Cambridgeshire

The first Cambridgeshire Brokets were 2 incomers from the Wheathampstead dynasty in the 16th C who left no descendants that stayed in the county. The Cambridgeshire clan emerged later in 1685 when William Brockett moved down to Steeple and Guilden Morden from neighbouring Dunton parish.

For the next 100 years the clan never comprised more than 2 households at a time. This increased to 4-6 households 1850-1900 causing most sons to emigrate to nearby parishes, London or further. Nowadays descendants of the clan in the UK number about 50 families, only one of which has members still in the Mordens.

Cambridge itself was home to 14 Broket students 1526-1761, all originating outside the County, the last becoming a Professor of Modern History.

1. 16th Century

Two Hertfordshire Brocketts came to live in Cambridgeshire. The first was the heir to the Hertfordshire estates and while his father managed them he came to live on the land he acquired though his marriage. The second was a nephew of the first.

1. John of Swaffham Bulbeck Esq
2. John of Stowe & Impington Gent

i. John of Swaffham Bulbeck Esq c 1485-1526

John was born by June 1485 as shown by his mention in the will of his grandfather John Pulter. He was the son and heir of John, the first Broket Sheriff of Hertfordshire, but died before his father. His childhood was spent at Brockett Hall near Wheathampstead and his education culminated in London at the Middle Temple, admitted 1509 by William Bensted. John's heir was later to marry William's.

In 1511 John purchased land with his father, younger brother and others in Bishops Hatfield, Willian and Diggeswell from Richard and Elizabeth Fyssher (PRO CP25/2/16).

As heir to the Hertfordshire estates, John was married to a wealthy heiress: Dorothy d/o Nicolas HUGHSON Gentleman of Swaffham Bulbeck, a hamlet near Cambridge.

John and Dorothy's surviving children (Metcalfe 1886 p 30; Berry n d p 132-3; Clutterbuck 1815-27 vol 2, p 360; daughters' order of birth not certain):

1. John later Sir John I will pr 1558
2. Nicholas Esq will pr 1585
3. Edward Gent will pr 1584
4. Robert of Bramfield, Gent will pr 1582
5. Thomas, died without issue (the contemporary Glover was the only one to list Thomas).
6. Jane m William COPWOOD of Totteridge (Metcalfe 1886 p 6)
7. Lucy m Thomas HOO of the Hoo in Kimpton, or of Paul's Walden (Metcalfe 1886 pp 13, 65) issue 2 sons, 4 daughters
8. Filise or Alice m ... ASHBY

John died in his early 40s, leaving his widow Dorothy to raise 8 or more children in Swaffham Bulbeck, the oldest of whom may only have been 13 or 14 at the time. John's brief will (dated 16 Feb 1524, proved PCC 21 Jul 1526, PROB 11/22) without the title 'Esq', and leaving legacies only to his wife, 2 servants, the Vicar, the Prior of Anglesey and the Nunnery or Monastery of Deyne could give the wrong impression that they had no children or indeed lands.

Father John of Wheathampstead and wife Dorothy were co-executors. Witness Edward Brocket Gent was his younger brother. His servant Humfrey Bagshawe was a witness to John's father's deed of feoffment of the manor of Thebridge in 1525 (HALS 26948).

ii. John of Stowe & Ympington Gent b bef 1537 d 1607

John was Edward of Letchworth's youngest son, born before 1537. In 1558 his father bequeathed him all his property in the parishes of Kympton, Kings Walden, Baldock, Graveley, Sheveffelde and Hinxworth. Soon after he was involved in dealing with his eldest brother Edward's estate.

In his will (written 24 Dec 1607 proved PCC 23 Apr 1608 PROB 11/111) he called himself: John Brockett of ympington in the Countie of Cambridge, and late of Stowe in the Countie of Huntingdon gent'. He and his wife Katherine had no surviving issue, and his bequests were to her, her children from her first marriage and to his sister's daughter, wife of Mr John Poynton minister—his sole executor—and their children.

