Ambrose BREWIN was one of the lace makers who left Loughborough with John HEATHCOAT in 1817 following the Luddite attack on the mill in the town. There are several indications that the two families knew each other very well, even before Ambrose married John’s daughter, Caroline. They married at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster in 1833. At the time, this was the parish church for the Palace of Westminster, where John had been elected, the year before, as MP for Tiverton (1).

By 1841, Ambrose, now a partner in the Lace Factory, and Caroline were living in Exeleigh House in Leat Street. The house had been built in 1820 by John Heathcoat for himself. Although the Brewins had no children, they were passionate about education and founded two schools in the town during the 1840s. Elmore Street School was for boys, girls and infants and the school in Bampton Street was for infants (2). Caroline was actively involved in the management of both schools throughout her life and, until its closure in 1991, the Infants School was named after her.

St Paul’s Square

The Brewins contributed generously to many more developments in the town and their name has lived on, not only in the street name. There was a Brewin Ward at the old Tiverton and District Hospital which served the town from 1860 until 2004. After Ambrose’s death in 1855, Caroline financed the substantial houses which still line either side of St Paul Street . They have been described as “a small middle-class enclave in the midst of an essentially working class district” (3). The rents from these houses supported the work of St Paul’s Church. Today the Brewin Trust carry on this work for the, now combined, parish of St George and St Paul (4).

Although Caroline died in Cannes, France in 1877, she is buried, with her husband, in St Peter’s Churchyard.

References

(1)  St Margaret’s, Westminster,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/st_margaret%27s,_westminster,    accessed 9 August 2024

(2)  Devon History Society
https://www.devonhistorysociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/tiverton-schools.pdf        accessed 9 August 2024

(3)  Mark Brayshay, ‘Heathcoat’s Industrial Housing in Tiverton, Devon’, Southern History, vol. 3, 1981, 82-104, cited  in entry on https://historicengland.org.uk/   accessed 16 August 2024

(4)  Brewin Trust,
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/273459/charity-overview, accessed 16 August 2024