Hertfordshire Brokets 17-19th C

Huge changes were taking place in England during the first half of the 17th C: the Puritan movement, the beginning and rapid growth of emigration to the New World, the Civil War of 1642-6 and the execution of Charles I in 1649, to name a few. Brokets still had landed wealth in Wheathampstead in the 1st half of the 17th C but it was significantly less than in the previous 2 centuries.

17th C Herts Brokets lived in:

• Codicote
• Essendon
• Hitchin
• Wheathampstead.

In 1598 Sir John II had died without a son and the dynasty's seat of Brocket Hall had passed through a daughter to the Reade family. The Brokets now held only Whethampstead Place—passed from Edward to son John in 1598—and Mackarells End House or Mackery End House, inherited from his mother by the last Broket knight, Sir John III, knighted in 1599.

Sir John III served the King in Ireland but in 1603 was accused of counterfeiting coin there. Whether or not he was guilty, a cloud may have remained over his name, for although buried in Wheathampstead Church c 1613, there is no memorial to him nor will surviving. His son Thomas sold Mackarells End in 1628. His other son called 'John Brockett of Caswell' after his last residence in Wheathampstead, was styled an Esquire, but as Chancery Bills suggest, his financial situation went from bad to worse. He was the last of that line in Wheathampstead. When he died in 1658 neither of his sons lived there.

For easier identification it may help to divide the Brokets of 17th C Hertfordshire into those called John:

Sir John III	of Mackerye End
John Esq	of Wheathampstead	i
John Esq	of Caswell
John Grocer	of Pirton
John Gent	s/o John of Caswell
John Gent	of Codicote	v

and others:

Richard Yeoman	of Cosmer, Hippolletts
Dame Elizabeth	of Brockett Hall
William Esq	s/o William of Esyndon	ii
Anne	of Wild Hill	iii
Thomas	s/o Sir John III
William Yeoman	III of Hitchin	iv
Clement	Husbandman	vi
George	of Royston Labourer	vii
Edward	of Ware	viii
Edward	of Hitchin Quaker	ix
William Gent	s/o John of Codicote	x
Edward Gent	of Wheathampstead	xi
William Gent	of Wheathamstead	xii
Susanna Widow	of Watford	xiii
Rev John [Job]	of Royston	xiv
Edward Yeoman	of Walsworth Hitchin	xv

i. John of Wheathampstead Esq b c 1571 bur 5 Nov 1649

Only son of Edward and Etheldred Lady Challoner. His baptism is not recorded in Wheathampstead. Perhaps it was in Buckinghamshire? Matriculated Oxford 30 Oct 1584, aged 13, so was b c 1571. Gray's Inn 1588.

He was known as 'John Brockett of Wheathampstead Esq', and lived near the Church at a residence called the Street. His father died 1598 and for half a century thereafter John was a prominent local squire until his own death. He was sometimes called 'the elder'—as in 1631—to distinguish him from the other John of Wheathampstead Esq, b 1583, called latterly 'John Brokett of Caswell' after his last residence in Wheathampstead.

1598: John was bearer of one of the 2 standards at the heraldic funeral of Sir John II in St Etheldreda's Hatfield.
1631: On 4 Aug John Brockett the elder of Wheathampstead, Esq, placed a close of land called the Great Brache in Sandridge in trust, to reconvey it to himself as security for payments of £2 a year to the poor of Wheathampstead, Hatfield, Sandridge, Harpenden and Redbourn. By an inquisition of 7 Jun 1628, under the Statute of Charitable uses, it had been found that John Brockett was chargeable with this charity having £200 'remaineing in his hands from one Edward Smith of Saundridge' (HALS DE/Z120/44942). He signed: 1638: John—or John of Caswell—was accused of digging a ditch across a public way (Herts County Records Sessions Rolls and Books, vol 1 pp 18-9, vol 5 pp 233, 261, as cited in Munby 1974 p 45).
1647: Conveyed the Manor of East Hide—part of Luton Manor—to Thomas Mitchell (VCH Bedfordshire vol 2 pp 357).
1649: Died. Will proved PCC 1650.

