Hertfordshire Brokets to 1599

1. The first Brokets in the County

Before the 16th C the following Hertfordshire (Herts) Brokets were recorded:

             Thomas Broket m Dionisia
 
             Remembrancer  |  Sampson
                           |
    _______________________|_________________________ 
    |                      |                |
    |?                     |                |
 
 John of    Elizabeth m Thomas of        Edward m Elizabeth
 
 Hatfield     Asshe     Wheathampstead          | Thwaites
                                                |
                        ________________________|____ 
                        |            |          |
                        |            |          |
 
                     John of      Alice      William
 
                  Wheathampstead  m Thomas   bequeathed
 
                                  Perient    Herons

i. Johne of Sawbridgeworth 1294

Assessed for 2s and a farthing and 8d halfpenny in 10th and 6th tax lists for Sawbridgeworth 1294 and 1307, Johne Brokat was an isolated bearer of the name who established no line in Hertfordshire. Living well over a century before the 15th C immigrants from Yorkshire, it is farfetched to think of him as their early forerunner. Johne was no doubt of different stock, perhaps a Broket by byname only rather than by surname.

Herts subsidies show no Brokets between Johne of Sawbridgworth in 1307 and John of Hatfield in 1428:

The 15-18th C Brokets of Hertfordshire originated from Yorkshire. Natives of Herts would have developed a number of clans in parishes spread around the local country, as the Brokets of Yorkshire themselves did by the 14th century. Thus the 1545 subsidy lists only 4 Brokets in Herts—1 in Hatfield, 3 in and around the market town of Hitchin—and all 16-18th C records of Herts Brokets can be linked to one or other of these 4.

ii. John of Hatfield 1428

This 1428 Feudal Aid, like the 1402 one, was a one-off subsidy on parishes and knight's fees. All tenants of land freely held were to pay a tax of 6s 8d per knight's fee, the threshold of liability being a quarter of a knight's fee (Jurkowski et al 1998 p 85).

• John's entry is one in a list of all lands in England held direct from the king.
• John would have been born by 1407.
• It shows that a Broket other than Thomas who married Elizabeth Asshe (iii and iv below) was holding former FitzSimon lands and that the FitzSimon estates did not come to the Brokets solely through Elizabeth.
• Sir Hugh FitzSimon had died 70-80 years earlier; his name was eponymous.
• One of the commissioners overseeing the Herts subsidies 1402 and 1428 was Elizabeth's father, William Asshe, who is not recorded as a tenant, however (Feudal Aids 1284-1431 vol 2 p 442ff).
• The list also records that John Muslee held the other former Hugh FitzSimon lands listed—half a fee in Almeshoo, Gravele, Radewell and Berlee, and a quarter fee in Ykelford. This was presumably by right of his wife Christine, coheiress with sister Elizabeth who married William Asshe of the FitzSimon estate.
• These Feudal Aids show that the only Brokett tenant-in-chief in England from 1431 back to 1284 was John. How he came to hold this half fee in Hatfield is not known; it presumably passed to Thomas after him.

iii. Thomas of Wheathampstead b bef 1396 d 1477

It was this man and his marriage to Elizabeth ASSHE, heiress to the FitzSimon estates, that firmly established Broket influence in Hertfordshire. By 1435 Thomas came to Parliament as Knight of the Shire. From Thomas on through to the end of the 16th C the Brokets were the main rivals in Wheathampstead of the Abbots of Westminster (Munby 1974 p 50).

It isn't possible to think of Thomas other than as a close relative of John of Hatfield—brothers perhaps.

iv. Elizabeth ASSHE of Wheathampstead d 1482

The FitzSimon estates had apparently descended through marriage to William Asshe and Elizabeth was his sole heiress. The first record of Elizabeth is from 1432 as wife of Thomas (Chauncy 1826 vol 2 p 125). Married women's estate passed to their husbands during his life, so Elizabeth's land transactions till Thomas' death in 1477 are listed with his. As a widow—although no will survives—there was an IPM.

