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Elsewhere

In the 13-14th C individual Brokets were recorded outside the main later centres in Hampshire, Flanders, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire , Cornwall and Castile. Since then isolated pockets of Brokets—mostly families of 1 or 2 generations—or individuals have been recorded in a few other counties and areas in Britain and across the Channel.

Contents 1. Berkshire 5. Kent 9. Suffolk 13. Worcestershire
of this page: 2. Flanders 6. Lancashire 10. Surrey  
  3. Hampshire 7. Somerset 11. Sussex  
  4. Jersey 8. S Ireland 12. Wales  
Map of Britain and nearby mainland Europe
  1. Berkshire 2. Cork 3. Cornwall 4. Flanders
  5. Glasgow 6. Hampshire 7. Holland 8. Jersey
  9. Kent 10. Lancashire 11. Leicestershire 12. London
  13. Oxfordshire 14. S Wales 15. Surrey 16. Suffolk
  17. Sussex 18. Wheathampstead 19. Worcestershire 20. York

 

1. Berkshire

 

Reading is a main market town c 28 m N of Winchester and these 17th C Brokets were probably related to the small clans in Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex. Like them they died out or moved on before the 18th C. IGI baptisms:

Year Month Name Father Mother Parish
1604 1 Jun Mary ... BROCKETT   St Giles Reading
1607 15 Nov Waker ... BROCKET   St Giles Reading
1610 8 Mar John ... BROCKET   St Giles Reading
1633 16 Apr Thomas Thomas BROCKET   St Mary Reading
1635 27 May Samuell Thomas BROCKET Kathren St Mary Reading
1666 29 Nov John Thomas BROCKETT Abigall St Mary Reading

John probably emigrated to Barbados 1682.


IGI marriages:

Year Month Name Spouse Parish
1619 15 Apr Margaret BROCKET Andrew SWANNE St Mary Reading
1630 18 Jan Marie BROCKET Richard MASSE St Mary Reading
1632 29 Oct Richard BROCKET Isabell HASKER St Mary Reading
1640 6 Feb Katherine BROCKET John UNDERWOOD Burghfield
1654 15 Dec Thomas BROCKETT Abigaile HARRIS Tilehurst
1657 28 Mar Samuel BROCKET Elizabeth BARNARD St Mary Reading
1677 24 Jul Maria BROCKETT Georgius LAWES Sunninghill

IGI also has a dubious record of a Mary Brockett marrying Thomas REEDE in 1545 with no parish listed.

 

2. Flanders and Holland

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On 3 Oct 1643 Alexander Brocket Merchant of Antwerp, Flanders, was freed from Southwark jail in London by a £1000 bond 'with condition forthwith to depart this kingdom and to send certificate by Tomlin of his arrival beyond seas, and not to return without license of the Governor of Dover Castle' (Calendar of the State Papers Domestic of the reign of Charles I 1641-3, vol 498, London 1887 p 514). A search through the available parish registers for Antwerp between 16-18th C in the General State Archives in Brusssels in summer 1999 revealed no Brokets.

In the last 2 decades of the 17th C the State Papers Domestic recorded 3 more Dutch or French Brokets:

  1. 15 May 1680 Pass issued to Anthony Brocquett, native of Flanders (State Papers Domestic p 344, SP Dom Entry Book 51 p 241)
  2. 18 May 1694 Whitehall Pass for Allain Brocket, a French Protestant, to go to Holland (State Papers Domestic p 141, SP Dom Warrant Book 38 p 566)
  3. 5 Oct 1696 Whitehall Pass for Alexander Broquet to go to Holland (State Papers Domestic p 410, SP Dom Entry Book 344 p 583).

These were isolated occurrences, perhaps Anglicisations of Brochard or the like—in 1693 Peter and Mary Brochard were in a warrant for denization of a long list of French Protestants (State Papers Domestic p 63). The name Broket has not been found in France. The 19th C Walloon name Brochet was different.

 

3. Hampshire

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Pre-20th C Hampshire Brokets comprised:

  • William 1242-3 in the service of the Countess of the Isle of Wight and recorded on a mission from Winchester
  • a clan in and around Alton 16th to early 18th C
  • 2 brothers from the Hertfordshire group, whose father married a Brocas of Beaurepaire in the 1590s, but whose connection with Hampshire ended 1677
  • a couple of families recorded at St Mary's Portsea in the early 1700s.

i. Alton, Heckfield, Sherfield on Lodden

These 3 parishes each already had a family in the 2nd half of the 16th C just before parish registers began and a few descendants lived on into the 17th C. This was a similar pattern to clans in neighbouring Berkshire, Surrey and Sussex, with whom they were probably related. Alton was only c 35 m W of Cuckfield, the contemporary Broket centre in Sussex.

Sherfield registers began 1574, Heckfield's 1583 but Alton's only really from 1660 with some entries from 1615. Gilbert of Sherfield had a son baptised and buried in nearby Silchester.

Alton was on the main London-Winchester road and quite a wealthy town at the end of the medieval period due to the wool trade. It had a population of c 500 (1665 Hearth Tax). The late 16th C Brokets there were of middling to lower prosperity—well-off craftsmen. A century later, by 1665, the small clan had all but died out or moved on; none paid the Hearth Tax then.

1. Robert Brocket was assessed in the Lay Subsidies for Alton c 1571, 1586 for goods worth £4. Of the 31 persons assessed—excluding the 6 assessed on lands—values ranged from £3 to £22. 7 paid on £8 or over and the rest on £3, £4 or £5.

On 28 Jan 1575 Robert was one of 6 witnesses to a deed of release of property in Alton Eastbrook near Alton Church (HRO 61M96/1). He was one of the witnesses and overseers of the will of Roger King of Alton 22 Jan 1577 (HRO A35/1). Roger had property in Petworth, Sussex—c 15 m W of Cuckfield—so he or his wife may have come from there. As overseer, Robert would have been a senior associate of Roger, hence probably b by 1540. In 1593 he was an overseer to brother Rauphe's will. Robert was also recorded selling a property on 20 Oct 1598:

Conveyance by Robert Brockett of Alton Shoemaker to William Prowtings of Weald husbandman of All that his messuage with appurtenances in Alton Estebrook, now in occupation of John Bull 'abutting on the Queen's broade highe waye on the east and on a lane leadinge from the same highe waye towards the Church on the south and upon a tenement or grounde of the Queene's holding now in the occupation of Thomas Godfrey ... on the north and west. Mark of Robert Brockett' (extract from deeds relating to property in High Street and Vicarage Hill made by S Warner Oct 1930, copy held at the Curtis Museum).

2. Rauphe married 16 May 1583 Margaret ... in Alton (IGI), hence b by c 1558, perhaps much earlier. Will of Rauphe Brocket of Alton, Shoemaker, written 16 May 1593 (HRO A013/1), overseers: brother Robert Brocket, Symmon Hall, William Gooderige and Richard Pratt. The will included bequests to:
Edward Hacker of Reading's 2 children: 50s for a cow
sister Cornellis: 6s 8d
godchildren 12d each
brother Walter's 2 children: 2s each
brother Robert: a last knife, a little hatchet and a Sise
wife Margeret: full executrix.
Inventory 8 Jun 1593 (HRO A013/2). No issue?

3. Rychard. ?Married 15 Jun 1595 Margery ROSIER Farnham (IGI), hence b by c 1570, perhaps much earlier. Will of Rychard Brockatt of Alton, Shoemaker, written 18 Mar 1597/8 pr 4 May 1598 Winchester by Margerie Brockett widow, witnesses: Thomas Walter, Robert Brockatt, Symon Hall, Jesper Upton?, Thomas Mathew (HRO B03). It mainly comprised a list of creditors and debtors. No issue? Buried in Heckfield?

4. A Brockett married William GOSDEN in Ropley, c 7 m SW of Alton in 1599 (IGI).

5. Marie Brocket married 11 Oct 1630 Edward FEILDER in St Lawrence's Alton. Marie was buried 3 Dec 1654 Alton (HGS BI 2002).

6. John Brocket—most probably husband of Sarah—was buried 11 June 1666 at St Lawrence's Alton (HGS BI 2002).

7. Sarah Brocket alias Hunt of Alton, Widow; inventory 8 Jul 1667 totalling £7 6d, no items suggesting any trade (HRO AD033). No burial was recorded in Alton for Sarah, but there are gaps in the register for the end of 1666. Sarah's married daughter Elizabeth, married to William Constance, was alive 1667. They were not well off—in 1665 William was assessed for 2 hearths but wasn't charged. William and Elizabeth had children baptised 1645-61.

 

BROCKETT of Alton 16-18th C (suggested reconstruction)
 
                       ... BROCKETT ?Shoemaker
 
    ______________________________|______________________________
    |           |         |            |          |              |
    |           |         |            |         ?|              |
 
 Robert      Rauphe      dau        Walter       dau          Rychard
 
 Shoemaker   Shoemaker  alive 1593     |       m Ropley 1599  Shoemaker
                                       |
 b by 1540?  b 1550s?    m ...         |       William        b 1560s?
 
 alive 1598  d 1593     CORNELLIS  2 children  GOSDEN         d 1597/8
 
             m 1583                alive 1593                 m Farnham 1595
 
             Margaret ...        ?            ?               Margery ROSIER
 
             no issue?         John          Marie            no issue?
 