He married twice and had 10 or more surviving children—in alphabetical order according to the Wheathampstead PR:

1. By 1st wife Mary GARROWAY, bur 29 Jul 1619 (7 out of the 10 died young):

1. Mary bur 1 May 1604
2. Frances bap 29 Mar 1604, bur 23 Jul 1623
3. Judith bap 30 May 1605; mar Richard EDMONDS (College of Arms ms. D24/ii/50)
4. Edward of Wheathampstead Gent, bap 14 Jan 1606, bur 19 Jan 1669
5. William bap 20 Jul 1608, bur 7 Nov 1609
6. John bap 20 May 1611, bur 4 Nov 1628
7. Charles bap 1 Jul 1613, bur 9 Jan 1616
8. Thomas bap 15 Jan 1614, bur 9 Aug 1619
9. Garway or Garraway bap 6 Jun 1616, bur 19 Apr 1619
10. Charles of Westminster Gent, bap 2 Jun 1618, d 1662/3.

2. By 2nd wife Mary BANNISTER, m 29 Dec 1623 St Bride Fleet St, London (IGI). She was bur 21 Dec 1667 (1 out of the 8 died young):

1. George bap 4 Jan 1624, alive and married in 1675 (brother William's will). No issue? Witness to John of Caswell's will.
2. Mary bap 19 Jun 1627
3. Thomas bap 4 May 1628. Thomas of The Place bur 6 Jul 1671. Citizen and Clothworker of London.
4. Elizabeth bap 3 Aug 1628, bur 18 Jul 1632
5. John bap 20 Oct 1629. Mentioned on mother's gravestone but not in father's will of 1649 or brothers' wills. If he had died before 1649, his burial was not recorded in the Wheathampstead PR. Why else though would he not be mentioned in family wills?
6. William of Wheathampstead Gent, bap 23 Oct 1631, bur 1 Jan 1675
7. Bannister bap 20 Jan 1632, will pr PCC 1652
8. Henry bap 22 Jul 1634. Alive 1675 (brother William's will). Of Hitchin?

Two of his surviving sons, the eldest Edward (1606-1669) and one of the youngest William (1631-1675), remained in Wheathampstead as gentlemen. But they were the last 2 Brocketts of Wheathampstead.

A memorial inscription on the floor of the Brockett Chapel in Wheathampstead Church reads:

The gravestone said she died 1669, the PR 1667.

ii. William Gent / Esq b c 1564 d 1626

Eldest son and heir of William of Esyndon Gent, 'Gent aged 46 or more' in 1610 in his father's IPM, thus b c 1564. Sole executor of his father's will.

In 1597 he was admitted to Gray's Inn. It was probably William who carried letters from the Privy Council to Sussex 1601. A series of documents 1596-1603 (WSRO 212B/3864 and 335/91, 95, 99) concerning the manor, lordship and farm of Quidhampton in the parish of Wroughton, Wiltshire, c 3 m SW of Swindon (VCH Wiltshire vol 11 pp 241-2) show that:

• William married Sara 2nd d/o Thomas CRANE Esq of Quidhampton.
• Sara was aged 18 in 1597—therefore b c 1579—and had married William by 19 Nov 1599, when he was c 35. At that time he was referred to as of Wildhill, Herts, Gent.
• Thomas had married his 1st and 3rd daughters to Esquires before Oct 1596 by which time they were 19 and 17 respectively.
• Since those two had had their portions on marriage, Sara was left Quidhamption in her father's will and the 4th daughter the manor of Newton Tony.
• William and Sara sold Quidhampton within 4 years in 1603 for £1000.

Reproduced from WSRO 335/99 with kind permission from the Wiltshire Record Office

The initial T of WSRO 335/99 reproduced with kind permission from the Wiltshire Record Office —to the same scale as the signatures. Actual height of T: 14 cm; Indenture: 41 cm high, 54 cm wide.

Another series of large documents dating 1596-1605 recorded a case brought by Bourcher, William Brokett Esq and Jones against Waterhouse, Lockey (Luckie), Milner and Kent (PRO STAC 8/62/16).

In 1618 he sold Camfield Place, the mansion house he inherited from his father (VCH Herts vol 2 p 459). William died intestate 1626 in Limpsfield, Surrey, 1 m N of Oxted, administration granted 21 Oct to son Thomas (PCC PROB 6/12 f 248). BMI and the IGI recorded the marriage of Sara to Robert PRENTISE 24 Jul 1629 St Dunstan, Stepney, London.