The Cambridgeshire clan lived in the adjacent Morden parishes of Guilden Morden and Steeple Morden on the county's SW boundary with Bedfordshire, below Dunton. In the past the land was mainly devoted to arable farming and sheep. Brokets mainly lived in Guilden Morden and were mostly yeomen and agricultural labourers or craftsmen—especially carpenters. In the 1850s half the 8 or 9 carpenters in Guilden Morden were Brocketts (VCH vol 2 pp 105b, 106b).

i. 1650-1800

 Dorythy BROCKET        Edward BROCKETT the younger m Ellen ...
 
 d 1658/9               of Millow in Dunton         |
                                                    |
                        d D will pr 1661        ____|_______ 
                                                |
                                                |
 
                        Sarah HYNE m SM 1685 William bap D 1658
 
                                   |                 bur 1724
                                   |
   ________________________________|_________________________ 
   |        |          |           |       |        |       |
   |        |          |           |       |        |       |
 
 Sarah   William    Edward     Richard   Ellen    Ellin   Isaac
 
 bap     1690-1733  1692-1747  1696-7    1698-9   1699    1704-
 
 1687    m Dorothy     |                          m 1722  1704
                       |
         no surv       |____________              John
                       |
         issue         |                          GODFREY
 
         will pr    John 1717-84
 
         1733       Publican                 All events Guilden
 
     __________________|                     Morden unless
     |                 |
     |                 |                     specified SM
 
   John 1750-1831   William 1753-1813        (Steeple Morden)
 
   will pr 1831     Publican                 or D (Dunton)
 
   no issue            |_______________________ 
                       |         |            |
                       |         |            |
 
                     John     William     Elizabeth
 
 Sources:          1791-1872  1792-1852   1795 m 1825 William
 
 Parish Registers    issue     issue                  JARMAN

ii. William 1658-1724

William Brockett married Sarah HYNE in Steeple Morden 26 Oct 1685. All their children were baptised in Guilden Morden, and most of the family was buried in the churchyard there, so they most probably lived in Guilden Morden parish. Steeple Morden may have been Sarah's parish, although there are no records of her baptism or possible parents there, nor in the IGI for Cambs, Beds or Herts. She was still living in 1733—'I give and bequeath to my beloved mother Sarah Brockett of Gilden Morden one Guinea ...' (son William's will).

Several of their children did not survive infancy:

1. Sarah bap 16 Jan 1687
2. William bap 7 Sep 1690—'William Broket fili willi Broket Bapti septimo septembris 1690' (Guilden Morden Parish Register)
3. Edward bap 5 Feb 1692—'Edvardus filius William Broket Bap febbruary 5th 1692' (Guilden Morden Parish Register)
4. Richard bap 13 Sep 1696 bur 17 Nov 1697
5. Ellen bap 27 Oct 1698 bur 2 Jan 1698/9
6. Ellin bap 3 Mar 1699 only 2 months after her older sister Ellen was buried. Ellen married Guilden Morden 26 Mar 1722 John GODFREY, Tailor. Ellen was bur 20 Apr 1726. No record of issue in the IGI for Cambs.
7. Isaac bap 28 May 1704 bur 26 Dec 1704.

William and Sarah's was the first Broket family in the Mordens. Parish records began there 1599 and daughter Sarah was the first Broket baptism. There were no other entries between the baptisms of their last child in 1704 and their first grandchild in 1716. The only other previous entry was the burial of Dorythy, d 23 March 1658/9—probably William's aunt bap Dunton 1636.

There is no reasonable doubt that William was the son of Edward, baptised with his twin sister Frances in 20 Sep 1658 (Dunton Parish Register BRO P51/1/6). Their father—and grandfather—died when they were only 2 years old. They were each bequeathed £50 in their father's will.

What is the evidence that William was the son of Edward and Elin of Millo?