                               b 1590s?      m 1630
 
                               d 1666        Edward FEILDER
 
                              ?m Sarah HUNT
 
                              b 1590s? d 1667
 
                                   |
 
                               Elizabeth
 
                               b c 1620
 
                               m William
 
                               CONSTANCE
 
                               ____|____
                               |        |
                               |        |
 
                                children
 
                               bap 1645-61

• But for the fact that Robert was not styled 'senior' or 'junior', he could have been considered father and son:
i. he could have been born 18 years or more before Rauphe
ii. a Shoemaker father with 2 Shoemaker sons is more likely than 3 Shoemaker brothers.
• John and Marie may not have been siblings, nor may they have been the 2 children of Walter.

Heckfield with Mattingly—c 12 m N of Alton (Parish registers):

1. 7 Oct 1574 Eliza married Nicholas HOWSE. ?Eliza b by c 1554.
2. 10 Apr 1592 Mary baptised.
3. 6 Aug 1597 Richard buried.
4. 7 Nov 1597 Joane married William SHORROKE.
5. 21 Oct 1611 Mary married John MICHINOR.
6. 22 Oct 1626 John s/o Richard baptised.
7. 23 Mar 1633/4 Alice d/o Richard baptised.

Sherfield on Lodden—c 10 m N of Alton, 4 m S of Heckfield (Parish registers—several pages are damaged and entries unreadable):

1. 16 Nov 1580 John Brockett buried.
2. 27 Mar 1589 John Brocked s/o Gylbert baptised.
3. 6 Jan 1597/8 Richard Brocket s/o Gilbert baptised.
4. 24 Oct 1602 Dorothe Brockett d/o Gilbert baptised and buried 27 Dec.
5. 11 Jun 1604 Barbarie Brockett wife of Gilbert buried.
6. 1 Sep 1605 Gilbert Broxhett and Clemant WILMOT married.
7. 13 Nov 1620 Mary Brockett married John SAWCER/SAWOER.
8. 8 Dec 1621 widow Brockett buried.
9. 12 Jan 1634/5 Clement Brockett s/o Gilbert buried.
10. 7 Jul 1636 Barbara Brockett d/o Richard baptised.
11. 8 Feb 1639/40 Richard Brockett buried.
12. 23 Aug 1647 old Gilbert buried (HGS BI 2002).

Silchester—c 4 m NW of Sherfield, c 6 m W of Heckfield (Parish registers):

30 Mar 1595 Thomas s/o Gylbart Brocket baptised.
29 May 1596 Thomas s/o Gylberte Brocked buried (??????? Brockett in the Sherfield registers). ?Gylbert b by c 1570.

 

ii. Rev John of Ellisfield and Bentworth c 1601-62

John was the 4th son of Rev Edmund and Mary of the main line of Brocas of Beaurepaire, and brother of Edmund of Bramley. He also was a clergyman—first in Hertfordshire, then from the 1640s in Ellisfield and Bentworth in Hampshire. The sale of John's Bentworth property 1662-72 was the last record of John's family in the county.

 

iii. Edmund of Bramley Gent 1605-77

Fifth surviving son of Rev Edmund and Mary of the main line of Brocas of Beaurepaire, and brother of John of Ellisfield and Bentworth. Bramley is c 10 m N of Bentworth. With the death of Edmund and his brother John, records of Brokets in Hampshire are limited to seafaring individuals in Portsmouth, and land dealings of the 19th C Brocket Hall Estate.

 

iv. Portsmouth early 1700s

Robert and John Brockett had children baptised at St Mary's Portsea in the early 1700s and Elizabeth married nearby. Robert may not necessarily have been a Sailor, but could have come along the coast from Sussex:

1. 16 Nov 1692 William—perhaps a Bracket—buried Alverstoke (c 2 m from Portsea).
2. 9 Jul 1715 Ann d/o Robert bap St Mary's Portsea; buried 10 Feb 1717 St Mary's.
3. Apr 1717 Robert s/o Robert bap St Mary's Portsea
4. 24 Apr 1718 Elizabeth married James PHILLIPS Brading, on the east of the Isle of Wight.
5. 8 Feb 1720 John, Sailor, buried St Thomas Portsmouth.
6. 10 Jun 1723 Robert buried St Mary's Portsea.
7. 29 Jun 1720 John s/o John bap St Mary's Portsea [posthumously].
Sources: IGI; burials from HGS BI 2002



4. Jersey

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Drugo, Chaplain 1416

Date/source Latin English translation
1416
24 Mar Westminster C66/399
m 39d
Patent Roll
De arestando Drugonem le Broket

1. Rex dilecto sibi Roberto Olyuer armigero salutem. Scias quod quibusdam certis de causis coram nobis & consilio nostro propositis . assignauimus te ad Drugonem le Broket de Insula

2. de Iersey capellanum vbicumque inuentus fuerit tam infra libertates quam extra infra Insulas de Gernesey Iersey Serk & Aurney arestandum & statim cum captus

3. fuerit coram nobis & dicto consilio nostro ducendum seu per aliquem pro quo respondere volueritis duci faciendum ad respondendum super hiis que sibi per nos & dictum consilium

