. Elizabeth, Catherine and Ann Green were left orphans, John Paine lost his wife Mary and two of his five children.
| Mary Abraham (1) [possibly; shown as Mary Atrim] | Eliza Gilkes (8) | John Green jun. (6) |
| John Eddon (8) | Mary Gilkes (5) | Mary Paine |
| Thomas Eddon (12) [shown as Eaton] | Elizabeth Gilkes (3) | George Paine (13) |
| John Gardner (30) [possibly] | William Gilkes (2mo.) | Justitia Paine (7) [shown as Joseph] |
| Edward Gardner (3) | John Green (37) | Martha Paine [shown as Maria] |
| William Gilkes (27) | Susanna Green | Samuel Tustain (20) |
| Sarah Gilkes | Benjamin Green (15) | John Wickham (25) |
Almost all the men that I have information about appear to have been labourers of some description or the sons of labourers. Many of the passengers will be related to one another. The only ones I have so far identified are Patience ( wife of William Payne) and Sophia (wife of Henry Gibbs) who were the Waine sisters from Tadmarton.
I know little about what happened after the Brutus arrived back in Liverpool. Did the emigrants continue their journey, return to Deddington or remain elsewhere in the UK? At least three families returned to Deddington and can be found in the Parish Registers: Frederick and Martha Paine, William and Patience Payne and Henry and Sophia Gibbs. One of the Gibbs children emigrated, successfully, to America and his descendants are still there.