William of Hitchin I Yeoman c 1490-1556

William was the progenitor of Brockett clans that flourished in Hitchin till the late 18th C and in nearby Guilden and Steeple Morden from the late 17th to the 21st—with branches around the world.

The Yorkshire Brokets' first Hertfordshire stronghold had been Wheathampstead. But from at least the 1480s they had ongoing close links with Hitchin, the next market town riding north. In the 1540s and 50s the town of Hitchin comprised about 40 households and William—a well-to-do yeoman who farmed and made malt—was one of its leaders.

William lived most of his adult life during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) when Broket influence in Hertfordshire was strong. Two were Sheriffs of the County and two its Member of Parliament. William was also wealthy, as his will shows. He had 'mansyon houses in Hytchen' and on a verbal guarantee he lent £140 to Edward Brockett of Letchworth, Esquire. In days before banks one only usually lent such a large sum to close kin—more or less equivalent to £70,000 today; and by verbal guarantee only to trusted ones who one thought could and would repay.

William was clearly the son of a younger son of the dynasty. Primogeniture meant that younger sons of landowners often had to earn their living by the work of their hands; even more so sons of those younger sons.

Although no document has been found stating that William's father was William youngest s/o Edward and Elizabeth Thwaites, his place on the tree below has mainly been deduced from the 4 main records about him:

                              ___________________  
                              |                  |
                              |                  |
 
           Elizabeth Ash m Thomas Broket      Edward m Elizabeth Thwaites
 
    _________________________________________________|____________________________ 
    |                                                |                           |
    |                                                |                           |
 
John of Wheathampstead Esq                        Robert                      William
 
Sheriff Herts and Essex 1507-8, 1531            b bef 1466                  b bef 1467
 
d 1532 m Lucy PULTER of Hitchin               lived in Yorkshire        beq manor of Herons
 
    |_________________________________               |           ________________|__ 
    |                                |                           |                 |
    |                                |                          ?|                ?|
 
John of Swaffham Bulbeck    Edward of Letchworth Esq    William of Hitchin   John of Offley
 
Esq b c 1485 d 1526         b 1490-1 d c 1557?           b c 1490 d 1556        Yeoman
 
    |________               Sheriff Herts and Essex                          will pr 1558
    |
    |                       1547-8, 1554-5,                                  Edward of
 
Sir John I b c 1512         MP Herts 1542, 1554                              Letchworth Esq
 
knt 1547, MP Herts           ________|_____________                          overseer
                             |               |
1553, 1555, d 1558           |               |
 
                          Edward          William
 
                          Esq/Gent         Gent
 
                          Outlaw
 

These show William as a prominent member of the 16th C market town of Hitchin. A yeoman was a farmer who earned his way by working with his hands, rather than a gentleman who did so without working with his hands. But William was more wealthy than many Broket gentlemen after him, and even esquires. The will of John of Caswell Esq, grandson of Sir John III, proved a century later in 1658, for instance, portrays a man a good deal less well-off than William.

He paid more tax than some gentlemen:

There are no tax returns in the PRO for Hitchin between 1528-42 and no Brokets are listed in the returns for 1524, 1525 or 1526 (PRO E179/120/110, E179/120/137 transferred to E179/120/124, E179/120/123 damaged and E179/120/129). So it is not clear when William first became established in Hitchin. In 1488 Edward of Wheathampstead had bequeathed Herons or Heyrons, a small manor near Wheathampstead, to his youngest son Willliam—probable father of William I of Hitchin—but by 1532 it had become part of the estate of the eldest line (VCH Herts vol 2 p 302; PRO C142/53/29: IPM of John).

Shortly after William's death the Hitchin Parish registers began to be kept; they show that in the following generation there was only a single Broket family there, that of William's son William.

Written 7 Apr 1556, Memorandum 12 April, pr PCC 17 Mar 1556/7.

i. Wealth

The will portrays a well-to-do member of the community. William owned 2 houses and various copyhold lands in Wratton and Hitchin. One house was in a street near the market place occupied by a tenant, and the other was a messuage with lands attaching. Owning 2 houses in those days meant he would have inherited land. A man then could not easily rise in status. William came from landed origins.

Over and above the rest of his estate, of which the house he lived in had clearly been entailed earlier, he left legacies of at least £198 1s, along with gifts to the church, the poor and the upkeep of the high ways. His memorandum shows that he had a further £80+ in cash in his house previously unbequeathed. An equivalent in 2005 of all these legacies might be £300,000, with property valued at several times that amount. The will shows that William was a wealthy yeoman farmer:

• He had a considerable amount of ready cash along with the gold and silver in the house.
• His house had hangings covering the walls, a luxury at the time.
• He willed to be buried inside the Parish Church, an expectation only of prominent members of the community.
• Silver spoons were a status symbol of the rich in those days, to be displayed in sideboards (Abbott 1993 pp 11, 16), and William willed each of his children to have one.
• He had several godchildren.
• It was customary for the gentry to leave money for the poor and often for the Church reparation fund, but it was only usually the larger landowners who left money for maintenance of high ways.

ii. Widow

It was incorrect to say that William only provided a house for his wife for one year after his death (Hine 1929 vol 2 p 343). He left Elizabeth his house in Bridge Street—then occupied by a tenant—with all its appurtenances for term of her life, and it was the other house—the one they currently lived in—that he willed she could live in for a year. This was probably to allow sufficient time for the tenant to vacate the Bridge Street house.