4. nostrum tunc obicientur ibidem et ad faciendum vlterius & recipiendum quod per idem consilium nostrum ordinari tunc contigerit in hac parte . Et ideo tibi precipimus firmiter


5. iniungentes quod circa premissa diligenter intendas & ea facias & exequaris in forma predicta . Damus autem vniuersis & singulis Balliuis Iuratis ac aliis

6. fidelibus & subditis nostris infra Insulas predictas tenore presencium firmiter in mandatis quod tibi in execucione premissorum intendentes sint consulentes & auxili

7. antes prout decet In cuius &c T R apud Westmonasterium xxiiij die marcij
[Warrant for] the arrest of Drugo Broket

1. The king sends greetings to his beloved Robert Oliver Esquire. Know that for very good reasons expounded to me and my council we have assigned you to arrest Drugo Broket of the island

2. of Jersey, Chaplain, wherever he may be found both within the liberties and without in the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Sark and Alderney and as soon as he has been captured

3. you are to bring him before me and my said council or by anybody for whom you are prepared to vouch, making him to answer to these things which shall by me and my council

4. then be alledged against him there and he will then do and receive whatever shall then happen to be ordained by the same council of mine in this matter. And we therefore firmly order you

5. enjoining that you act on these matters diligently and do and execute them as instructed. We therefore instruct all our bailiffs, jurats and other

6. loyal subjects of ours in the aforesaid islands firmly by the terms of this document to give you advice and assistance in carrying out the aforesaid

7. as is proper In witness etc the king at Westminster 24 March.

The insertion of the definite article le in front of a [supposed] foreign name was a common convention used by Latin scribes.

 

5. Kent

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Thomas of Chidingstone, Esq; will pr PCC 1667; probable son of William of Suffolk. Thomas' son Thomas of Penshurst, Gent, died unmarried; will pr PCC 1670.

 

6. Lancashire

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A single nuclear family c 1610-40. IGI Baptisms:

Year Month Name Father Mother Parish
1612   Humphrey John Brooket Alice Schofield Harwood, Bolton
1618   Ellis (Alice?) John Alice (Schofield) Harwood, Bolton
1622   Alice John Alice Harwood, Bolton

These were perhaps the only Brokets recorded in North West England before the 19th C.

 

7. Somerset

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A Broket clan lived in the Parish of St Cuthbert in Wells from at least the beginning of the 17th C to the end of the 18th.

 

8. Southern Ireland

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Three Brocketts were recorded in connection with Ireland in the 17th C. No others have been found since and none are known to be there today. A search through the Golden Pages for Ireland May 2002 showed a few Brockerts but no Brocketts.

i. Sir John III 1601-5

ii. William 1601

William carried letters from the Privy Council to Sussex to muster horsemen to fight the Spanish army which had landed in the South of Ireland (Hine n d p 68). Sir John III was Warden of Duncannon Fort there at the time. It is unlikely that this was the same William that was Governor of Kinsale 1642, who was probably only b 1588 at the earliest. This William could have been son of one of the following—most likely the first—all born in the 1560s:

iii. William of Kinsale, Cork d 1655

William was a military man, who became Colonel and Governor of Kinsale—a strategic harbour in Southern Ireland—for Parliament during the Civil War 1642-6. He was the eldest surviving son of Edmund Vicar of Luton, estimated birth 1588-94. He ended his days in Saffron Walden, Essex.

 

9. Suffolk

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The Brokets of Suffolk comprise:

i the family of Robert of Bramfield in the 16th and 17th C, 4th son of John of Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambs.
ii a small clan or family near Sudbury in the second half of the 17th C who had links to the Dunton clan of Bedfordshire.

ii. The Sudbury clan

1. William of Little Cornard, c 2m SE of Sudbury. Probably bap 1624 s/o Edward of Dunton; matriculated from Trinity College Cambridge 1638; Scholar 1641; Rector of Little Cornard, Suffolk 1662 (Venn & Venn 1922 p 222); married Joane GATTAWARD of Royston. Children:

  1. William [of Sudbury]
  2. Gatward lived in Colchester before 1686. Married Sarah NICHOLS 1685 St James Colchester (IGI), child: Edward Brockit bap 25 Nov 1688 St Botolph Colchester (IGI).
  3. Lydia married William MANN.
  4. Sivan married Jeffery POTTER, child: Brocket POTTER bap 11 Jan 1677 Assington ('Brooket' in the IGI). Sivan and Jeffery had died before 1683.

A case was brought in the High Court of Chancery 19 May 1650? (PRO C3/435/43) by William Brocket of Sudbury, Clarke, and Joane his wife, and Robert Gattaward, Joane's brother—both grandchildren of Joan Gattaward, late of Royston, Herts, widow, and children of her son Robert Gattaward. Joan Gattaward's estate in her will of 16 Oct 1640 was worth £1500. Her executor Thomas Archer had kept the estate in his own hands for 5 or 6 years, then died and it had gone to his wife Mary.