1. Where the Dunton records end for William, the Morden ones begin. Brokets disappeared from Dunton records after 1694 and there hadn't been a baptism since 1673. Perhaps many had died in an epidemic and a move down to neighbouring Guilden Morden via the Wrestlingworth crossroads would have been an easy one for any survivor to make.
2. The next previous William Broket recorded for Dunton was 1624, and there were none after, nor in immediately neighbouring parishes.
3. Cambridgeshire Hearth Tax records show no properties owned by Brokets in the Mordens or vicinity 1662-74.
4. Brokets were not recorded elsewhere in Cambridgeshire in 1666. Two were recorded in 1674, but one was a bachelor and the other in the north of the county, otherwise unknown. The only wills in the probate records of the Archdeaconry of Ely—which had jurisdiction over the west of Cambridgeshire—were of William's grandson William in 1733 and great-grandson John in 1826. There were none in the probate records of 1513-1857 of the Consistory Court of Ely—which had jurisdiction over the rest of Cambridgeshire.
5. William would have been about 27 at the time of his marriage—the usual age at the time (Laslett 1983 p 82).
6. Names of Edward of Millo, wife and siblings carried through to William and Sarah's children: William, Edward, Isaac, Elin—2 out of 3 daughters.
7. The first 2 Dunton generations had styled themselves 'yeomen'—although they were not always called so in the records. However, large families and daughters' dowries would have diminished any earlier wealth. William's [probable] father did not style himself yeoman and in the records of son Isaac in Guilden Morden William was styled 'labourer', as also in his own burial record there. Land in Guilden Morden was richer and costlier than up in Dunton. Moreover, a labourer at this time was not as impoverished as many a labourer in the more industrial 18th and 19th centuries. Labourers then could leave property in their wills.
8. William was a twin. Son Edward and his grandson John apparently fathered twins.

iii. Hearth Tax 1674

Only 2 Brokets were taxed in Cambridgeshire:

• Vincent Brockett on 1 hearth in Witchford Hundred in the north of the county. No other record of Vincent has been found.
• Mr Brockett on 4 hearths in Haslingfield & Wetherley Hundred, a few miles S of Cambridge. This was Job, matriculated Queen's College 1662.

None were taxed in 1666.

iv. Bassingbourn

A family was recorded in the Bassingbourn parish registers 1697-1727, probably a cadet Dunton branch.

All records are from Guilden Morden:

i. William Yeoman 1690-1733

Son of William and Sarah. Tailor (Pye 1998 p 3). Married Dorothy ... Their children died young:

1. Elizabeth bap 2 Dec 1716 bur 16 Aug 1730, Guilden Morden
   
2. William bap 15 May 1720 bur 19 May 1721, Guilden Morden
   

William was buried 12 Oct 1733, Dorothy 23 Apr 1753, both in Guilden Morden. William's will was written 6 Oct 1733, pr 3 Nov (Index of the Probate Records of the Court of the Archdeacon of Ely, p 28: W 1733—original, WR 12:382—court transcript). The following transliteration is from the original bearing his signature:

Last will and testament of William Brockett of Gilden Morden Yeoman 1733

In the Name of God Amen. I William Brockett of Gilden Morden in the County of Cambridge, Yeoman, being sick & weak in Body, but of sound Understanding and a perfect Memory (God be praised for it) and calling to mind the Certainty of Death & the Uncertainty of the Time of it, Do make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament in Manner following, First and principally I commend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God that made it, my Body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried at the Discretion of my Executor herein after to be named, and as for that Worldly Estate which God of his Goodness hath blessed me withal I give and dispose of it in the Manner following.      Imprimis I give and bequeath my House and Ground and all my Moveables to my 'dearly' Beloved Wife.      Item I give and bequeath to my 'beloved' Mother Sarah Brockett of Gilden-Morden one Guinea 'to be paid' within about Six Months after my Decease. Item after my Wifes Decease I give to my loving Brother Edward Brockett of Gilden Morden aforesaid my House and Grounds for his Life, and after his Decease to John, the Son of the said Edward Brockett and Elizabeth his wife, out of which I will that the said John Brockett do pay to Ann his sister (the Daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Brocket above mentioned) the Sum of ten Pounds at two several Payments, one at two Year's end after his Father's Decease, and the other at four Year's end after the Death of his Father. Item I do empower my Wife, if thro' Sickness or any Misfortune she be necessitated and have Occasion for it, to cut down a Walnut-Tree now standing in the Orchard adjoining to my House. And I do hereby constitute, nominate, and appoint my dearly Beloved Wife the sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament revoking hereby and making void all former and other Wills by me heretofore made or ordained. In Witness whereof I the said William Brockett have to this my last Will and Testament set my Hand & Seal this Sixth Day of October, in the Sixth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, & Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty three. Sign'd, Seal'd, deliver'd, publish'd, & declar'd as and for the last Will and Testament of the said William Brockett in the Presence of the Subscribers. [signed] William Brocket [seal] Witnesses Wm. Woodhouse Samuel Worboyes [signature] John Warbois [mark] Probate: Nov 3 1733 Dorothy Brockett Executrix