v. Edward of Yorkshire and Wheathampstead b bef 1417 d 1488

vi. Elizabeth THWAITES of Yorkshire and Wheathampstead d 1507

vii. John of Wheathampstead b bef 1460 d 1532

Edward and Elizabeth Thwaites' 2nd son and heir. The first Brockett Sheriff of Herts 1507/8. Born by 1460 John would have gone down from Yorkshire to Hertfordshire early, at least by his marriage in 1484 to Lucy, the only daughter of John PULTER of Hitchin, Sheriff of Bedfordshire 1453 (Clutterbuck 1827 vol 3 pp 517-8). John Pulter left a substantial estate as indicated by his will (written 18 Jun 1485, pr 24 Jul 1487 PCC PROB 11/8). The will has many similarities to Edward Broket's. Having already given Lucy her dowry, John Pulter bequeathed:

to Luce my doughter the wyfe of Johne Brocatt A standing cupp kouerid siluer and gilt pounced with a knoppe of siluer made as of white perelle Item I bequeithe to yong Johne Brocatt there sonne v marke to fynde hym to scole with

These are the records of John:

In the 1522-3 Abbott of Westminster's complaints of his poaching and diverting watercourses, i.e. challenging the Abbey's authority over common rights, John was called 'of Brocket Hall'—the first to be so called in Hertfordshire. He probably built or at least extended it.

John and Lucy's children:

1. John born by Jun 1485
2. Elizabeth who married:
   1. Sir Nicholas BARRINGTON of Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, d c 1521 (Betham 1801). Harley 807 mistakenly had HARRINGTON. Child: John b c 1507, dating Elizabeth's marriage by 1506.
   2. William BOUGHTON Esq of Caston (Berry and Clutterbuck). William was Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII and Sheriff of the counties of Warwick and Leicester in 1536, dying soon after. Deeds dated before 1542 referred to 'Dame Elizabeth Barrington, widow of Sir William Boughton' (Warwickshire County Record Office CR162/469).
   She was still living 1558 when brother Edward's will mentioned a lease in Letchworth given to him by 'My Lady Barrington my sister' during her life.
3. Edward of Letchworth born 1490
4. Alice who married ... HILL (Berry and Clutterbuck; HYDE of Throkinge according to Harley 807).
5. Lucy who had no issue.

The marriage of their heir or heiresses was probably the most important strategic and political decision of the pre-modern landowner (L Stone 1977 p 70ff). Heirs usually did not have too much say in the choice; it was not normally a decision based on romance. As lord of the expanding Brockett estates, John would for years have been on the lookout for a suitable alliance for his eldest son and heir, the dynasty's future head. In the lesser gentry circles of the early 1500s, his heir was one of the most eligible bachelors of Hertfordshire. The match, negotiated by John and perhaps Lucy, indeed brought property to the dynasty, from the neighbouring county of Cambridgeshire.

John's will (written 5 Sep, pr 6 Nov 1532 PCC PROB 11/24) is the last pre-Reformation Broket will. Daughters would all have previously been provided for; mention is made only of grandson John, son Edward and the other children of son John. With the latter, primogeniture came into play in that if any of them should die, half their portion was to go to John the eldest and half divided amongst the rest (ll 34-7):

viii. Alice daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Thwaites

Alice's marriage to Thomas Perient Esq was an alliance between similar families, and the first major marriage of a Hertfordshire Broket daughter. Several Perients were Hertfordshire esquires in the 15-16th C and in the 17th one was a knight. Metcalfe (1886 p 156) wrongly named her Mary.

ix. William son of Edward and Elizabeth Thwaites b bef 1467

In 1488 William was bequeathed the Manor of Herons in the north of Wheathampstead parish, after the life interest of his mother, who died 1507. But William is not found in surviving Herts subsidies, and Herons was a possession of his eldest brother John of Wheathampstead by 1532 (Herts IPM of John).

William was probably the father of William I of Hitchin, who was clearly one of the kin—but not a son or grandson—of John of Wheathampstead, and who left a substantial will in Hitchin in 1556. Harley 807's sine prole is genealogically unreliable and reflects inheritance concerns of 3 generations later.