A suit brought by Sarah in 1637, then remarried (State Papers Domestic vol 377 p 125 no 144), alledged that William had died with a house called Stockenden in Surrey, lands worth £200 p a and personal estate of £3,860, but that the family were then in dire straits:

This appears to be more land than owned by his famous younger contemporary the Rev Ralph Josselin of Essex (Macfarlane 1970 p 34ff). There is a Stockenden Farm in Oxted, c 14 m E of Dorking. The suit shows that in 1637 William and Sara's eldest son was:

1. Thomas, who had not been heard of for two years,

and that the youngest children in 1637 were a son and 3 daughters:

2. Brian—born by 1625 at the latest; unlikely to have emigrated to Maryland 1669.
3. Frances
4. Lucy
5. Margaret.

None of these 5 are recorded in the IGI, but all would have been born 1600-26—when their father died. A petition to the House of Lords against imprisonment in 1628 by another son, William, reveals that then there were 10 siblings.

• 3 are known to have been male, 3 female.
• Whether or not there were sons among the other 4 who later had families isn't known. They may all have been daughters.
• If Brian emigrated in 1669, had William done so before him in 1638?
• And what became of son William's children? No more has yet been found about them.

iii. Anne of Wildhill d 1616

William of Esyndon's daughter Anne's will was written 6 Mar 1615/6, proved PCC 28 Mar 1616 PROB 11/127:

iv. William III of Hitchin Yeoman d 1622/3

Son of William II. A Yeoman Maltster like his father and grandfather before him. Recorded as Juror and Clerk of the Peace 1589-90 (HALS HAT/SR2, 23, 70, 75, 132, 181) and on the Grand Jury at the Hertfordshire Assizes 23 Sep 1603 (Cockburn 1975 p 8). Therefore a JP? Gray produced a fine, unpublished pedigree of this clan in 1998. Spurling sued in Chancery against William 8 Jul 1622 (PRO C3/378/60). Will 1622/3, signed with a shaky hand (HALS 9HW80):

Married Katherine HANSCOMBE 6 Feb 1593 Hitchin (IGI). Children, all bap Hitchin:

1. Edward bap 28 Dec 1595 (IGI). Living in Wales in 1652 according to the suit brought against him by brother John. Married 1st Johanna d/o John THAME of Leicestershire (Visitation of Leicestershire). Children:
1. William bap 1621
2. Joane bap 10 Jul 1622 (IGI). Married 1650 St Thomas Southwark Thomas VAUS. Issue.
On 26 Feb 1622/3 Edward Brockett of Hitchin, yeoman, sold land in Welchmans Croft, Hitchin, to Edward Lucas of Ickleford, Miller. His signature is on the deed (HALS DE/Pm/19106): He and his wife also signed 2 deeds of covenant to levy fines on 10 Feb 1630/1 in respect of:
1. a capital messuage in Bancroft Street, Hitchin, and 40½ acres of land in Hitchin and St Ippollitts, between Edward Brockett, Yeoman of Shenton, Leics and his wife Joan, and Andrew Sewertye of Hitchin, Gent (DE/Pm/19109).
2. property in Bancroft Street and elsewhere in Hitchin and Ippollitts between Edward Brockett of Shenton, Yeoman, and Joan his wife, and Thomas Sewertye of Hitchin, Maltster (DE/Pm/19519).
Edward ?married 2nd 1635 Ippollits, Herts Ann PAPWORTH. Child:
1. Ann bap 30 Mar 1637 (IGI).
2. William bap 1597.
Married ... ... They had a still-born child bur 1638.
3. Hanscombe bap 1 Jan 1598 (IGI).
Married 1622 St Martin Vintry London Anne widow of Hugh BRUER. (The IGI has 2 marriages both at St Martin Vintry: 8 Sep 1620 to ... BRUETT and 22 Sep 1623 to Anne BRICE). Child:
Edward, bap 28 Nov 1625 St Martin Vintry (IGI). Probably Edward of Hitchin, imprisoned for Quaker beliefs 1637.
4. John bap 9 Nov 1600 (IGI). Grocer of Pirton, Herts. John brought a case to Chancery against brother Edward in Feb 1652 (PRO C2 ChasI/B167/98 summarised):