William bequeathed his house with adjoining orchard to his wife, and a guinea to his mother. Walnut was sought after for furniture and veneering. The tree would have made good money when it was cut down. After his wife's death the estate was to pass to brother Edward and after his death to his 2 children from his first wife. Dorothy lived almost 20 years after William's death, and by then Edward had also died, so nephew John should have inherited the estate in 1753 when he was 36 years old.

ii. Edward 1692-1747

The second of William and Sarah's two-son family. While his elder brother called himself Yeoman, Edward was styled Labourer in the record of his first wife's burial, when he was 32.

Edward married married 1st Elizabeth WORBOYS 12 Apr 1716 in Guilden Morden. Children:

1. John bap 24 March 1716/7. The baptismal record reads, 'John son of Edward and Ann Brocket'. But there is no record of a marriage of an Edward and Ann in the Guilden Morden records, nor in IGI for Cambs. There was only one Edward in the county. Both John and sister Ann are mentioned as son and daughter of 'my loving brother Edward and Elizabeth his wife' in the will of their uncle William. 'Ann' was a scribal error for Elizabeth:

   'The marriage entry for Edward and Elizabeth Worboys was carefully written as an individual entry, whereas the baptism entry of John was one of a list written up together later and not very neatly—perhaps by a curate?—and an error in copying could very well have been made' (Communication from the Cambridge Record Office Archivist, April 1998).

   The error can perhaps be explained by John and Ann being twins and when writing up the record the scribe wrongly presumed the sibling was a mother. This could also explain why there was no baptism record of Ann.
2. Ann. No baptism record. Probably a twin of John. Mentioned in the will of uncle William, Yeoman, 1733. Married Prime FORDHAM 3 Oct 1738 Guilden Morden. No issue recorded in the IGI for Cambs.
3. William bap 6 Sep 1724 bur 18 Aug 1726 Guilden Morden.
   

Elizabeth was bur 17 Nov 1724 Guilden Morden and Edward married 2nd Jane LOGSTONE 20 Feb 1731/2 in Guilden Morden. Children:

1. Edward bap 25 Mar 1733 bur 14 Dec 1734 Guilden Morden
2. Edward bap 16 Nov 1735 bur 13 Dec 1735 Guilden Morden
3. Elizabeth b c 1738, no baptism record. It has been deduced from the marriage in the Guilden Morden records between Elizabeth Brockett 'of this parish spinster' and Francis TETTINGALL 'of this parish bachelor, aged 22' on 11 Sep 1759 that she was the daughter of Edward and Jane, since she would have been born c 1738 and there were no other Brockett parents in the parish, or even county, at the time. The IGI for Cambs has no Tettingall entries.

Edward was bur 5 Oct 1747 Guilden Morden. Jane married again in Guilden Morden on 25 Jun 1748 to Thomas SMITH of Steeple Morden.

Edward did not have his daughters baptised in the Church. They would have been privately baptised, as was his son Edward in 1735, for whom the record says, 'was admitted to the Church having been before privately baptised'.

iii. John 1717-84

Son of Edward and Elizabeth. John would have been relatively well off by 1753 when he inherited his uncle William's estate. Publican of the Swan from 1764, aged 47, till his death aged 67. The Swan is now a private dwelling.