Brokets remained influential at the ruling level of the County throughout this century. Three held the influential office of Sheriff of Essex and Herts (Chauncy 1826 vol 1 pp 46-8):

1. John of Wheathampstead Esq in 1507-8 (for 2 years) and 1531-2.
2. Edward of Letchworth Esq in 1547-8 and 1554-5
3. John of Hatfield Esq in 1566-7 and (as Sir John II) of Herts in 1581-2.

Three were MPs for Herts (Bindoff 1982 pp 498-500; Hasler 1981 pp 486-8; Chauncy 1826 vol 1 pp 35, 36):

1. Edward of Letchworth in 1542 and 1554
2. Sir John I in 1553 and 1555
3. Sir John II in 1572.

The 1545 Subsidy Rolls show that there were only 4 Broket heads of households in Herts at the end of the first half of the 16th C: 2 yeomen, 1 esquire and 1 knight (Brigg 1895 pp 225-30, 324-32). They lived in a couple of main centres and were kinsmen. The Hertfordshire Brocketts of the second half of the 16th C were all sons or daughters of these 4.

1. John Broket paid 3d tax on his property in Ippollitts Parish, about 3 miles east of Offley and 1 mile south of Hitchin. 3d indicates a small farm. See John of Offley.
2. William Broket paid 20s tax on his property in Hitchin Parish. 20s indicates a large property. See William I of Hitchin.
3. Edward Broket was one of the Commissioners for Broadwater and Hitchin Hundred and paid 40s tax on his property in Preston Parish, about 3 miles south of Hitchin. 40s indicates that he was probably one of the wealthiest men in the half-hundred of Hitchin. He is usually known as Edward Brockett of Letchworth, Esq.
   
4. John Broket was commissioned to be an assessor for Casio Hundred, which included Brockett Hall. No tax for him is recorded—the returns are damaged—however 2 years later he was to become the first Sir John Brockett. He owned considerably more property than Edward of Letchworth.

        _____________________  
        |                    |
        |                    |
 
 
 
   _____|_____          _____|_____ 
   |         |          |         |
   |         |          |         |
 
          Edward     William    John
 
   |
   |
   |
 
  John

A small defined grouping concentrated in a couple of half hundreds like this shows that these Brokets were not indigenous to Herts. A typical indigenous grouping would have produced a larger number of branches spread across a number of parishes in several hundreds in the country, especially if some had risen to landed-gentry status. Down the centuries for every senior male line there would have been several cadets and as records of poorer folk appeared in the late 16th C, members of such cadet branches made their appearance. This didn't occur with the Brokets of Herts.

All 4 wrote their wills during Philip and Mary's reign (25 Jul 1554-17 Nov 1558). Henry VIII had thrown off the Pope's authority in 1534, but Mary—'Bloody Mary'—tried to reverse the changes and about 300 Protestants were put to death, including one presided over by Edward of Letchworth, Sheriff at the time. While not inferring too much about their personal piety—wills were often composed by priests when the hour of death was expected—their allegiance to Protestantism or lack of it might be glimpsed through the formulaic bequests of their souls:

Brokets remained influential in Hertfordshire throughout this period. In 1558 Nicholas, younger brother of Sir John I, married Margaret HOO, heiress of Mackary End. With Sir John II succeeding the same year to the Wheathampstead manor, this gave the family a commanding position in the local community (Munby 1974 p 62). Mackary End stayed in Nicholas' family till 1628, but the Wheathampstead estates dwindled with Sir John II. As the half century progressed Sir John II steadily sold parts of the estate to finance his daughters' dowries. This was the time to have a pedigree drawn up by the Somerset Herald Glover. By his death without a son in 1598 the family seat of Brockett Hall passed with daughter Mary to the Reade family and what was left of John's estate was divided between his other 5 daughters or their heirs.

The following Brokets can be highlighted:

i. William of Wildhill/Esyndon Gent b bet 1519 & 1527 d 1609

Second son of Edward of Letchworth, William was probably born c 1519 - c 1527. According to his IPM he died 7 Apr 1609 at Esynden (Essonden) near Hatfield,

He was styled 'Gent' in all records except the admission of son William to Gray's Inn 1597, where he was styled 'armiger'—Esquire. He was educated at Lincoln's Inn himself, where he was recorded 1567-75.

