Biography:
1. James Edward O'Brien, according to an article in The Strand Magazine dated 1999, was the eldest son of James and Jane O'Brien of Faversham, where he was baptised on the 30th January 1801. His father was born in Ireland and worked as a Saltpetre Refiner at the Royal Gunpowder Factory at Ballincollig. Like his father, James Edward was trained as a Saltpetre Refiner at Faversham, but was made redundant in 1821. However, it would appear thar he was re-employed by 1825. He married his wife, Martha, in 1823 at Hadlow in Kent, and they had 3 children at Faversham, before he was transferred to Waltham Abbey as the Master Brimstone Refiner by an Order dated the 23rd January 1829, following the death of John Lockyer (see FGPP, p.62).
2. WO54/566 dated the 1st April 1829, recorded that James O'Brien had been appointed as a Labourer at Faversham in February 1825 and, following the death of John Lockyer, was appointed as Master Brimstone refiner at Waltham Abbey on the 23rd January 1829. He was paid a basic remuneration of £54.12.0d per annum and was allowed to watch in turn, which gave him another 2/-d per week, increasing his annual pay to £59.16.0d. He was a 30-year-old married man when he, his wife Martha, and their 3 children went to Waltham Abbey. He had married Martha at Hadlow Down, Kent, in 1823 and is recorded as having 4 years' service. The Faversham records indicated that he was made redundant, but re-employed there in 1825.
3. WO54/566 dated the 1st October 1829, confirmed that at that date James still earned the same as in Note 2. His length of service was given as nearly 5 years and he was aged 30. A Return of Properties dated the 20th December 1834, prepared by the Royal Engineers' Office and listing the houses and cottages owned by the Board, recorded that James O'Brien had rented a cottage within the Refinery yard in Powder Mill Lane from the 11th February 1829 for £5.4.0d per annum (Supply 5/237). This cottage was Plot No. 63 on the Town Map in Appendix 1. James moved to the Master Refiner's house, Plot No. 44 on the Town Map in Appendix 1 following the death of Samuel Britton sometime between 1835 and 1840 (WO44/133).
4. Return WO54/ 570 dated the 1st April 1830 updated his age and length of service, with family and pay details remaining unchanged.
5. WO54/570 dated the 1st October 1830, recorded that Mr. O'Brien was 31, and that he had served nearly 6 years. His pay was still the same, and all other information given previously remained the same.
6. According to Return WO54/ 575 dated the 1st April 1831, James still earned a total of £59.16.0d annually; he had served 6 years and was aged 32.
7. WO54/545 dated the 1st October 1831 updated his age and period of service in the April 1831 Return, with all other details remaining unchanged, except that he then had 5 children.
8. WO54/581 dated the 1st April 1832, updated his age and period of service in the October 1831 Return, with all other details remaining unchanged, except that he was recorded as having only 3 children, which may have been a clerical error.
9. WO54/581 dated the 1st October 1832, confirmed that Mr. O'Brien earned a total of £59.16.0d per annum. All other details remained the same, except that at that date he was 34 years of age and had served for nearly 8 years.
10 WO54/587 dated the 1st April 1833 confirmed that Mr. O'Brien still earned a total of £59.16.0d per annum. His service was given as 8 years, and his age as 34.
11 WO54/587 dated the 1st October 1833, recorded that Mr. O'Brien was 35 and had served just over 8 years. He was still in receipt of an annual wage of £59.16.0d, and all other details remained the same.
12 WO54/593 dated the 1st April 1834, updated the October 1833 Return for service and age, with conditions and pay remaining unaltered.
13 WO54/593 dated the 1st October 1834, updated the previous Return for service and age, with conditions and pay still remaining unchanged.
14 Return of Employees of the 1st October 1839 (WO54/623), recorded that O'Brien was appointed at Faversham on the 19th February 1825, that his pay in 1839 was £54.12.0d, and that at that time he was not entitled to a house. His service was given as 14 years, he was aged 40 and he had 7 children.
15 The 1841 Census recorded that James was aged 40 at that date, and that he and his wife, Martha, (35) lived on the north side of High Bridge Street with their children Ann (15) Elizabeth (14) Thomas (12) Adelaide (10) Susannah (8) Stephen (3) and Emily (1). Only Thomas and his younger siblings were born in Essex.
16 James died in 1866 at Sulphur Cottage, Eleanor Road, Chesunt, and Martha died some years later. Both are buried in the old cemetery in Waltham Abbey. Sulphur Cottage was in 1999 clearly distinguished by the engraved namestone in the gable end (article by descendant, Simon Malone, in Strand Magazine, 1999).