Married Susan/nah PATEMAN 13 Apr 1737 in Steeple Morden, daughter of John and Sarah PATEMAN of Steeple Morden. John and Susannah's was a two-son family and that wasn't until they had been married for 16 years. All 3 daughters died the year they were born, and the first son died aged 5. When John himself died in 1784 neither of his two 30 year old sons had children. Children:

1. Sarah bap 28 Feb 1739 bur 15 Mar 1739, Guilden Morden
2. John bap 10 Jan 1741 bur 30 Apr 1746, Guilden Morden
3. Elizabeth bap 20 Sep 1744 bur 13 Jan 1744/5, Guilden Morden
4. John bap 16 Apr 1750, Guilden Morden
   
5. William bap 26 Oct 1753, Guilden Morden
6. Susannah bap 18 May 1755 bur 20 Mar 1756, Guilden Morden
7. Kezia bur 2 Aug 1757, Guilden Morden
   

John was buried by the Society of Potton—probably a Friendly Society to which he would have contributed regularly during his life. These Societies became influential in the 18th and 19th C, in the days before the Welfare State. John's gravestone—below the church tower—was just legible in 1968: 'John Brocket who died January 17 1784 aged 67.' In 1978 the name was legible but not the dates. In 1998 the name was only just legible.

iv. John Yeoman 1750-1831

Son of John and Susanna. Bur 6 Feb 1831 Guilden Morden. His will, dated 15 May 1826, proved 19 Mar 1831 shows that he was unmarried and had no issue (Index of the Probate Records of the Court of the Archdeacon of Ely, p 28: W 1831—original, WR 19:345—court transcript). It began '... I John Brockett the Elder of Guilden Morden ... Yeoman' and ended with his signature with one t. He left a property plus 4 acres of land, requiring his executor and friend Edward Masters to sell it and divide it equally between his 2 nephews John Brockett the Younger and William Brockett and his neice Elizabeth Jarman. At probate Edward Masters 'verified on oath that the Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits of the Deceased Testator are under the value of Fifty Pounds...'

v. William 1753-1813

Son of John and Susanna. William took over as Licensee of the Swan from his father and was licensee for 3 years until 1787. What he did for a living after that is not known.

William married Ann HALL 'spinster of this parish' 17 Jan 1789 in Guilden Morden. The IGI has an Ann Hall born in Guilden Morden in 1771 to John and Elizabeth, who married at Bourn in 1760. The IGI for Cambs has 2 other Ann Halls baptised around that time, one in 1763 in East Hatley, about 4 miles N of Guilden Morden, daughter of William and Elizabeth Hall, who probably married in Haslingfield in 1756, and the other in Steeple Morden in 1776, daughter of Edward and Mary Hall, who married in Steeple Morden in 1775. If Ann were daughter of the former it would make her about 26 at marriage, and if the latter 13 or 14 at marriage. But the Guilden Morden record 'of this parish' suggests that her parents were John and Elizabeth, even though it means that she was about 17 or 18 at marriage while William was 35.

Between William's sister Kezia's burial in 1757 and his own on 16 Apr 1813 there were no other Brockett burials recorded in Guilden Morden. William and Ann's was the only Brockett family in Guilden Morden, brother John staying single. Children:

1. John bap 23 Feb 1789 Guilden Morden
2. William bap 10 Jun 1792 Guilden Morden
3. Elizabeth bap 26 Jan 1795 Guilden Morden
   

For the 1st half of the 19th C Cambridgeshire had 3 Brocket households—the 3 children of William and Ann of Guilden Morden. For the 2nd half these 3 had developed into 12 households and spread out to nearby parishes.

i. John 1789-1872

Son of William and Ann. John was a Butcher. He married Martha JERMIN 1 Oct 1813 in Guilden Morden, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth JERMIN/GERMAN. Martha bore 11 children over a period of 24 years, only 2 or 3 of them dying young:

1. John bap 30 Jan 1813 Guilden Morden, Agricultural Labourer, married Marianne/Mary Ann COOPER 11 Nov 1833 in Ashwell, resided Little Green Guilden Morden. Children: Ann Matilda, Mary, Thomas, Mary, Sarah. John died 27 May 1880, bur Guilden Morden churchyard.
   
2. William bap 28 Nov 1815 Guilden Morden, Shepherd, married 1st Sarah BONFIELD 5 Jan 1837 in Steeple Morden. Children: Thomas, Sarah, Betsy, Martha, Thomas, William, Mary Ann, Alfred, Fanny, David, Samuel. Married 2nd Mary A HOLLINGSWORTH 17 May 1866 in New Meeting, Royston. William died 3 Apr 1898 in Guilden Morden.
3. Thomas bap 25 Jan 1818 Guilden Morden, Master Butcher, married 1st Sarah RULE 15 Oct 1846 in Ashwell. Child: Thomas. Married 2nd Mary IZZARD 30 Jan 1849 Guilden Morden. Children: Wilfred, Sarah Ann, Agnes, Mary Elizabeth, Frank, Minnie. Thomas died 5 Mar 1890 in Guilden Morden.
4. Samuel bap 3 Dec 1820 Guilden Morden, Labourer, married Mary Ann GAYLOR 12 Nov 1846 Royston. Child: Alfred.
   
5. Ann buried aged 8 days 29 Mar 1822, no baptism recorded. Twin to Sarah.
6. Sarah buried aged 7 days 29 Mar 1822, no baptism recorded. Twin to Ann.
7. Martha bap 13 Apr 1823 Guilden Morden, married William GENTLE 18 Oct 1848 Guilden Morden.
8. Elizabeth b c 1826 Guilden Morden, married William NEWELL 1 Dec 1853 Guilden Morden.
9. Alfred b c 1830 Guilden Morden, d bef 1881. Coachman, resided Cambridge, married Eliza HAYWARD 1855 in Cambridge St Paul's. Children: Alfred, Harry, Daniel, Walter, Clara.
   
10. Mary Ann b c 1832. Probably the Mary who in 1851 was a lodger and house servant, aged 17 born Morden, with Thomas Chapman, farmer in Ashwell (Ashwell census). A Mary Ann married in Royston in 1859 and another in 1861 (St Catherine's).
11. Ruth b c 1836 Guilden Morden, married Thomas PEPPER 7 Sep 1858 Guilden Morden.
    

The baptisms of the last 4 were not recorded in the Parish Registers, but they were all at home in Guilden Morden for the 1841 census. Perhaps John and Martha started going to an independent meeting house around 1824.

Martha was bur 30 Mar 1846 Guilden Morden and in the 1851 census John was described as a widower and Butcher's Man, aged 54, visiting his daughter Martha Gentle in High St, Guilden Morden. By 1871 he was living as a Pauper and Widower in Union House, Baldock Road, Bassingbourn, aged 83. Three of his sons had households in Guilden Morden at the time.

ii. William 1792-1852

1. William bap 14 Nov 1815 Guilden Morden, Carpenter/Beer House Keeper, married Fanny BONNETT 2 Jul 1838 Ashwell. Children: Anna, William, Charles, Frederick, Anna, Henry Serle, Fanny, Henry George, Frederick James, Herbert Thomas. William d bef 1881.
2. Mary Ann bap 30 Sep 1817 Guilden Morden, married CHAPMAN SMITH 1836 Guilden Morden.
3. Alfred bap 4 May 1820 Guilden Morden, Carpenter/Builder, married Ann CHARTER 1843 in Steeple Morden. Children: William, Jane, Mary Ann, Charles, Emma, Alfred John, Susan. Alfred d 1904 Cambridge.
4. John bap 19 Jan 1823 Guilden Morden, Carpenter, resided 1851 High St Guilden Morden, married 1st Elizabeth BONNETT 7 Jul 1849 in Guilden Morden. Children: Edmund, William John. He married 2nd May Anne COCKAYNE 21 Jul 1867 in St George's Hanover Sq, London.
5. Archer bap 1826 Guilden Morden, Carpenter/Sawyer, married Sarah HARPER 1853 in Lambeth. Children: William, Elizabeth, Archer. Archer d 1906 Royston Workhouse.
6. Solomon bap 31 Aug 1828 Guilden Morden, Master Carpenter, married Jane MAY 1855 in Lambeth. Children: Elizabeth Jane, Julia Alice, Charles Frederick, Alfred, Arthur, Beatrice May, Solomon, Minnie Ellen, Herbert William, Florence Helena, Cecilia Louise, William Brooks, Edward Solly. Solomon d 1904 Hendon.
   
