, citizen of St. Bride's London. 1700's During this Century Brownhills started to develop. The Hussey family came to the area at this time when Joseph Hussey from London married Sybil Fowke who was the Heiress to the Manor of Little Wyrley. Coal mining on Brownhills Common started about this time, with what would have been shallow workings and Bell pits. The will of Phineas Hussey tells us that there was a pumping engine at his Brownhills Collieries in the 1770's. This was situated in Engine Lane, and was probably of the Newcomen type.