   'Orator John Brockett of Pirton, Herts, Grocer. Whereas William Brockett of Hitchin, Yeoman, deceased, late father of the Orator was seised in his demesne as of fee in a capital messuage and divers lands and tenemenents in Hitchin to the yealy value of £400 and upwards and goods and chattels worth £600 and upwards, sufficient to pay all his debts with a great overplus. William made his will 3 Sep 1620 for the benefit of his children, bequeathing to John, Orator, one of his younger sons £20 when he reached 23 years and made Edward his then sonne and heire apparant his sole executor. William died in Hitchin Feb 1623 and Edward proved the will, but subsequently unthriftily wasted and consumed the estate. 9 or 10 years later Edward absented himself to places unknown and in the end settled in Wales—where he is now. Your Orator reached 23 about 24 years since, but Edward refuses to pay the £20 and witnesses are long since dead. Your Orator is a poore man and havinge nothinge to maintayne himselfe withal, therefore requests a subpoena to make Edward come to Chancery.'

Was John the father of Samuell, bap 24 Feb 1626 Radwell (IGI)? Radwell is c 5-6 m N of Hitchin and Pirton. Samuell emigrated to Virginia.
5. Alice bap 11 Jul 1602 (IGI)
6. Thomas bap 1604
7. George bap 10 Aug 1606 (IGI)
8. Mathew bap 17 Apr 1608
9. Agnis bap 13 Jan 1610.

v. John of Codicote Gent b bef 1572 will pr 9 May 1653 PCC

Second son of William of Esyndon Gent, John was a gentleman of comfortable means much of his life—the recipient of a Heralds' Visitation 1634 (Visitation of Herts 1634 p 33)—but ended his life with some financial problems. His eldest son William had been imprisoned for debt and it had cost John to free him. As with many Broket families, at least 2 of the younger sons moved to London.

On 31 May 1593 in Codicote (IGI) John married Dorothy, one of 3 daughters and coheiresses of Robert PENN of Codicot Bury. A 1636-7 Chancery suit shows that they had 10 children alive then. They still were in 1653 when John Brokkett left bequests in his will to all but the eldest.

Children:

1. William of Codicote Gent
2. John b c 1602 Fishmonger and Citizen of London d bef 1683. Bequeathed £30 in father's will 1653.
3. Anne married 27 May 1624 John IMPEY (Kimpton PR). Bequeathed £10 in father's will 1653.
4. Edward probably bap 7 Dec 1606 Harpenden (IGI). Bequeathed £30, quarter of the crop of High Heath and half the household effects in father's will 1653 (ll 35-8).
5. Charles b c 1609 Fishmonger and Citizen of London d bef 1660. Bequeathed £30, quarter of the crop of High Heath and half the household effects in father's will 1653 (ll 35-8).
6. Richard probably bap 2 Jul 1609 Harpenden (IGI). Bequeathed £10 and half the crop of High Heath and half the household effects in father's will 1653 (ll 30-5). Married Mary ... and had children: Richard bap 1643, John bap 1645, Mary bap 1647 (Codicote PR).
7. Thomas bap 1615. Sole executor of father's will 1653 and bequeathed £60 'for the taking off a Decree which maie be some impediment in the payment of these legacies by mee bequeathed, and for repairinge the Mansion howse after my decease' (ll 21-4). Married Ellen ... and had a son William 1642 (Codicote PR).
8. Ellen married Mathew ROGERS 22 Mar 1643 Welwyn (IGI). Was she the Ellen d/o John Brocket bap 7 Oct 1604 St Peter, St Albans (IGI)? Bequeathed £50 in father's will 1653.
   
9. Margarett married by 1653 ... HEYWARD. Bequeathed £10 in father's will 1653. The Visitation of Herts 1634 (p 33) and the 1860 Gateshead Pedigree said she was wife of Richard PERKINS.
10. Dorothy unm 1653. Bequeathed £5 in father's will 1653.

