Essex: Preservation and improvement
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1. Preservation of the name
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In earlier centuries half of all male succession lines in
England are said to have died out within 150 years. The Willingale
Brockets are an example: despite 4 surviving sons
in the first generation the patriline failed twice.
Schemes for the continuance of a name when the patriline died
out were usually a concern of the aristocracy, but here a
minor-gentry family attempted to keep their name associated
with their land.
The two traditional strategies were:
- entail, specifically tail-male
- transmitting property through women to men prepared to
change their own family name.
The second, with strong elements of the first, can be seen
spelled out in the wills of William Brocket and Stanes
Brocket Brocket (one written 8 Apr 1790 pr PCC 26
May 1791 PROB 11/1204 and the other written
1866-9 pr 22 May London 1873).
His only son having died young, the third-generation William
Brocket Esq (d 1791) stipulated in his will that any
future principal inheritor of the estates must take the name
and arms of Brocket only, including any husband of
a sister:
I do hereby give and devise [my Estates] unto and
to the use of my Grandson Stanes Brocket Chamberlayne
upon Condition that my said Grandson
Stanes Brocket Chamberlayne shall thereupon immediately
take and afterwards during his life always
use the surname of Brocket only without
any Addition and also bear the Arms of Brocket
as the same have been used by me and my
Ancestors and also stile and describe himself
by the Surname of Brocket only in all Deeds Writings
and Instruments whatsoever...
And my Will is that every of my Grandsons and the
Husband or Husbands with whom my Grand Daughters
may Intermarry as the said Estates shall accrue
to them in possession shall take and use the Surname
Brocket only without any Addition and also bear
my Arms of the Brocket Family and write and stile
themselves by the same Surname in all Deeds and
Writings (ll 141-155 & 274-80 abbreviated)
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Thus in 1834 the eldest son of William's daughter,
Stanes Brocket Chamberlayne Esq, then
aged 52, changed his name by Royal Licence
on the death of his father and became Stanes Brocket
Brocket Esq, in order to inherit the lordship of
Spains Hall. 35 years or so later, faced with similar circumstances
to those of his grandfather and strongly echoing his will,
Stanes made similar requirements in his own will:
And as to my Manor of Willingale Spain and all and
every my real estate whatsoever I give devise and
bequeath the same to [an elaborate order of succession]
and I do hereby expressly declare that every person
who by virtue of this my Will shall become entitled
to the possession of the said [Estate] and who shall
not then use the surname of Brocket and
quarter the arms of Brocket with his or her own
Family arms shall and do within the space
of one year next after he or she shall so become
entitled as aforesaid...
And I do hereby further declare that in
case any of the said persons shall refuse
or neglect to take use and bear such surname and
arms then after the expiration of the said space
of one year the use and estate shall absolutely
cease determine and be void And immediately
thereupon shall be and remain to the person
who would be entitled thereto if the person refusing
as aforesaid was then actually dead (ll
16-23, 96-129 abbreviated)
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Thus nearly 40 years later, in compliance with her father's
will in order to inherit the lordship of Spains Hall, Stanes'
younger daughter, the widow Mary Meryon
changed her name back to Brocket by Royal Licence
after the death of her spinster elder sister in 1896.
The men saw themselves—William perhaps more so than
Stanes—as the last in line of an ancient Willingale
family. But Mary did not feel such a strong allegiance
to the name, nor indeed to Willingale. In her will she made
no reference to the inheritance of Spains requiring the name
of Brocket. Great grandfather William Brocket was a distant
figure—dead for over a hundred years. Mary,
a Chamberlayne for the first eight years
of her life and a Meryon for 30 years, without
a single living Brocket relative, asked in her will:
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to be buried in the Cemetery at Rye aforesaid in
the vault with my husband and child and that my
name on my Coffin and the Gravestone be
'Mary Widow of Charles Pix Meryon'. |
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These wishes were fulfilled in 1906 on a memorial on the
wall of St Andrews and All Saints in
Willingale. It shows the very last trace of the Brockets
of Willingale—the second forename of Mary's
only child, Stanes Brocket Meryon, died less than 3 months
old.
Despite all the attempts at preservation the Brocket name
and arms finally did come to an end in Willingale.
The College of Arms ms 13D.14/99 is a pedigree drawn up
in 1834 to support the use of the Brocket arms
by Stanes Brocket Chamberlayne as he
sought authorisation by Royal Licence to take the name and
arms of Brocket only and so become Lord of Willingale Spain.
The Pedigree makes extensive reference to wills. Considerable
research had been done in the probate registries in London.
Being an Attorney in London, Stanes Brocket Chamberlayne would
have been well placed to commission the best in the College
to conduct this work.
Research would have revealed that
in the first half of the 17th C there were two Charles
Brocketts in London of a similar age, each with:
- sons Charles and John
- a brother William
- a Hertfordshire father called John.
| Which
John or Charles was it? |
JOHN BROCKETT JOHN BROCKETT
of Wheathampstead Herts Esq of Codicote Herts Gent
b c 1571 wp 1649 b bef 1572 wp 1653
_____________|____________ ____________|_____________
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CHARLES WILLIAM 5? surv WILLIAM CHARLES 5 surv
of of sons of Fishmonger sons
Westminster Wheathampstead 3? daus Codicote Citizen 4 daus
Gent Gent of London
bap 1618 b c 1619
wp 1662 d bef 1660
|_________ _________|_______
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CHARLES JOHN CHARLES JOHN
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London was a small world in those times and related London
Brockett families would have known each other. The future
head of the Willingale clan, John of the Middle Temple was
the 2nd son of Charles, Citizen and Fishmonger of London.
He would have known Charles Gent and his family.
