Scotland

Glasgow is home to the largest concentration of Brokets in Britain today, numbering up to 108—Burke's 1997 p 63 cites 55 households for Glasgow and 31 for London—and supporting the view that SW Scotland could have been an origin of the surname. Indeed, early 16th C records reveal 6 Brokets from that region—probably mostly from Avondale, a few miles west of Lesmahagow, a town on the main route north from Carlisle and about 20 miles south of Glasgow.

Two 16th and 17th C placenames in Avondale and Lesmahagow appear to have been named after Brokets rather than Brokets being named after them. But if Avondale was their origin, then modern-day descendants will be unrelated to those of early Yorkshire Brokets. More plausibly, these earliest Scottish Brokets were part of the ongoing emigration from Yorkshire up through Northumberland or perhaps Cumberland from the early 14th C. Future DNA comparison could confirm.

Records of Scottish Brokets increased during the 17th C showing 4 main parishes: Mid and West Calder, Lesmahagow, and Carnwath. Carnwath, on the main Ayr-Edinburgh route, is a morning's walk from Lesmahagow. Mid Calder is a small parish a morning's walk NE of Carnwath, separated from it by a part of West Calder. Brokets had moved on from the Calders by the end of the 17th C, but stayed in Lesmahagow and Carnwath till the 20th.

The Old Parochial Records (OPRs) show little or no increase in Scottish Broket numbers 1700-1850, then a trebling 1850-1950, predominantly in Glasgow. Most modern-day Glaswegian Brocketts stem from a clan from the south Lanarkshire hills a dozen miles SE of Lesmahagow.

Records of 6 individuals, all of whom would have been married and probably related, have been found in the 1st half of the 16th C and 2 further families can safely be inferred in the 2nd:

Thomas and/or John take Scottish Brokets back into the 2nd half of the 15th C. They were supporters, and probably tenants, of the Cuninghames of Caprington in Riccarton (Burke's Landed Gentry 1937 p 535. For the Cuninghames' castle see www.castlesontheweb.com/members/wurdsmiff/Capr.html Apr 2004). The Cuninghames in turn were supporters of the Earls of Lennox. Sir Adam Cunynghame's grandfather William had been a Bruce supporter, and was conferred their Earldom of Carrick for a brief period in the mid 14th C. Later that century the Percys were the overlords in the area. Perhaps the parents or grandparents of these Brokets had come in their retinue.

What might have been the relationship between the first 2 Brokets and the others?

i. Thomas 1505, 1506 (b c 1455-1480)

Thomas Broket was 1 of 4 witnesses to 2 separate charters transferring land in the sheriffdom of Ayr to Sir Adam Cunynghame of Caprington, one witnessed in Glasgow and the other a few miles south (Register of the Great Seal vol 2 pp 614, 652 nos 2892, 3053):

1. The first, witnessed in Glasgow 24 Oct 1505, concerned lands held by Alexander Cunynghame of Colzame (Culzean Castle) in Dunlophill in the baileywick of Cunynghame.
2. The second, witnessed in Inchenane (Inchinnan, 2 m N of Renfrew) 6 Feb 1506, concerned lands held by Mathew, Lord Darnley, Earl of Lennox in le Manys de Torboltoun, close to the parish church, in the barony of Torboltoun.

To witness land transactions between knights and noblemen, Thomas would have been an established member of the community and held land himself—not necessarily in any of these places, however. He would have been aged 25-50 and born 1455-1480. It is reasonable to assume that he had been born in Scotland and was a brother of John. Their father would have been a Broket before them, surnames had long been hereditary.

ii. John 1506? (b c 1455-1480)

John Broket was 1 of 5 witnesses to a charter transferring 80 acres of land, again held by Mathew, Lord Darnley, Earl of Lennox to Sir Adam Cunynghame of Caprington. Witnessed in Terboltoun, sheriffdom of Ayr, 18 Nov 1506?, the land was in Mosbog, Medope and Redyfald in the barony of Terboltoun (Register of the Great Seal vol 3 p 691 no 2956). If Terboltoun is present-day Tarbolton, it lies 9 m SE of Irvine, George Brokett's parish and 5 m E of Monkton.