William married Ann, eldest d/o of Edmund BARDOLPHE of Harpenden/Rothamsted (Metcalfe 1886 p 2; Pedigree: Munby 1974 p 67). They had 7 surviving children, as shown by the wills of William, his sister Lucie 1572 and his daughter Anne:

1. William b c 1563 (mentioned as heir aged 46 or more in 1610 in his father's IPM), sole executor of father's will.
2. Anne: will 1616.
3. John of Codicote—probably the second son.
4. Edmund b c 1565 Vicar of Luton, Rector of Graveley.
5. Thomas. Was Thomas the gentleman Adventurer of the Virginia Company? See also the Star Chamber court case in PRO STAC 8/263/12 dated 1620. He was unlikely to have been the Thomas discharged 10 Mar 1587 from Hertford gaol.
6. Margaret m ... CAGE (widowed between 1609-15/6). Sole executrix of sister Anne's will.
7. Elizabeth d bet 1570 and 1609 (see comments on Lucie's will.)

With younger brother John, William was co-executor of his father's will, written 1558, probate of which was delayed c 25 years. Between the ages of c 35 and 60 William had the problems of his eldest brother's inheritance.

In his will his father had left William all his 'Landes and Tenements in Plumpsted Marshe in the countie of Kent and in the parishe of Lechworth and Willien'. A licence issued 15 Oct 1555 allowed Cuthbert and Mary Thomson to alienate 32 acres in Plumstead Marsh to William. This was bound up with a loan of £140 made to William's father by his yeoman cousin William I of Hitchin, to whom an all but identical licence had been issued 10 Oct 1554.

William's will, written 17/2/1609, signed with a shaky hand and proved Herts 1610 (HALS catalogue) shows:

• He was a widower.
• He willed to be buried in Esyndon Church chancel, as near to where his wife was buried as may be.
• Son William, married to Sara, was the sole executor. William the elder gave Sara 'my wiffes booke of golde & her wedding Ringe' (ll 44-5).
  
• Son Thomas and wife Elizabeth probably had no children. Their inheritance—the farm at Rooe gardene in Hatfield—was to pass to brother William when he and Elizabeth died. In 1616 Anne mentioned children of 3 of her brothers but not of Thomas.
• Daughter Elizabeth, mentioned in sister Lucie's will, was not mentioned. She had probably died between 1570 and 1609.
• Anne received most attention—about a quarter of the will as shown in this extract—perhaps because she was unmarried:

PRO C142/316 is William's IPM. It lists lands in Herts only: Ickleford, Waldon Regis, Ippolletts, St Albans, suggesting that William also inherited some of his elder brother's inheritance.

ii. Nicholas of Mackery End Esq

Son of John and Dorothy of Swaffham Bulbek. Nicholas married Margaret HOO, heiress of John and Joan HEYWORTH of Mackary End (Pedigree: Munby 1974 p 61). Their only ?surviving child was John, later Sir John III.

Five years after Nicholas' death Margaret married Edmund Bardolph of Rothamsted, elder brother of Ann married to William Brokett of Esyndon, and of Edward Bardolff of Blakesleys, witness to Nicholas' will written 17 Apr 1585, proved PCC 28 Apr 1585 PROB 11/68:

A memorial inscription on the wall of the north transept in Wheathampstead Church reads:

iii. Robert of Wheathampstead

It is not known who this propertyless relative of Edward was:

iv. Lucie daughter of Edward of Letchworth died 1572

Little is known of Lucie except that she died unmarried and her will (written 5 Oct 1570, memorandum 17 Dec 1571, proved Hitchin 17 Apr 1572) gave much information about her siblings and their children:

 
           Edward Broket of Lechworthe esquire d bef 1570
 
    __________________________|________________________________ 
    |             |           |       |            |          |
    |             |           |       |            |          |
 
 Lucie         William      John    Thomas      sister    Millicent
 
d 1571/2    sole executor   alive   alive          m     alive 1570
 
             alive 1570     1570    1570       HAMILLDEN m George
 
    ______________|______________                  |        LEACH
    |     |     |       |       |                  |
    |     |     |       |       |                  |          |
 
William John Edmunde Thomas Elizabeth   Edward  William    Edward
 
                                       (parents              and
 
                                      alive 1570)          Thomas

Lucie's will further reveals:

• She appears to have been one of the eldest children of Edward of Letchworth, and so probably born between c 1519 and 1527, making her between c 45 and 53 at death. The 2nd eldest son, her brother William, did not die until 1610, so was more likely to have been born nearer 1527, making him 83 at death.
• Her brother William's 4 sons were under 21 in 1570 and therefore born after Oct 1549.
• Sister Millicent (l 50) was not mentioned in their father's will in 1558, presumably married by then. The 2 daughters Edward did mention were unmarried: Lucie and Anne, and specifically with reference to bequests towards their marriages.
• The mother of nephew William Hamillden (l 45) would have been another sister of Lucie. Unlike the other nephews, William was not mentioned as being under 21 in 1570, so he would have been born before 1549. His mother could not therefore have been Lucie's sister Ann, who was still unmarried in 1558.
• Niece Elizabeth (l 44) was not mentioned in her father William's will of 1609. He did mention 2 daughters, however, 1 married and 1 unmarried, so perhaps Elizabeth had died between 1570 and 1609. She may have been the eldest of William's daughters, since neither of his other daughters Margaret or Anne were mentioned by Lucie in her will.
• Nephew Edward Brocket (l 38) was probably aged 8-12 in 1570—therefore b c 1558-62. His parents are not known for certain and he probably died before manhood. If nephew is interpreted loosely, no suitable Edward is known: Edward of Wheathampstead (d 1598) would have been well into his 30s by then, and while Edward of Hitchin—later Dunton—was c 8 years old (b 1562), his father had died 1563. No other Edward from the Herts Group under 21 in 1570 is known. If Lucie used nephew in its strict sense, Edward would have to have been the son of one of her 4 brothers:
1. Edward was a namesake, but according to the records his only surviving issue was a daughter Mary. Edward had become embroiled in major financial problems, ending up an outlaw and then in prison in the late 1560s, so if he was the father of Lucie's nephew Edward, this was perhaps why Lucie did not name nephew Edward's parents, as she did with her other nephews.
2. William, in his will in 1609, mentioned the same 4 sons as Lucie had done: William, Thomas, John and Edmund. If William had had a son Edward, he may have died by 1609 of course, but considering that Lucie mentioned Edward separately and differently to these other 4 Brocket nephews (he received a lesser legacy), it is safe to say he was not a son of brother William. The 1860 Gateshead pedigree mistakenly had William as father of his elder brother Edward.
3. Thomas was probably alive, since Lucie called William's son Thomas 'youngar'. But if Thomas had been the father of her nephew Edward, Lucie might have been expected to qualify him as such, as she did with William and his sons. Little is known of Thomas, but he may also have been in prison, in which case Lucie may not have mentioned him just as she didn't mention brother Edward.
4. John had no surviving issue in 1607, when he wrote his will.

v. Edward of Hitchin 1593

Edward and wife Barbara sold a messuage in Hitchin with a garden, orchard and 3 acres of land (PRO CP25/2/159/2218). Edward was most probably younger son of William I.

vi. Edward of Wheathampstead Place Esq bur 1598

Second son of Sir John 1, Edward was educated at Gray's Inn in London from 1562. He acquired land in Steeple Claydon Buckinghamshire through his marriage to Etheldred Lady CHALLONER, d/o Fred SHAM of Elton, co Chester and widow of Sir Thomas Challoner. Edward married the widow of a knight. They had 3 children:

1. Ursula m Edward SALTER Esq, later Sir.
2. John b c 1571
3. Isabell m 1 ... RAINSFORD, m 2 Sir Gerrard HORSEY.

Below are 5 extracts from a signed copy of Edward's will written 13 Aug 1598 in a fine Secretary Hand, but with many corrections and insertions (HALS 2HW/50):

3. ... I Edward Brockett of Whethamsted in the County of Hertford Esquyre ...

Thomas Docwra of Pirton, Herts, was either the son of John Docwra (Metcalfe 1886 Appendix II p 140) or his son. Around the time of the writing of this will Thomas the father was settling Pirton on his son Thomas. Calling him 'cosen' did not necessarily mean a blood relationship, but there may have been one.