The Chancery suit was brought by Francis Combs of Hempstead Herts Esq against John and Dorothy and comprised a Complaint (PRO C8/78/20) dated 21 May 1636 and an Answer (PRO C8/78/20a) dated Jan 1636/7.

vi. Clement Husbandman 1609

Clement Brocket Husbandman gave evidence 18 Dec 1609 at an inquiry in Royston re the death of Robert Foster (Cockburn 1975 p 76). No other record of him is known. Was the transcription in Cockburn correct?

vii. George of Royston Labourer 1614

George Brockett of Royston Labourer stole a purse containing 6s 11d on 9 Mar 1614 and was condemned to hang (Cockburn 1975 p 139). No other record of him is known. The IGI records the baptism of a George son of John at St Giles Cripplegate, London, 1593, but who was he? And why should a young man have moved from London to Royston?

viii. Edward of Ware c 1590-1647

Edward Brockett and Alice PARKER 'were married the XIth day of September 1615' at Widford (HALS D/P123/1/1). They moved 4 m E to Ware and had children:

1. John bap 19 Jul 1618 St Mary's Ware (IGI). It's possible he emigrated to New Haven.
2. Edward bap 2 Apr 1620 St Mary's Ware (IGI). Probably Edward of Much Hadham—5 m NE of Ware—recorded father of:
   1. Alice/Alse bap 20 May 1649 Much Hadham, married there 22 Sep 1669 Edward BENTON (IGI)
   2. Edward bap 8 Oct 1650 Much Hadham (IGI)
   3. Nicholas 25 Jul bap 1652 Much Hadham (IGI). Nicholas Brockit married Ann/Annis WOLLWARD in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire 1 Oct 1679 (Allen Index of marriages), Children—all baptised Much Hadham (IGI):
      1. Edward bap 10 Oct 1680
         
      2. Ann bap 20 May 1683
      3. Elisabeth bap 31 Mar 1686
      4. Mary bap 7 Apr 1689
   Edward of Much Hadham might also have been s/o John and Joan NEGUS of Baldock, bap Dunton 1624.
3. ?Martha bur 1 Apr 1625 St Mary's Ware, no parents named (HALS D/P116/1/1)
4. ?Marie bur 17 Oct 1626 St Mary's Ware, no parents named (HALS D/P116/1/1).

'Edward Brocket, a Smith' was buried in St Mary's Ware on 21 Nov 1647 (HALS D/P116/1/1). It isn't yet known who his parents were. The only known unaccounted-for contemporary Edward is the 2nd son of Edmund Vicar of Luton, but he would hardly have become a Smith—his elder brother was a senior Officer in the Army, his next youngest was a Gent in London. No further Brokets were buried in St Mary's Ware up to 1670 (HALS D/P116/1/3).

ix. Edward of Hitchin Quaker

Probable s/o of Hanscombe, Edward Brockett of Hitchin, a zealous Quaker, was imprisoned for 9 weeks in 1657 for refusing to pay tithes to the established Church. Hitchin was a Puritan stronghold and after the confusion of the English Civil War the Quaker movement gained ground rapidly there. The existing religious authorities reacted strongly. The Baptists, among them John Bunyan, who was a preacher there at the time, attacked them verbally and in writing, and the established Church launched a full scale persecution against them, having them imprisoned, transported, etc. Five years later Edward was brought before the Archdeacon's court in Huntingdon on Oct 12 1662 for not having his children baptised. He is said to have accepted all these difficulties with 'heroic tranquillity' making no attempt to hide or meet in secret (Hine 1929 vol 2 pp 139, 142, citing J Besse 1753 Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers for the Testimony of a good Conscience, vol 1 pp 240-254). Recorded in documents from 1646 as Edward Brockett of Walsworth Yeoman (HALS 87111-2).

?Married 22 Mar 1642/3 Welwyn, Herts Mary SHERMAN (Allen Index of marriages). Children:

1. Edward of Walsworth
2. Mary bap 4 Dec 1651 Hitchin St Mary (IGI)
3. daughter bur 1652 Hitchin
4. Sarah bur 1652 Hitchin
5. ?Sarah of Walsoe, Hitchin. Married 1670s Thomas CURRINGTON at William Lucas' in Hitchin (Quaker Register).
6. Elizabeth bap 23 Feb 1661 Hitchin St Mary (IGI); probably married James HAWKINS at the Luton and Leighton Quaker meeting 29 Apr 1691 (BLARS FR 2/9/2/4).
   

x. William of Codicote Gent

Eldest son of John and Dorothy Brockett of Codicote. Born c 1594, no later than 1597; married Mary d/o Francis COMBES Esq in Kimpton 11 Oct 1618 (PR); widower 1620/1; admitted to Lincoln's Inn 1621; imprisoned for debt 1640. It is not known what became of him thereafter. He was not mentioned in his father's will of 1653.