Not only that, but William also bequeathed Elizabeth all his grain and crops, all his plate and other household effects, as well as the profits from the lands due to son Edward, until he reached majority. So William actually provided very generously for Elizabeth, making no condition common at the time, for instance, that her bequests were dependent on her remaining single. She appears to have died before 1563 by which time son William owned both the house in Bridge Street and another one in Hitchin.

iii. Children

        ... m1 William Brokett m2 Elizabeth ...
 
            |    of Hycchyn     |
            |                   |
     _______|      Yeoman       |____________________ 
     |      |                   |         |         |
     |      |                   |         |         |
 
 William  Alice             Elizabeth  Edward   daughters   Grace
 
                              m ...    b after   b after   Brokett
 
                             Chamber    1536      1536

1. William was bequeathed copyhold lands outside Hitchin. The Bridge Street house would have been already entailed to him.
2. Alice, daughter from his first wife and unmarried in 1556, was left £30 in the memorandum. Alice was the significant new element in the memorandum:

   ... he hadd as then presenly in his howse lxxx pounde and odde money in gold and siluer he willed and bequethed xx pounde therof vnto Elizabeth his wif And all the residue of the same money he willed gave & bequethed vnto William Brockett and Alice Brockett his sonne and Doughter begottyn of his ffirst wiff (ll 56-9)

3. Elizabeth was perhaps specified lest she were left out because she was married, or else because her husband James Chamber/s was one of the witnesses to the will. The Hitchin Parish Registers recorded James in 1567 and 1569 with 'wife Elizabeth'.

   Item I gyve vnto Elizabeth Chamber' my Doughter and vnto euery of my other Doughters fourtie pounde apeace of them to be paied to theym when they or any of theym shall come to the age of xx yeres (ll 19-21)

4. Edward was bequeathed the copyhold lands in Hitchin. Under 20 in 1556, he was born at the earliest 1537. In 1593 when he would have been at the most 57, he and wife Barbara sold a messuage in Hitchin with a garden, orchard and 3 acres of land (PRO CP25/2/159/2218). The 2 are not otherwise recorded, but there is no other Edward known there then. Hitchin parish records date from 1562, and while brother William's burial was recorded, Edward's was not, nor his marriage. The Edward of the next generation, son of William II, had married Parnell Tanner by 1584 and moved with her to Campton by 1586 and on to Dunton by 1596.
5. Each of William's other daughters were left £40. This implies that here were at least 2 others. Was Joane wife of Laurence Manfelde one?

Three other females received bequests of 20s each, one or more probably in service in William's household: Grace Brockett, Johan Mathewe and Johan Wylkynson.

Grace was the daughter of John of Offley Yeoman, probable brother of William. In 1573 she married Richard Prior of Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire, the 'lovinge brother' of Edward of Millo, grandson of William. She was probably in her early 20s—b c 1550—so would still have been a young girl when William died. Grace bore Richard 9 children 1575-93 (Barton Parish Register). She was still living 18 Mar 1616 when Richard's will was proved in the Archdeaconry of Bedford.

iv. Birth date

The will suggests that William was born 1490-1500, probably nearer the earlier date:

• A daughter from his second wife was already married and probably born by 1534.
• With at least 2 children living from his first wife, William probably married her in the early 1520s.
• The usual male age at marriage in the 2nd half of the 16th C was mid to late twenties (Laslett 1983 p 81ff).

v. Probate

William's executors were Robert Nycolles and John Gaddesden. The overseer was Thomas Parys, a Hitchin gentleman. Robert was a citizen and Merchant Tailor of London, probable master of William's son William, his apprentice. The will of Robert Nicolls of London was proved at the PCC 8 years later in 1564; no Brokets were mentioned in it. John Gaddesden was also a witness to William's son William's will in 1563. As executors pursuing debts owed to William, Robert and John sued Edward Brockett in Chancery.

William of Hycchyn's will was the 6th Broket will to be proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London. This was the highest probate court in the land and the 3 main reasons for proving wills there were:

1. the testator's lands being in more than one diocese
2. the likelihood of the will being contested or useable in litigation
3. status.