William's will was nuncupative, written 10 May 1683, pr Bury St Edmunds 21 Jun 1683 on the oath of Executors Edward Pretty Clerke and son William:
Be it Remembered that William Brokett late Rector of little Cornerd haveing been long sicke and nowe fearing a deliquium we being present at the same time perceiving his memory to continue good though his Expressions were very broken tooke notice of these words from his mouth...

he gave all his money Goods & personall Estate whatsoever unto his 2 sonnes Willam and Gatward Brockett and [daughter] Lydia wife of William Mann

2. Edward Brockett senior of Bures St Mary, Yeoman. Bures is c 3 m S of Little Cornard, 7 m NW of Colchester and 40 m E of Dunton. In his will (pr PCC 1696 PROB 11/434; executor son Edward) Edward left bequests of:
£20 to Edward of Colchester [probably s/o Gatward]
£20 to Ann Barnard [aunt of William of Sudbury]
£10 to Isaac son of Isaac
£5 to brother Robert
strongly suggesting he was a son of Robert of Millow and therefore baptised 1634. Edward probably arranged for his will to be proved at the PCC for status, like Robert, unless he feared it might be challenged—he also left 5s to William Brockett of Colchester on demand—perhaps his elder brother.

3. William of Sudbury Gent, son of William of Little Cornard. Married Sissilia PARSLEY 29 Oct 1678 in Long Melford, c 2 m N of Sudbury (IGI)—no issue? Will written 12 May 1686, pr Bury St Edmunds 19 Jun 1686 on the oath of Executors Anna Barnard widow and Joseph Wyatt junior. The will included bequests to:
—my Aunt Ann Barnard with whom I now dwell
Gatward Brockett late of Colchester in Essex the summe of one Shilling of lawfull money of England to be paid him within one Moneth after my decease by my Executors herein after named if the same be lawfully demanded
—Brockett Potter an Orphan Sone of Sivan Potter my sister shall have paid to some trusty and sure friend of his to his use the summe of fforty Shillings.


4. In addition the following IGI entries from the area will be connected:

1657 John Brockit bap? s/o Samuel Assington
1667 Anne Brocket m Moses BARNARD Bures St Mary

Suffolk archives contain no will of Ann Barnard 1670-1770s.

 

10. Surrey

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A Broket line lived in Dorking for 2 centuries. The 18 recorded by the parish registers from 1540-1640 belonged to one line, so from 1440-1540 there may well have been a similar number. These Brokets were probably related to the small contemporary clans in neighbouring Berkshire, Hampshire and Sussex—Dorking is only c 16 m NW of Cuckfield—and like them they died out or moved on before the 18th C.

The first surviving record is from 1449:

Date/source Calendar entry
1449
Calendar of Close Rolls p 160
Richard Broket of Dorkyng co. Surrey 'smyth' to Henry Carpenter, Henry Godnaan and John Somer of Dorkyng, their executors and assigns. Gift of all his goods and chattels, and all debts to him due; and he has put them in possession thereof by payment of 4d. Dated 23 September 28 Henry VI.
Memorandum of acknowledgment, 25 September.

Another probable member of the clan was recorded in 1516 regarding Addington—c 3 m E of Croydon, c 16 m NE of Dorking:

Date/source Calendar entry
1516 (10 June) Livery of lands as son and heir of John Legh of Adyngton, Surrey. Also, livery of lands to John Skynner and John Crowe, who (with Sir Hen. Heydon, Ralph Tykyll, Ric. Skynner, John Grossam, John Legh of Abyngworth, and John Broket, now deceased,) were seized to the use of the said John Legh of the manor of Adyngton alias Bardolfis alias Anguillondis. Greenwich, 17 March 7 Henry VIII. Del. Westminster, 10 June (Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic: Henry VIII, vol 2, pt 1, London 1864: no 2029: Pat 8 Hen VIII p 1, m 19).

Probate in Surrey (Webb p 75) is recorded for:

  1. Will of George Brokett of Dorking 1536 Archdeaconry of Surrey
  2. Will of Richarde Brogat of Dorking 1536 Archdeaconry of Surrey
  3. Will of William Brokett of Dorking 1536 Archdeaconry of Surrey
  4. Will of Frances Brockett of Walton Yeoman 1571 Archdeaconry of Surrey
  5. Administration of William Brocket of Lymsfield 21 Oct 1626 to son Thomas (PCC PROB 6/12 f 248). Limpsfield is c 17 m E of Dorking.

