Early Life
Edward Brice was born in ~1720/1721
1, mostly likely in
County Antrim, Ireland, to Lieutenant Colonel
Edward Brice and
Jane Dobbs, who had married in 1718.
Legal issues
There are various records of legal disputes between Edward and various relatives and other people. For instance, an entry in the London Courier & Evening Gazette (7
th June 1831) notes:
Pursuant to a Decree of the High Court of Chancery, made in a cause "Brice against Shepherd," the Creditors of JANE BRICE, late of the city of Bath, Widow, deceased (who died on the 5th day of February 1825) are, by their Solicitors, on or before the 23d day of June, 1831, to come in and prove their Debts before James William Farrer, Esq., one of the Masters of the said Court, at his Chambers in Southampton-buildings, Chancery-lane, London; or, in default thereof, they will be peremptorily excluded the benefit of the said Decree. Hall and Brownley, New Boswell-court, Plaintiff's Solicitors.
At the National Archive, there is a series of documents relating to these cases, including
this one which notes Edward (probably Edward junior, his first and only son by Rose Stewart) as a plantiff and the defendants to include:
- Sir Samuel Shepherd
- Sir Coutts Trotter
- Archibald Adair Brice (his son)
- Dame Maria Isabella Anstruther (his daughter, who married John Anstruther Bart.)
- Arthur Haultaine [sic], the husband of his grand-daughter Maria Isabella Anstruther Brice (daughter of his son Robert)
- Charles Harrington Graeme, the husband of his grand-daughter Sarah Jane Anstruther Brice (other daughter of Robert)
It is probably relevant that his wife Jane, in her will, left legacies to Samuel Shepherd, Coutts Trotter, Archibald Adair and others. My suspicion is that Edward junior sued the various trustees of Jane's estate because he felt that his inheritance from his father had bypassed him and gone to his wife Jane and she in turn had passed these assets on to her children to his exclusion.
Family Life
Edward married first Rose Stewart in 1752 (when Edward was aged ~30) with whom he had his heir Edward Brice (b. ~1753). He may also have had a son Alexander Brice
2, who died without issue. Presumably Rose subsequently died in the next few years as he then remarried, to
Jane Smith Adair, only daughter of
William Adair of
Pall Mall and
Flixton House, Suffolk. The latter marriage was conducted in
Belfast on the 4
th December 1758 (Edward was about 37; Jane ~21).
The
Adairs were, like the
Brice family, from
County Antrim in Ireland and would certainly have been well acquainted with each other. Jane was the daughter of William, who had moved to England but had been born in
Kirkmaiden in Scotland; her grandfather was the
Reverend Patrick Adair from
Carrickfergus, just round the corner from the Brice family seat at
Kilroot.
With Jane, Edward had the following children:
- William Adair (b. 1762? unconfirmed from Ancestry) who was First Lieutenant of HMS Agammemnon and died off Martinique on 12th April 1782 with no children1
- Maria Jane (b. ~1763), who married (in ~1788) the Right Hon Sir John Anstruther, Bart.
- Arthur (b ~1768, d. 16th Mar 1801 aged 33), Lieut-Col. in Coldstream Guards and killed whilst on service in Egypt under Sir Ralph Abercrombie. No children.
- Archibald Adair (b. 1769; d. 1828), who moved to Bath and worked in Suffolk as a vicar; he married Mary Porter
- Robert (b. 1771, d. 1812) who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and lived much of his life in India and spawned quite a few generations of India-based Brices/Bruces
- Margaret, unmarried and younger than Maria Jane
- John and James (mentioned in Edward's will): maybe they remained in Ireland; there's little other information on them
At some point, no later than 1787 but after 1771 (when Edward's son Robert was born in Dublin), Edward moved to England. In 1787, Edward's son Archibald Adair signed up for a clerkship in Lincoln's Inn and Edward's address is given as
Berner's St in London.
Edward was an executor on the will of William Adair (his father-in-law).
Death
Edward died on the 8
th of May 1808 in
Bath; his will was proved on the 21
st May 1808 in London.
The memorial inscription in
St Swithin's church, Walcot, reads:
In a Vault in the Burying ground is deposited the Remains of EDWARD BRICE (or Bruce,) of Kilroot in the County of Antrim, Esquire; representatives of the Bruces of Airth in Scotland; who departed this life the 8th day of May 1808 in the 83rd Year of his Age. Who e’er thou art that approacheth this sacred spot, consider the uncertainty of life, and if thou sleekest a model for thy imitation, in the character of husband, father, friend, or neighbour, think it no diminution of thy fame to be thought like him whose memory this tablet is meant to perpetuate. His life was one continued scene of Christianity. They who knew him best, lament him most, and truly deserving was he of the sublime tribute of praise. “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” Also of JANE relict of the above, who departed this life February 5th 1825, aged 86 Years.
Footnotes
[1] Note that about half the online and printed pedigrees say he was born in 1725, rather than 1720/21. The later date is required if indeed he was a minor when his father died in 1742 (as mentioned in these pedigrees).
[2] Registered Pedigrees Vol. 15, Genealogical Office Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Ireland, Department of Manuscripts. Page 192 (
http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000530338#page/192/mode/1up)
[3] For more, see
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=1257&p=surnames.adair, http://glosters.tripod.com/egypt1801.htm, https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/adair/4197/, https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/adair/4204/, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/4a7fc6b2-57ec-42ce-a56b-4d98b51d1038 and
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D353332
Abt 1721 - 1808 (~ 87 years)
[1, 2] 
