Hertfordshire

Brokets were influential at the ruling level of the County for about 175 years—from the 1420s to 1599. Three were Sheriffs, 3 were MPs and others were esquires, gentlemen and yeomen. Originally incomers from Yorkshire, they further established themselves through a marriage to the heiress to the FitzSimon lands. 14th C poll taxes for Hertfordshire have not survived, but evidence from the following 2 centuries shows without doubt that there was only the one Broket clan in the County.

The eldest line was based in Wheathampstead and Hatfield—where they built Brockett Hall—with several cadet branches thriving nearby, especially in Hitchin—although the Hertfordshire Brocketts were never numerous.

From the 1570s the then head of the dynasty, who had no male heir, sold lands to finance his daughters' dowries. This peaked on his death in 1598 when the main estate of Brockett Hall passed to daughters' husbands. Decline in influence was then inevitable and by 1675 the last Brockett of Wheathampstead was buried. A cadet line lived on in Hitchin into the 1780s, but others moved to nearby counties and of course London. Most 19-20th C Hertfordshire Brocketts descended from sons who later returned.

As substantial landholders for 2 centuries the dynasty left numerous records and only a small selection can be referred to here.

Map of Hertfordshire: