Essex

Brokets are first recorded in Essex in 1356 and 1382. Next in 1438 the young Yorkshire Broket Edward son of Thomas and Dionisia acquired land there, but none of his descendants—including 3 Sheriffs of the County—resided in Essex until a younger son married an Essex heiress a century later.

Two separate but related Broket clans thrived in Willingale, near Chelmsford:

1. from the mid 16th C—during the peak of the Hertfordshire dynasty
2. from the end of the 17th C—2 generations after the first had ended.

Both began with a younger son who worked as an attorney at one of the Inns of Court in London. Both clans maintained connections with London and younger children were usually Londoners.

The first clan sold its Willingale estate in 1634, but 54 years later it was bought back by a distant cousin. This second clan lived in Essex for over 2 centuries until 1906—albeit with 2 arrangements to preserve the name when the patriline died out.

Records show few other Essex Brockets. Only 7 were there in 1881 and only 6 in 1901.

Two traders are recorded: Philip of Hedyngham in 1356 and John of Tendryng in 1382. They would not have come from an established line, nor apparently left one—no Brokets were taxpayers in Essex in 1327 (Ward 1983, 1991).

The next records are of land transactions made by brothers Edward and Thomas from Yorkshire and Hertfordshire, who also established no Essex line—no Brokets were taxpayers in Essex in 1524/5 (Lay Subsidy Rolls 1524-5, ERO T/A 427/1/1 and 427/1/2). There was an IPM into Thomas' Essex lands held in chief, but despite being Thomas' heir, there was no inquisition on Edward's death, nor any mention of land in Essex in his will. Many of their properties were within 10-15 miles of Willingale:

1. 1438 Hooks and Pinnacle. Edward with 2 others acquired the manor of Hooks and half the manor of Pinnacle—grid reference TL4209.
2. 1477 and 1480 Brondsych. Thomas and Elizabeth had an interest in the Manor of Brondsych—unidentified—and land in Fobbyng and Fang.
3. 1477 The IPM into Thomas' Essex lands held in chief listed East and West Tilbury, Fenge (i.e. Vang), Fobbing, Corringham and Stanford le Hope (PRO C140/62; Calendarium vol 4 p 385). Again, these places are only some 15 miles SSE of Willingale. East and West Tilbury are at grid reference TQ6778, Fobbing is at TQ7184, Corringham is at TQ7083 and Stanford le Hope is at TQ6882.
4. 1483-5 Haghams. Thomas and Elizabeth had jointly held the Manor of Haghams and lands in Lamborne, Chigewell, Theydon Boyes, Rothyng St Botall and Stapelford Abbot (PRO C1/66/400). Lambourne is at grid reference TQ4896 (Ordnance Survey Gazeteer), Chigwell at TQ4393 and Theydon Bois at TQ4599 are respectively about 5 and 2 miles SW of Epping and Stapleford Abbotts is at TQ5095, about 4 miles SE of it. Rothyng St Botall has not been identified; is it one of the Rodings 3-5 miles north of Willingale? St Botolph?

Brokets may not have held substantial land in Essex from the 1480s until 1543—the VCH has no references—but they were nonetheless influential in the County throughout this period. The 16th C, especially its middle decades, were the peak of the dynasty's fortunes in neighbouring Hertfordshire. Three more became MPs for Herts, 3 became knights, and 3 held the influential office of Sheriff of Essex and Herts:

1. John of Wheathampstead Esq in 1507-8 (for 2 years) and 1531-2.
2. Edward of Letchworth Esq in 1547-8 and 1554-5
3. John of Hatfield Esq in 1566-7.

John of Wheathampstead's son John held land about 40 miles north of Willingale in Cambridgeshire through his wife. His third son Edward conveyed land near Willingale in 1543 and the wife of his fourth son Robert was from Broomfield, 2 miles north of Chelmsford.

The next head of the Hertfordshire dynasty, Sir John I, was Escheator for Essex in 1539, aged about 26.

Willingale Spain Parish was connected to the manor of Spains Hall, originally built by Harvey D'Espania in the 12th century and situated just over half a mile SE of the churches. Willingale Doe Parish had been territory of the D'Ou family who settled there in the 14th century (Marsden p 1).

In addition to Spains Hall there are 2 other Halls in Willingale: Torrells Hall, just over a mile due north of Spains, and Wardens Hall, about half a mile west. The grid references are Spains TL6006, Torells TL6008 and Wardens TL5907. Brockets held all three at one time or another.

Their ancestors had owned land near Willingale since the 1430s, but Brokets probably first resided in Willingale itself in the 1540s. They remained until 1906, with a break in the continuity of only 54 years. The interlude was from the sale of Wardens Hall in 1634 by one Brocket clan to the purchase of Torrells Hall in 1688 by another. No Brokets appear in the Essex Hearth Tax Assessment for 1662 (ERO Q/RTh 1).

	Contents of this section:	i. Edward d 1584
		ii. Elizabeth wife of Edward, d 1592
		iii. Nicolas and Joanna

i. Edward of Wingaledoe Gent b c 1518 will pr 1584

Edward was the third or fourth of the 5 sons of John and Dorothy Brockett of Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire. John died in 1526, when Edward may only have been about 6 years old. Edward became a barrister at Furnivals, one of the Inns of Chancery in London. Later in life in 1579/80 he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. His age as witness in a case in 1564 was 46—'xlvj yeres or therabowte' (PRO C21/E10/8). Edward lived through the changing times of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary & Philip and Elizabeth.

The IGI suggests that Edward and siblings were baptised in Willingale Doe from 1500 onwards and that his sisters were married there, but this data is unreliable—it predates Willingale Doe parish records and is someone's back projection. From 1515 they were probably baptised in Swaffham Bulbeck.

Nonetheless Edward did live in Willingale, at least in his early manhood. The VCH cited the conveyance of the small manor of Stocktons, about 10 miles SW of Willingale in the Chigwell area, to a John Potter in 1543 by 'Edward Brockett of Wingaledoe' (VCH Essex vol 4 p 30). Berry and Clutterbuck called him so too. But where in Willingale he lived and for how long is not known. 'Willingale Doe' was an alias for Wardens Hall (Morant 1763-8 vol 2 p 478), but it was not until after his death that son Nicolas purchased Wardens Hall in 1586/7. Edward was also styled 'of Willingalle' in the Visitations of Essex:

Edward later resided and died in Sawbridgeworth, just into Hertfordshire. In 1572 'Edward Brokett of Sawbridgeworthe' is recorded on 2 commissions to inquire into the lunacy of a widow (Calendars of Patent Rolls vol 5 nos 3079, 3082), and 1578 in he was recorded in a suit against the Sawbridgeworth bailiff (PRO SP46/31/fo 264). In 1584 his will refers to him as 'Edward Brockett of Sabridgeworthe' (ERO D/AMR 4/65: written 28 Aug 1584 pr 7 Oct 1584).

iii. Elizabeth, née Barley, d 1592

Wife of Edward and formerly Lady Elizabeth LEVENTHORPE, widow of Sir Edward Leventhorpe of Shingay Hall, Sawbridgeworth, née BARLEY of Albury, Herts. It's probable that Edward's property in Sawbridgeworth was in the right of his wife. The Barleys had been established at Albury, about 7 miles north of Sawbridgeworth in Herts for at least a century, and like the Leventhorpes and the Brocketts, a number of them were appointed Sheriffs of Essex and Herts.

Elizabeth's earliest ancestor given by Berry and Clutterbuck was John Barley Esq, Sheriff of Essex and Herts 1424. His son Henry Barley Esq was Sheriff in 1466, and his grandson, another Henry Barley Esq, Sheriff in 1524 (Chauncy 1826 vol 1 p 47) was Elizabeth's father.

Elizabeth, daughter therefore of a Sheriff, married first the son of a Sheriff (and a Knight), and their son, who died aged 30 at the most, had a son who was also a Sheriff and a Knight and became a Baronet. Her second marriage to Edward Brockett, brought her into another family of Sheriffs and Knights, albeit a cadet branch.