A century after parish registers began the line ended or moved on. The entries in the Dorking parish registers read:

1540 Lyon bur 21 Jul
1540 Clemence mar 25 Oct to William MAIE
1550/1 Marie bap 10 Jan
1556 Frauncis mar 12 Oct to Joane BURNELL
1562 Grace bur 14 Oct
1563/4 Myles mar 24 Jan to Joane STILWELL
1563 Alice mar 22 Sep to Nicholas CRONEY
1564 Jone bap 5 Apr
1599 John bap 25 Apr s/o Raphe
1602 William bap 29 Aug s/o Raphe
1605 Ann bap 14 Apr d/o Raphe
1608 Jane bap 1 May d/o Raphe
1621 Mary bap 10 Mar d/o John
1624 Frances bap 24 Oct s/o John
1627 William bap 11 Apr s/o John private
1627 William bur 14 Apr s/o John
1628 Jane bap 30 Apr d/o John
1634 John bap 19 Oct s/o John
1635 Mary bur 24 Aug wife of John
1640 Joan bur 14 Jul widow of Raphe
Note: the IGI has a baptism entry: Margarett 29 Dec 1627 d/o Edward, but it was not found in the Parish Register itself.

BROKET of Dorking 16-17th C (suggested reconstruction)
 
   ______________________________________________________________________________  
   |                         |                        |                          |
   |                         |                        |                         ?|
 
 Richarde d 1536          George d 1536            William m Clemente          Lyon
 
   m ... a 1536           m Alice AWNCELL          d 1536  |                   d 1540
                                                           |
   |___________________________             _____________|_______________
   |      |                    |              |                     |      |
   |      |                   ?|              |                     |      |
 
 John   Myles m 1564 Joane Clemence m 1540  Frances m 1556 Joane Roberte Mary    Alice
 
 a 1536       |  STILLWELL  William MAIE    Yeoman  |    BURNELL a 1571  a 1571  m 1563
              |                                     |
              |                             d 1571  |    a 1571                  Nicolas
              |                                     |
              |       ______________________________|_______                   CRONEY
              |       |      |              |       |       |
             ?|       |      |              |       |       |
 
            Jone   Richard Raphe m Joan   Annes   Ales    Audrey           William of
 
            bap    b aft   d bef | d 1640 b aft   b aft   b aft            Lymsfield
                                 |
            1564   1551    1640  |        1553    1554    1555             d 1626
                                 |
                 ________________|_____________________                     |
                 |               |           |         |                      |
                 |               |           |         |                      |
 
               John m Mary    William       Ann       Jane                 Thomas
 
           bap 1599 | d 1635  bap 1602      bap 1605  bap 1608             a 1626
                    |
                    |         ?Reigate 1641
                    |
      ______________|_____________________________________
      |             |            |            |           |
      |             |            |            |           |
 
    Mary        Frances       William       Jane        John
 
    bap 1621    bap 1624      bap 1627      bap 1628    bap 1634
 
                              bur 1627

Note: This doesn't account for Marie bap 1551 or Grace bur 1562.

Frances Yeoman's younger brother may have been the Roberte Brockett 'Billman of the best sorte' listed for the parish of St Martha upon the Hill in 1583/4 (Surrey Musters, Surrey Record Society, no 11, 1914, p 27).

Jane may have emigrated to Virginia 1655. One could speculate that William who emigrated to Virginia 1668 was the son of Jane's brother Frances/Francis bap 1624, although it is not known if Francis married. William probably named his own son Francis.

Apart from a 17th C Southwark family who moved to Croydon, other Surrey records consist only of:

  1. an isolated family c 1604-39 in Wonersh c 3m S of Guildford and 9m W of Dorking: Alice Brocket bap 1604, Mary bap 1615, Mary bur 1636, Robert bur 1639 (Wonersh Index of baptisms and burials); Annis mar Harry GEE 11 Nov 1611 (IGI).
  2. Nicolus Broket m Joan B 3 Mar 1616 Horley, c 10 m N of Balcombe in Sussex (IGI).
  3. William Brockett who signed the Protestation in Reigate—c 5 m E of Dorking—just before the Civil War in 1641/2 (Surrey Archaeological Collections, vol 59, 1962, p 51). All males over 18 in England and Wales had to take an oath 'to live and die for the true Protestant religion, the liberties and rights of subjects, and the privilege of Parliaments' (Hey 1996 p 381). William was therefore born 1623 at the latest. Was he son of Raphe and Joan? Deeds dated 17-18 Jun 1698 in Surrey Archives (ref: 322/1/6-7) regarding the lease and release of a Burgage tenement in Reigate mention a ?William Brockett.

Bocketts Farm, sometimes wrongly called Brocketts Farm, is a contemporary working farm south of Leatherhead.