No will has been found, but from Fishmonger Company records
we know that Charles:
- was apprenticed to his older brother John,
Fishmonger and Citizen of London 1630-38 (Guildhall Library
ms 5576/1 ff 86v, 165r)
- gained his freedom in 1638, therefore was born
c 1619—apprenticeship terms were commonly
arranged so as to expire at 21 (Haskett-Smith 1916 p 3)
- became a Citizen of London
- paid quarterly Fishmonger Company membership fees every
year from 1626 to 1658/60 (mss 5578A/1 f 18, 5578A/2 f 22)
- died before 1660, the year his widow Joane
apprenticed their son Charles to herself (ms 5576/2 p 119).
The 1860 Gateshead Pedigree's 'd 1678' must be incorrect.
Only eldest son Charles followed into the Fishmonger
Company, and he gained his freedom in 1668, indicating
birth c 1647 (ms 5576/2 p 214). The 1860 Gateshead Pedigree's
source for Charles and Joane's family is not known, but its
dates for Charles' children fit well with the Fishmonger records:
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Judith |
b 1644. Married ...
ORAM |
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Charles |
b 1646 |
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John |
b
1649 |
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Matthias |
b 1652 |
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Thomas |
b 1655. Bound to a
Stationer 1670. |
This Charles' will survives—written 7 Jan 1662, pr PCC
11 Feb 1662/3 PROB 11/310. After the lifetime interest of
his wife Anne BRISTOW, their 2 young sons
were the principal beneficiaries:
| Item all the Rest and Residue
of my Goods, Chattells, Debts, money and other Estate
whereof I am possessed or is any due or belonging vnto
mee (my Legacies and Funerall Charges first discharged)
I give and bequeath vnto my two Sonns Charles
Brockett and John Brockett equally to bee Devided
betweene them, to bee paid and deliuered to them with
the benefitt to bee made thereof att their respective
ages of One and Twenty yeares |
Charles' younger son, John, was
also singled out by his uncle William of Wheathampstead
Gentleman, who wrote in his will of 10 December 1675:
| I doe give and bequeath unto John
Brokett my brother Charles sonn the Summe of
One hundred Sixtye Six pounds to bee paid to him at
the age of one and twenty yeares |
This Charles is only recorded therefore with the 2 children:
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Charles |
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John |
b
after 1654 (under 21 in 1675). Married Annis
and d 1700-1? |
So was John of the Middle Temple, purchasor of Spains Hall,
the son of Charles Citizen or of Charles Gentleman?
Middle Temple Church records show that John married
4 April 1672. At that time John son of Charles Citizen
would have been about 23, while John son of Charles Gentleman
would have been 18 maximum, probably younger. Marriage at
18 in those days was not practised, except very occasionally
with eldest sons of the high nobility (Laslett 1983 Ch 4 'Misbeliefs
about our ancestors'; L Stone 1977 p 43). Only John
son of Charles Brockett Citizen could have married in 1672.
The author of the 1860 Gateshead pedigree clearly did not
subscribe to the descent through Charles Gentleman, nonetheless
diplomatically omitted the line linking Charles Citizen to
John of Codicote. This subtlety was overlooked in EJ Brockett's
1905 reproduction.
The College of Arms pedigree was a proof of descent drawn
up in order to award a grant of arms, the Gateshead pedigree
was independent research. If there were doubt as to which
descent were correct, the benefit of the doubt shoud go to
the latter. In fact there is little doubt. The will of William
of Wheathampstead 1675 is sufficient evidence.
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| Ancestry
of John I of the Middle Temple and Willingale, Essex |
_______________________________________________
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John of Swaffham Edward of Letchworth
Bulbeck Esq wp 1526 Esq d 1559-62
| 2nd son
Sir John I |
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wp 1558 |
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_____|_______ |
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| | William of
Sir John II Edward of Esyndon Gent
wp 1598 Wheathampstead wp 1610
no surv sons Esq wp 1599 2nd son
2nd son ____________|
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John of Edmund John of Codicote
Wheathampstead Esq b c 1566 Gent b bef 1572
wp 1649 only son 3rd son wp 1653 4th son
________________|______________ | __|_________
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Edward of Charles of William of Bernard William Charles Citizen
Wheathampstead Westminster Wheathampstead alive b c 1594 of London b c
Gent d 1669 Gent wp 1662 Gent wp 1675/6 1649 1st son 1617 d bef 1660
1st son 2nd son 7th son 3rd son 4th son
| |_______ _____________________|_______
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John bap 1660 Charles John Charles John of the 2 surv
Wheathampstead 1st son b aft Fishmonger Middle Temple sons
only son 1654 b c 1647 Gent/Esq b 1649 1 dau
1st son 2nd son
'wp'= will proved
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It is possible that the College of Arms pedigree was to support
the use of the undifferentiated Broket arms.
The Spains Hall clan considered themselves—and rightly
so—the only remaining landed heirs of the earlier
dynasty, and as such had the right to bear the arms
in their eldest-son form.
The line of Charles of Westminster may well by then
have been the eldest surviving line of that whole
dynasty—it is not known what happened to John s/o Edward.
Charles' father John was the eldest grandson of Sir John I,
the dynasty's most prominent eldest son. The Spains Hall clan
would have known of the grand, alabaster tomb of Sir John
and his wife dominating the Brockett Chapel in the Church
at Wheathampstead. It was well within a day's reach of Spains
Hall.
The line of Charles, Fishmonger and Citizen of London,
on the other hand was very much a cadet one.
Charles was the 4th son of a 4th son of a 2nd son
of a 2nd son. The arms of Bernard
Brockett, another member of this cadet branch were recorded
differenced with a mullet—a star of five points pierced
in the centre—to show his 3rd son descent. Stanes Brocket
Brocket should have had a yet more junior differencing.
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