Not to rain on your parade, but I believe I read in this forum (see link below) something related to what you two are looking into, namely the supposed similarities between Brightwall and Brightwood.
The second post in the below forum quotes a game designer for Fable 3, who states that Brightwall is in fact not Brightwood. Even I had wondered if they were the same place just 50 years later, but when I played the game the place had a way different look and feel about it.
But still, this has been cleared by an actual game designer for Fable 3.
http://lionhead.com/forums/p/291814/3571159.aspx