 

11. Sussex

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When parish records began a small clan was living in the centre of the county. They were probably related to the small clans in neighbouring Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey and like them they died out or moved on before the 18th C. The IGI records 11 baptisms 1601-73:

Year Month Name Father Mother Parish
1601 8 Feb Ninian Henry BROKET   Cuckfield
1603 2 Jan Mary Henry BROKET   Cuckfield
1605 7 Apr Jane Henry BROCKAT Marie Cuckfield
1609 2 Apr Sarah Henry BROCKET Marie Cuckfield
1611 22 Dec Susan Henry BROCKET   Cuckfield
1618 16 Aug John Robert BROOKAT   Eastbourne
1641 24 Jan Elizabeth Ninian BROCKET   Ditchling
1662 24 Oct Ann Richard BROCKET   Kirdford
1663 12 Jul Edmond ... BROCKET   Brighton
1667 3 Mar daughter Edward BROKET   Brighton
1673 5 Dec Richard Richard BROCKET Ann Horsham

The IGI records 10 marriages 1562-1690:

Year Month Name Spouse Parish
1562 3 May William BROOKET Elner VENOULL Ardingley
1588 3 Jun Joan BROCKET Gabrell/Gatrell ROGERS Ardingly
1599 22 Oct Henry BROCKETT Mary ARNOLD Cuckfield
1610 3 Jul Ninyon BROCKETT Ann PAYNE Balcombe
1627 18 Apr Ninian BROCKET Mary VIRROLL Keymer
1632 19 Jul Sarah BROCKET John GEALE Cuckfield
1640 5 May Jane BROCKETT Richard WOOD Cuckfield
1656 12 Apr Jane BROCKET Thomas SYMMONS St Michael Lewes
1669 22 Jun Nicholas BROCKET Emblen HOWES Findon
1690 3 Feb Mary BROCKET Stephen MERSH Ringmer

All these parishes are within 36 m of each other. Eastbourne is the furthest E, on the coast c 19 m E of Brighton. Lewes is c 6 m NE of Brighton and Ringmer c 3 m NE of Lewes. Cuckfield is c 12 m N of Brighton. Ardingly is c 2 m W of Balcombe, which is c 3m N of Cuckfield. Cuckfield, Keymer and Ditchling are in the centre of the group. Keymer and Ditchling are a mile apart just over 5 m S of Cuckfield. Horsham is c 9 m NW and Kirdford c 17 m W of Cuckfield. Findon is the furthest W, c 11 m W of Brighton.

The 2 oo spellings in 1562 and 1618 were scribal variants—no separate name existed, not even in Scotland.

The Sussex Marriage Index also records the marriage of Joan and John SPONER in 1595 Ditchley (Ditchling?)

Sussex Burial Inscriptions (www.Familyhistoryonline.net Apr 2005):

Year Month Name Parish Comment
1600 4 Apr Ninnion Brocket Cuckfield  
1612 30 Sep Susan Brockett Cuckfield d/o Mary, Widow
1617 6 Jan Katherine Brockett Cuckfield Wife of Thomas
1617 17 Mar Thomas Brocket Cuckfield  
1621 23 Jan Widow Brockett Balcombe ?s
1658 1 May Mary Brockett Cuckfield Widow—?ARNOLDE or VIRROLL

 

Ninian 1601-60 was a relatively wealthy yeoman, leaving bequests of £580 over and above property and goods and chattels. He was a Quaker, imprisoned for his beliefs:
1656-7 Freedom on appeal by 7 Quakers 6 Jan, including Ninian Brocket, prisoners for conscience sake in Horsham gaol. Ninian had been committed for refusing to swear at the county sessions, not doffing his hat and for refusing to plead to an indictment (State Papers Domestic pp 229, 30).

Extracts from the will of Ninian Brockett, written 7 Feb 1659/60 pr PCC 28 Oct 1661
vnto Mary my wife the summe of eight pounds of currant English money, a yeare out of my house at Arundell, to be payd att Fower euen partes or porcions euery yeare, beginning six months after my decease, furthermore I giue vnto the sayd Mary my wife fiue pounds of lawfull English money in her purse; likewise I giue vnto the sayd Mary two bushells of wheat, and two bushells of mault euery yeare dureing the time of her life; Item I giue vnto Mary my wife one feather bed one bedstead with all belonging to it; Item I giue vnto here Fiue paire of sheets, one paire of pillow coats, one hemptan Table Cloath and two canvis Table cloaths, one Iron pott one brasse pott two Firkins two skilletts, two cheeses, one linnen wheele, one woollen wheelle, one little paire of gridirons, one potthooks; one paire of pott hangers; one Cheare, two bucken tubbs; two kiners, six pewter dishes, six spoons, six wooden dishes one Wooden platter and one Dozen of trenchers two little Ioyne stooles three ordinary stooles, one paire of bellows one pewter pott

vnto Henry Woolger and Margarett his wife the summe of Thirty pounds of Currant English money to be payd vnto them within one whole yeare after my deceasse;

vnto John Brockett my eldest sonne the summe of One hundrd pounds; of good and lawfull money of England to be payd vnto him within one whole yeare after my decease (and noe more)