7. Elizabeth bap 3 Jul 1831 Guilden Morden, married 4 Jul 1853 James KIMPTON Guilden Morden.
8. David bap 5 Jul 1834 Guilden Morden, Carpenter, married Emma ... Children: George, Flora.
9. Susan born 1838 Royston District? Died 1841 Royston or married Hitchin 1861? (St Catherine's)
   

iii. Elizabeth 1795-1827

1. Elizabeth Brockett bap 19 Feb 1816 Guilden Morden, married Thomas KEY 1834 Guilden Morden.
2. William Brockett bap 13 May 1821 Guilden Morden, married Amy TOOKEY 6 Apr 1847 in Royston New Meeting House. Children: Edward John, Elizabeth Tookey, William.
   
   

iv. Population 1801-1901

v. 3 Williams

In the 1820s and 30s there were 3 young William Brocketts in Guilden Morden, all first cousins and baptised in the Parish Church:

1. 15 Nov 1815, son of William (a Carpenter)
2. 28 Nov 1815, son of John (a Butcher)
3. 13 May 1821, son of Elizabeth (unmarried until 1825).

Church Records for the surrounding area show 3 marriages of William Brocketts between 1837-47:

1. 5 Jan 1837 Guilden Morden to Sarah Bonfield
2. 2 Jul 1838 Ashwell to Fanny Bonnett
3. 6 Apr 1847 Royston to Amy Tookey.

But which of the 3 Williams married which of the 3 brides? Records show that:

1. William, a Shepherd, who married Sarah was the son of John
2. William, a Carpenter, who married Fanny was the son of William
3. William, a Farm Bailiff (in 1851) who married Amy was the son of Elizabeth.

Civil registration did not begin till the middle of 1837, so no marriage certificate exists for William and Sarah, and the Parish Record does not give the name of his father. However, there is a marriage certificate of a William Brockett, Widower and Shepherd from Guilden Morden on 17 May 1866, aged 50, to Mary Hollingsworth, widow. This gives the name of William's father as John Brockett, Butcher. The 1851, 61 and 71 censuses confirm that this William who married Mary Hollingsworth was the William who had previously married Sarah Bonfield.

• In 1851 William and Sarah were living in Guilden Morden with 7 children, the youngest being Alfred.
• Sarah was buried in Guilden Morden Chapel in 1858 and the 1861 census records William as a widower living in Guilden Morden with 6 children, the youngest 2 being Alfred and David.
• In 1871 William and Mary were living in Guilden Morden with 2 children, Alfred and David.

Unusually, the Ashwell Parish marriage entry for William and Fanny records the name of the groom's father, William Brockett, Carpenter. Census records show that the pair remained married until William died.

The marriage certificate of William and Amy gives William's age as 27. So he was not born earlier than 6 Apr 1820 and must have been the son of Elizabeth. This is confirmed by the fact that Amy's father's details are provided on the certificate, where William's have lines through them.

Details for Cambridge Brokets up to 1751 are from Venn and Venn (1922 p 222), whose sources were various: matriculations and degrees from University sources; parentage, previous education, county of origin, often from college sources; subsequent career, death, etc from external sources. They found 14:

Apart from Francis above, who incorporated at Oxford 1666, the only Broket up till 1932 at Oxford University, according to Foster, was:

1584

John Brockett

Of Buckinghamshire, son of a gentleman—Edward Brockett of Wheathampstead—matriculated from Magdalen College 30 Oct 1584, aged 13. Student at Gray's Inn 1588. [No record of commoners were kept at Magdalen before 1850.]