According to the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004), Brewer "was the eldest son of a merchant of London. He married the daughter of a gentleman at Clapham... Nothing is recorded of his death." From genealogical sources, a little more can be added. Brewer was born in London on 11 September 1777. He was baptised on 8 October 1777 at
St Sepulchre Church in Holborn, where his parents James Brewer and Sarah Sparrow had been married on 4 May the previous year. He too would be married at St Sepulchre, to Mary Hanscomb on 27 December 1800; and their son Edward Norris Brewer, who was born on 9 December 1801, was christened there on 7 January 1802. In the meantime it appears the two were involved in a court case, apparently against relatives of Mary's. Four further children, Mary Ann, Sarah Hanscomb, Emily, and Louisa, born between 1804 and 1812, were all christened at
Hurst, Berkshire, from where Brewer also addressed the dedication of his first topographical book, dated February 1810. Brewer was buried on 2 March 1839 at
St Lawrence's Church, on
Jersey.
Probate was granted on 15 August 1839, and a copy of his will is available online from the
National Archives. Assets included the freehold of a public house, which would be auctioned on 4 September. According to a notice of the death of Brewer's widow Mary, which appeared in the ''
Gentleman's Magazine'' in November 1851, the couple had also lived for a time at Pillaton House, Warwickshire, as well as Jersey. == Works ==