The PR of Widford, 4 m W of Ware, recorded 'William Brockett of Surdicott Gent and Jane CUTT of Cheshunt Widow were married the eleventh day of February 1633' (HALS D/P123/1/1). This must have been William, as there was no other gentleman William at the time and there is no placename Surdicott.

The Complaint brought by Francis Combes Esq jun against William's parents in 1636-7 shows that William then had 2 surviving children—John and Mary—and that Mary the mother had died about 2 years after the marriage, perhaps late 1620 or early 1621.

The IGI shows baptisms in Hemel Hempstead of John 22 Nov 1619 and Mary 19 Mar 1620.

Referring to William's 2 children in his deposition in a suit brought by John and Mary Martyn in 1 Oct 1640 against John, Dorothy and William Brockett and Thomas Mitchell Gent, Francis Combes Esq said 'John is synce deceased & the sayd Mary is only livynge & the only Childe of the sayd Willyam and Mary' (PRO C21/B72/2 l 25).

xi. Edward of Wheathamstead Gent 1606-69

Bap 14 Jan 1606, eldest son of John of Wheathampstead Esq. Married Mary TOOKE and had 4 daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Frances and Anne, and a son John bap Wheathampstead 1660, alive 1692 (PRO C5/171/126—a Bill of Complaint brought by John against maternal cousins re property in Handside, Herts and West Smithfield, Middx), ?married Annis and, if so, d 1700-1 with issue. Apart from Elizabeth, all were left bequests in Edward's brother William's will of 1675. No further record of John has been found. He is unlikely to have been John of Shillington Labourer.

Edward was taxed Michaelmas 1663 for 8 firehearths, the 5th rating in Wheathampstead—after John Garrard 26, William Stubbing 14, Thomas Hunsdon 12. Mary his widow was assessed Lady Day 1673 for 11 firehearths, the 3rd highest in Wheathampstead—after John Garrard 23, Thomas Hunsdon 13 (Munby 1974 p 84).

Edward's arms are given as a quarterly of 18 in the 1669 Visitation of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, preserved in the College of Arms ms D24/ii/50, largely corresponding with those of his grandfather Edward, as represented in Harley 807.

Edward 'of The Place' was buried in Wheathampstead 19 Jan 1669; no will has been found. A memorial inscription on the floor of the Brockett Chapel in Wheathampstead reads:

xii. William of Wheathamstead Gent 1631-75

Son of John of Wheathampstead Esq, bap 23 Oct 1631, bur 1 Jan 1675. The last Brockett of Wheathampstead. ?Purchased land 1673 (HALS 80744). Will written 10 Dec 1675 pr PCC 1 Mar 1675/6. No issue. Bequests included one of £160 to nephew John. Inventory of goods and chattels: PROB 4/9192.

xiii. Susanna of Watford Widow

Will written 21 Aug, pr Sep 1686 (HALS 122 AW5). Bequests to:

• Niece Sarah Runnington £5
• Nephew George Runnington
• Brother William Runnington £40 and his son William £5
• Brother-in-law John Ansell £40
• Residue to executrix sister Mary Burton Widow,

suggesting that her marriage was childless. The IGI shows that Susannah was bap 22 Jul 1634 at St Mary's Watford. Her husband is not yet known; no marriage was recorded at St Mary's Watford. It is most unlikely to have been Rev John of Bentworth, unless she was a second wife c 34 years John's junior and no older than his 3rd son.

xiv. Rev John [Job] of Royston 1688

Parochial incumbent for Royston 1688-92 (Hennessy 1918). 'John' was a mistake for Job.

xv. Edward of Walsworth Hitchin Yeoman

Son of Edward of Hitchin/Walsworth Quaker. A customary tenant living in the Hamlets of Hitchin—Walsworth being one—Edward held about 32 acres of land, split up into many little pieces (Howlett 2000 p 37). He was also a freehold tenant of 2 acres and 4½ roods (Howlett 2000 p 81). All these lands were 'formerly the property of his father Edward, deceased'. Administration 16 Sep 1696 to widow (Archd Hunts). Married 1678 Hitchin Mary LOVE. Children, all bap Hitchin:

1. Edward of Walsworth, Hitchin bap 8 Jul 1680 (IGI)
2. William bap 1684 (not in the IGI)
3. Henry bap 4 Feb 1684 (IGI). Sole executor of mother's will. A Sawyer, married to Mary ..., as shown by a lease of lands in Walsworth 16 Oct 1751 to Mr William Cooper (HALS 58614-5).
4. Richard bap 8 Jul 1687 (IGI)
5. John bap 11 Apr 1690 (IGI), ?bur 1721/2 Hitchin, ?married 3 Oct 1710 Offley Mary STEWARD (IGI)
6. Samuel of St Albans, Brazier, bap 1 Feb 1692 (IGI).

Numbers dwindled and 8 of the 12 baptisms this century were in Hitchin (IGI). Brocket Hall had no connection with any Brockets in this century.

i. Mary of Hitchin Widow d 1732/3

Widow of Edward of Walsworth. Bur Hitchin 1732/3. Will written 5 Mar 1729/30, pr 6 Mar 1732/3 (HALS 16HW24 and 13HR119r). To son Edward one shilling. To son Henry—sole executor—and heirs her 4 cottages near Hollow Lane in Back Street, all her other lands, plus all her money and personal estate. Sarah Brockett widow—of Mary's son Richard—was living in one of Mary's cottages.

ii. Edward of Walsworth Hitchin Victualler 1680-1738/9

Son of Edward of Walsworth. Married Ann CANES 6 Feb 1704 in Hitchin St Mary (IGI). Will written 22 Feb 1738/9 (HALS 16HW63), pr Archd Hunts 27 Mar 1739. All his property and land in Walsworth to wife Anne—sole executrix— for her life provided she remain a widow. Gray said she was buried in Hitchin 1736. Then to the [unnamed] eldest son of his youngest brother Samuel of St Albans Brazier. Edward's signature.

iii. Richard of Hitchin Labourer

Son of Edward of Walsworth. Married 22 Dec 1711 Codicote Herts (IGI) Sarah TAYLOR. Children, all bap Hitchin:

1. Mary bap 27 Sep 1712 (IGI) bur 1717 Hitchin
2. Edward of Hitchin bap Mar 1713 (IGI), d bef 1754. Married 1st 13 Feb 1738 Hitchin (IGI) Ann OLIVER, no issue. Married 2nd Elizabeth ... (?married 2nd Thomas SUTTON 16 Aug 1761 Hitchin, IGI).
   Children:
1. Samuel bap 27 Sep 1741 Hitchin (IGI)
2. Elizabeth bap 1 Jun 1746 Letchworth (IGI)
3. Sarah bap 13 Sep 1747 Hitchin (IGI)
4. Martha bap 18 Mar 1749 Letchworth (IGI)
5. Edward
of Hitchin bap 1754 Letchworth. Married 29 Aug 1775 Hitchin (IGI) Hannah GRAY. Children, all bap Hitchin (IGI) :
1. Edward bap 7 Oct 1778
2. John bap 26 May 1779. Unlikely that he married in Blunham 1811.
3. Elizabeth bap 24 Oct 1781.
3. Mary bap 9 Mar 1717/8 (IGI, mother given as Mary)
4. Richard bap 30 Apr 1721 (IGI)
5. Samuel bap 1724/5.
   
   

iv. Samuel of St Albans Brazier

Son of Edward of Walsworth. Removal order 1744 St Albans Abbey Parish to St Peter's Parish. Bur St Peter's 1764 or 1766. Married 1727 St Andrew Hertford Mary HORNALL. Children:

1. Thomas of St Peter's, St Albans, apprenticed to father 1750 (St Albans Borough Records). Married 5 Oct 1767 St Albans Abbey Ann LYLES (IGI).
2. ?Samuel bur St Peter's 1764 or 1766.

Brocketts from Therfield in the 1880s and later from Hitchin were incomers from just across the county border into Cambridgeshire—descendants of Thomas, 1843-1930, Ostler, s/o John s/o John of Guilden Morden.

Charles Alexander Nall-Cain, 1st Baronet Brocket of Brocket Hall—created Baron 1933—was a personal guest of Adolf Hitler at his 50th birthday celebrations in April 1939. He also purchased huge tracts of Scotland.