vnto Sarah my Second daughter the Summe of one hundred pounds of good and lawfull money of England to be payd vnto her within one whole yeare after my decease, And twenty pounds more of the like money to be payd vnto her the sayd Sarah at the end of three yeares after my decease as aforesayd Item I giue more vnto the sayd Sarah one bed and one bedstead and all belonging to him; and she is to chuse onley two excepted;

vnto Jane Brockett my Third Daughter the summe of sixty pounds of lawfull English money to be paid within one whole yeare after my decease; And alsoe I giue her the sayd Jane Bro'c'kett the same bed which was giuen her in my First Will

vnto Elizabeth Brockett my fourth Daughter the summe of one hundred pounds of good and lawfull money to be payd vnto her at the time when she shall accomplish the Age of one and Twenty yeares, and to receiue vse for the said hundred pounds till she shall come to the age aforesayd; furthermore I giue vnto the said Elizabeth one bed and bedstead and all that belonging to him.

vnto Ann Brockett the summe of Fourescore pounds of lawfull money of England to be paid vnto her the sayd Ann Brockett at the age of one and twenty yeares And likewise the vse of the sayd fourescore pounds till that time, And likewise I giue vnto her the said Ann Brockett one bed and bedstead with all belonging to him.

vnto Mary Brockett my youngest daughter the Summe of Fourescore pounds of good and lawfull money of England to be payd her at the time when she shall accomplish the age of one and twenty yeares, and likewise the vse of the said fourescore pounds till that tyme And likewise one bed and bedstead and all that be longe vnto him,

vnto my youngest sonne Nicholas Brockett my house in Arundell, Scituate and being in the lower Street called Tarrent Street, and knowne by the name of the lower brewhouse; latly in the hands of John Pollett; Item I giue vnto the Sayd Nicholas my sonne all that Capitall Messuage, with euery parte and parcell thereof that is to say the two dwelling houses, with the two mault houses, the two gardens and gats and gats rombs and stables and the slipinge lying by the riuer sid with the Croft there vnto belonging and adioyning and the west sid of the Mault house and the ship yard on the west sid of that conteyning halfe an Acre of ground more or les, Further more I doe appoynt the sayd Nicholas Brockett my youngest sonne; full and whole Executor of all my goods and Chattles

Lastly I doe hereby apoynt ouerseers for my last will and Testament, Nicholas Beard of Rottinden in the County aforesayd and Richard Newman of Wickham in the parish of Steaning in the same County Yeoman

Ninian's will and the baptism, marriage and burial data suggest this reconstruction:

BROKET of Sussex c 1535-1690
 
            William m 1562 Elner VENOULL             Ninnion
 
            b c 1535                                 d 1600
 
 
 
  Joan m 1588       Henry  m 1599 Mary  Ninyon m 1610  Thomas m Katherine  Joan m 1595
 
         Gabrell  b c 1570 |   ARNOLDE           Ann   d 1617   ...               John
                           |
         ROGERS     d by   |   ?d 1658           PAYNE          d 1617            SPONER
                           |
                    1612   |__________________________________________________
                           |                   |     |            |           |
                           |                   |     |            |           |
 
 Nicolus m 1616          Ninian m 1627 Mary  Mary  Jane         Sarah       Susan
 
           Joan B      bap 1601 |   VIRROLL  bap   bap 1605     bap 1609    bap 1611
                                |
          (Horley)              |   ?d 1658  1603  m 1640       m 1632      d 1612
                                |
                                |                  Richard WOOD John GEALE
                                |
     ___________________________|____________________________
     |       |     |      |          |       |      |        |
     |       |     |      |          |       |      |        |
 
 Margaret  John  Sarah  Jane     Elizabeth  Ann  Nicholas  Mary
 
 m Henry                ?m 1656  bap 1641        b c 1644  ?m 1690
 
 WOOLGER                Thomas                   ?m 1669   Stephen
 
                        SYMMONS                  Emblen    MERSH
 
                                                 HOWES

What became of the last generation is not known.

 


12. Wales

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The 1851 census showed 2 young families in Trevethin parish, near Pontypool c 17 m N of Cardiff, those of Thomas b c 1816 Mynyddyslwyn, Newport District, and James b c 1825 Cardiff, both working as Ballers in an Iron Forge. Following civil registration in 1837 and up to 1938 St Catherine's Index showed:

  • Pontypool District 1841-89: 4 marriages, 9 births (last one 1858) and 3 deaths
  • Newport and Chepstow: 1841-1918 2 marriages, 2 births (last one 1875) and 5 deaths
  • Montgomeryshire 1842: 1 death.

The IGI recorded only 1 pre-1837 record for Wales: a marriage in Newport in 1826. Currently the only Brockets in Wales immigrated from Scotland.

 

13. Worcestershire

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Pre 1937 records:

  1. A Brocot family in Lindridge in the 1720s
  2. A Brocket family in Kidderminster in the 1910s
  3. A Brockett family in Kidderminster in the 1930s.