William's will was probably proved there for the second. His executors saw trouble brewing. They were preparing to challenge an elder branch of the clan. The fact that William had copyhold lands 'holden of the Quenes maiestie' would not have necessitated the higher probate. Hitchin manor was owned directly by the crown.

Up to 1650 only 15 Broket wills were proved at the PCC:

vi. Religion

When William was in his 40s and probably a churchwarden, he would have been a participant in the lively discussions in Hitchin in 1534 when Henry VIII threw off the Pope's authority and became Head of the Church in England. The Protestant Reformation which followed brought about major alterations in local worship and churchwardens had the responsibility of implementing them. The progress of the Reformation came to an end with the death of Edward VI in 1553, and William's last 3 years saw the rapid return to Catholic forms of worship under Edward's sister Mary Tudor. In July 1554 she married Philip II King of Spain and the Netherlands, a strict enforcer of Catholic policy. William's last 2 years were lived during the persecution that followed. He would have known in August 1555 that the Sheriff—his cousin Edward of Letchworth—officiated that month at a burning at the stake in nearby St Albans.

There is a brief outline of this case in Bindoff 1982 pp 498-9.

i. Background

• William Brockett was a wealthy yeoman and a leading member of mid 16th C Hitchin.
• He appointed Robert Nycolles & John Gaddesden his executors:

  'and to the perfourmaunce of this my saied Last will and Testament I make Robert Nycoll Citizen & merchaunt Taylour of London and John Gaddesdon myne Executours'.

• Edward Brockett snr [of Letchworth] had been an MP and Sheriff of Herts and Essex. Bindoff called William Edward's relative.
• Edward owned the manor of Bradfield as well as land in Hitchin and elsewhere. He had purchased land in Hitchin and Offley 22 Oct 1555 for £80 and £40, total £120 (HALS 58341), then in the tenure and occupation of 'Thomas Paris of Hechyn gent' (l 8). Thomas was the overseer of Wiliam's will.
• Edward Brockett jnr was Edward of Letchworth's eldest son.
• Both Edwards were Attoneys at court - they had been educated at Lincolns Inn.
• Sir Nicholas Bacon, Keeper of the Great Seal of England—the Judge in this case and a Lincolns Inn graduate himself—would have known the 2 Edwards. Sir John II was later knighted at his home in Gormanbury, Herts.
• Nevertheless, the judgement went against Edward jnr.
  

ii. The proceedings in Chancery

These are recorded on 4 parchment sheets comprising PRO C3/132/103 plus paper records of the judgement in PRO C33/31/81, with earlier stages in C33/29/64 and 105, C33/30/104, C33/31/365.

C3/132/103 comprises:

1. complaint of Robert Nycolles & John Gaddesden against Edward Brockett jnr
2. answer of Edward Brocket jnr to the complaint of Nycolls & Gaddesden
3. reply of Nycolles & Gaddesden to the answer of Edward Brockett jnr
4. rejoinder of Edward Brocket jnr to the reply of Nycolls & Gaddesden.

The Judgement ordered Edward jnr pay the complainants £90 in instalments and bound him and the complainants in 200 marks (£133+) to each other. It was probably never paid. Within a few years Edward jnr was an outlaw, being pursued by two other Nicolls, and the prosperity of the Hitchin Brocketts was declining. Following is a precis of the main points:

iii. Some questions

1. Why did Edward snr appoint his next 2 younger sons to be executors of his will? Edward jnr was his eldest son and as an Attorney might have been the more likely candidate.
2. Did Edward jnr expect that by taking over the execution of his father's estate he might not have to take over the debt of the estate?
3. What were the terms of the agreement he made with brothers William and John? Why would they agree to his taking over?
4. Why did Edward jnr not reveal any of its terms in his Answer? Would it not have helped his case?
5. Why didn't his brothers testify in Edward's defence? If he was settling his father's debt, so releasing his younger brothers from their duties and benefits as executors, what was the consideration for this agreement between them?
6. Was Edward jnr in debt before this case?

Two licences issued 10 Oct 1554 and 15 Oct 1555 further illustrate William's close relationship to the wider Broket dynasty. They allowed Cuthbert and Mary Thomson to alienate 32 acres in Plumstead Marsh for a fee of 21s 4d (PRO C66/892 and C66/913; Calendar of Patent Rolls Philip & Mary vol 2 1554-5, vol 3 1555-6).

They were identical with one exception. In the first the licensee was William Brockett of Hitchin Maltster, whereas in the second it was the much younger William Brockett Gentleman, husband of Anne Bardolfe and son of Edward of Letchworth.

Perhaps Cuthbert and Mary did not implement the first licence; perhaps it was renewable annually. In any event, the second was when William of Hitchin was still alive and must have been bound up with the Kent land deal Edward of Letchworth had made. This had been with the help of the loan from William. Edward seemingly got the licence transferred to his son William, to whom he bequeathed his lands in Plumpstead Marsh.