Neither Berry nor Clutterbuck, the 2 principal sources for pedigrees of Hertfordshire families of the time, link Elizabeth's first and second marriages. On their Brocket pedigrees they simply called her 'daur. of ... Barley', depending perhaps on Harley 807 which called her 'Barle of Albere'. Conversely, for the Barley and Leventhorpe pedigrees they did not record her second marriage to Edward Brocket.

iv. Nicolas Esq and Joanna

Son of Edward and Elizabeth, Nicolas married Joanna WISEMAN in Sapsford, Sawbridgeworth, in 1582 (IGI) a year or so after graduating from St John's College Cambridge. Joanna's father lived less than an hour's horse ride from Willingale. These were the days of Shakespeare 1564-1616 and the Spanish Armada 1588. Children:

1. John b c 1594 m Elizabeth TAVERNOR alive c 1634 (Essex Visitations; IGI). John's signature is on his father's will as a witness. He is recorded mortgaging Wardens Hall to Jeffery Nightingale between 1603-25 (Calendar of Chancery Proceedings James I no 43 p 42), and selling it to the same man around 1634 (Morant 1763-8 vol 2 p 478). The family probably then moved to London. No further records of John or his siblings have been found, apart from Edward's will. The family may have died out.
2. Thomas (Essex Visitations; IGI). Was Thomas the gentleman Adventurer of the Virginia Company? He was possibly the Thomas Brockitt of St Albans Gent who married Elizabeth PILKYNGTON of the same, Widow, by marriage licence from the Archdeaconry of St Albans 7 Apr 1608 (Brigg 1895 p 49) but this was more likely Thomas son of Sir John III.
3. Joan b 1589 (Essex Visitations).
4. Edward b 1591 (Essex Visitations; IGI); apparently d unm 1620 as a young Adventurer to the New World.
5. Anthony b 1597 (Essex Visitations; IGI as the son of Richard Brockett).

Nicolas and Joanna purchased Wardens Hall in the parish of Willingale Doe in 1586/7:

£1800 was a very large sum and would have swallowed up much of Nicolas' inheritance and probably that of his wife Joanna's too. That Nicolas assured her the manor in his will until her death suggests so.

Nicolas was the son of a gentleman, but was himself an esquire, judging by his will, written 28 May 1597, pr 7 Sep (ERO D/ABW6/9; Emmison 1980 p 5):

Much more is known about the second Willingale Brocket clan:

• While the first clan was in Willingale for about 91 years, this second one occupied and/or owned Spains Hall for 208 years.
• While there are only 4 wills from the first clan, 3 of which are very short, there are 12 from the second, several of which are long and detailed.
• There is also the document PRO E133/27/9 comprising 12 depositions in a case brought by one family member against others.
• Many of them lived most of their lives in London.

Memorials to the clan from its 2nd century dominate the little Chuch of St Andrews and All Saints in Willingale, suggesting how the clan itself dominated the life of the little village for 200 years.

i. Generations 1-3

John I was born 1649 in London, a younger son of a Charles Citizen and Fishmonger of London. John I was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1672. According to his daughters he was 'by profession an Attorney but chiefly followed the practice of a Solicitor in the Court of Chancery' (PRO E133/27/9 pp 10, 23). Being an Attorney was one of the fastest ways to make money in late 17th- and early 18th-century Britain and many of those trained at one of the Inns of Court were able to retire to a rural property purchased from the profits of their business (Hey 1998 pp 29, 30 'attorneys'). This applied to John who became known as both Gent and Esq. In 1688 he bought the Manor of Torrells Hall followed by the Manor of Willingale Spain in 1698. He died in or about June 1704 (PRO E133/27/9 p 10) aged c 55.

On 4 Apr the year that he was admitted to the Middle Temple he was married at the Temple Church to Sarah dau of John HERNE Gent of Cliffords Inn, an Inn of Chancery. The 1860 Gateshead pedigree describes Sarah as his heiress. No records of her father have yet been found, but she would have brought wealth to the marriage. Her sister, married to a Mr Spyre, died a wealthy woman. Her estate passed to John I in 1700 as executor and residuary legatee and was valued at £1500 (E133/27/9 pp 10, 23). £300 of it had been left to her sister Sarah, John's wife, and it is a sign of the times that John did not pass this to his wife except through his will (written 11 Mar 1703, pr PCC 22 Jun 1704 PROB 11/476, ll 6-9). Their children also each received legacies from Aunt Spyre—except Penelope and Richard who alledgedly never received theirs from William I, John I's executor (E133/27/9 pp 11, 23).

Children:

iii. Generations 3-6

 
             William BROCKET Esq m Mary MARKHAM
 
                  1719-91        |   1734-57
                                 |
             Lord of Sp 1745-91  |
                                 |
           ______________________| 
           |         |           |
           |         |           |
 
         Mary     William      Mary   m   Stanes
 
         b & d    1756-74   1757-1819 | CHAMBERLAYNE Esq
                                      |
         1755               Lady of Sp|  of Ryes, Essex
                                      |
                            1791-1819 | Lord of Sp 1819-34
                                      |
                     _________________|____________ 
                     |
                     |
 
         Stanes Brocket CHAMBERLAYNE Esq m 1822 Elizabeth
 
         1782-1873 changed name 1834 to  |      WOOLLETT
                                         |
         Stanes Brocket BROCKET Esq      |      1787-1864
                                         |
             Lord of Sp 1834-73          |
                                         |
                                         |

William II Esq 1719-91 had a long career at the Middle Temple: admitted 1738, called to the bar 1742-3, Bencher 1778, Reader 1785 and Treasurer 1790. His will was also long—written 8 Apr 1790 pr PCC 26 May 1791 PROB 11/1204—and was principally concerned to preserve the name.

Stanes Brocket CHAMBERLAYNE Esq 1782-1873 (d aged 90), admitted Middle Temple 1790 (aged 8), alias from 1834: Stanes Brocket BROCKET Esq, Lord of Spains Hall 1834-73 (39 years), High Sheriff of Essex 1844 (aged 62), will written 1866-9 pr London 1873 married 1822 Elizabeth 1787-1864 dau of Isaac RUTTON Esq of Ospringe, Kent, widow of John WOOLLETT Esq of Rye, Sussex. Children:

iv. Memorial Inscriptions

Below are the names on the memorials in St. Andrews Church, Willingale Spain. They belong to the second clan after 1755 only. At least one other Brocket had been buried there previously—William Esq who died 1745 having requested to be buried underneath the family pew. Members of the first clan may also have been buried here too.

On the wall behind the pulpit in the nave:

In the vault underneath are deposited the remains of the following members of the Brocket Family:
	Mary Brocket (infant) died Aug. 30 1755
	Mary, wife of William Brocket Esq. died Sept 22 1757 aged 23 years
	Elizabeth Brocket died December 6th, 1759
	Jane Brocket, mother of William Brocket Esq. of Spains Hall died July 5th 1771 aged 87 years
	William only son of William Brocket Esq. of Spains Hall died Aug. 20th 1774
	Mary Brocket sister to William Brocket Esq. of Spains Hall died 1782 aged 69 years
	William Brocket Esq. Lord of the Manor of Willingale Spain died 1791 aged 72 years
	William Brocket Brocket died December 19th 1847 aged 21 years
	Thermuthis Brocket died May 13th 1852 aged 23 years

To the memory of:
	Elizabeth Brocket wife of Stanes Brocket-Brocket who died on the? 1st day of January 1864 aged 77 years
	Stanes Brocket Brocket who died on the 2nd of March 1873, aged 90 years
	Elizabeth Brocket who died on April 25th 1895, aged 70 years
	Stanes Brocket Brocket who died on September 11th 1844 at Pontesbury, Shropshire and was buried there aged 21 years
	Valentine Brocket Brocket who died on April 6th 1835 at Rye and was buried in Rye Church aged 2 years

On the south wall of the nave:

In memory of:
	Charles Pix Meryon died 3rd December 1879 aged 65
	Mary his widow died 29th December 1906 aged 79 years
	and their son Stanes Brocket Meryon died 9th Jan 1867 aged 11 weeks
All buried at Rye, Sussex

i. Two late 18th C wills:

1. Edward Brockett Wheelwright Southminster ERO D/ABR 26/99
2. Mary Brockett Spinster Southminster ERO D/AMR 26/395.

ii. 1881 census—3 Households:

• One in West Ham: Alfred aged 33, Tailor, born Royston, wife Elizabeth aged 25, 2 daus Sarah Elizabeth aged 6 and Mabel Elizabeth aged 1.
• One in Hornchurch: Henry aged 77, Agricultural Labourer, born Hornchurch, son James aged 26, Agricultural Labourer, born Hornchurch.
• Spinster Elizabeth aged 56, Landowner at Willingale Spain, born Rye Sussex.

iii. 1901 census—

[To follow]

iv. There is a house called Brocketts in Tendring.