It is reasonable to assume that John was a brother of Thomas, or maybe his son. Perhaps he or Thomas was the father of one or more of the 4 Brokets recorded 1524-48.

iii. Jhon 1524 (b c 1475-1499)

John Brokat (or Jhon as in the record) was one of 13 present at a feudal inquest in the village of Carnwath, Lanarkshire 25 May 1624 (Dickinson 1937 pp 13-14). Like Thomas, John would have been an established member of the small village community, married, aged 25-50 and born 1475-1499. Was John a native of Carnwath? Or had he come as a boy with his parents, or independently as a man?

iv. George (b c 1480-1500 d bef 1540-42)

A 1540-42 inventory of lands in the Royal Burgh of Irvine in Ayrshire (Doby 1890-1; also Register of the Great Seal vol 3 p 521 no 2280 n 1 for 1540) shows that George, deceased, had held a tenement and land then worth 4s p a. George's property was mentioned 3 times, twice re neighbours' boundaries and once re its rent:

Pont's 1596 map and later maps show a settlement called Brokat east of Monkton near Adamtoun, c 7 m S of Irvine. This may have been George's property, but mention of tenements, a lane, a common way and a bridge in the inventory indicate a town rather than a hamlet and his property was probably in Irvine itself, rather than Monkton.

George was most likely connected with most if not all of the Scottish Brokets of the previous generation. The question is, as with the others, was George a native of the Burgh of Irvine? Or had he come as a boy with his parents, or independently as a man? Migration was typically westward, but was he typical? He left no line in Ayrshire, at least not a landholding one—there are no Brokets recorded in the Index to the Particular Register of Sasines for Ayr 1599-1609, 1617-34, 1635-60.

v. Patrick 1543 (b c 1500-1520)

Patrick Broket was 1 of 6 witnesses to a charter transferring land from Gabriel Simple of Ladymure, brother of William Lord Symple, to John Spreull, vicar of Glasgow (Register of the Great Seal vol 3 p 698 no 2981). Witnessed in Cathcart, a couple of miles south of the centre of Glasgow, 25 Apr 1543, the land was in Ladymur in Kilmachome in Renfrewshire—modern-day Kilmacolm c 3 m S of Port Glasgow and c 14 W of Glasgow.

vi. Edward 1546 (b c 1500-1520)

Two 1546 grants mention Edward Broket as 1 of 4 tenants in Langkipe in Avanedale, Lanarkshire (Register of the Great Seal vol 3 pp 748-9 nos 3192, 3194). No further Brokets were found in later volumes of The Register up to 1668). Both grants concerned land forfeited to the queen by Mathew, formerly Earl of Lennox, transfers of whose lands had been witnessed 40 years earlier by Thomas and John. Edward was clearly related, and they all would have had English roots. Not just his surname suggests English ancestry, Edward was also not a favourite Scottish first name.

1. In the 1st grant, dated 14 Jan 1546, Edward is recorded as occupying 1 mark's worth of land of the old extent (survey) in the township and territory of Langkipe granted to David Hammiltoun of Prestoun.
2. In the 2nd, dated 16 Jan 1546, he is recorded as occupying 3.5 mark's worth of land of the old extent jointly with 4 others in Langkipe granted to Alexander Hammiltoun, Keeper of Silvertounhill. These 2nd lands are also recorded in 1548:

Langkipe would have been on or near present-day Kype Water, which flows round Kypes Rig and on below Castle Brocket towards Strathaven. There must have been a connection between Edward and Castle Broket—his portion of Langkipe perhaps.

Points to consider re the origin of the Scottish Brokets:

• While Lesmahagow and Carnwath were on main routes, Langkipe and Monkton were hinterland settlements.
• Did Brokets move out from the main routes, or in from the hinterland? Were they indigenous to SW Scotland or incomers from England?
• Their small numbers suggest immigration. True, 13-17th C records of ordinary folk from Scotland are less detailed and well preserved than most English ones, but the isolated Broket family in Irvine or Monkton left no continuing line in the area. The only subsequent records till the 20th C were 2 births in 1701-4 in Symington, Ayrshire and 2 in 1785-7 in Stewarton (a Lesmahagow branch). Records would have testified if the first was a continuation from the 16th C, but they didn't. By contrast, records of Brokets in Lesmahagow and Carnwath showed lines continuing through to the 20th C. This suggests that a Broket family moved west to Monkton rather than being the source of an emigration east.
• The route north also went south, but movement north from Lanarkshire in those times was far more likely than movement south towards the dangerous Borders. Movement was towards Glasgow for employment, rather than from the city south to village life. This suggests they originally moved north rather than south. Edward, tenant farmer in Langkipe and probable descendant of Thomas and/or John, would not have moved down to Avondale from Glasgow.
• Brokets are not known to have been in NW England. If they did migrate to Scotland they would probably have reached these places westward across the borders from the NE along the Tweed valley. This would have been part of the 14-17th C Broket migration northward from or through Northumberland with the Percys. The Percys were strong in Cumberland too, so unknown Brokets may of course have moved west further south and then north.
• What does the existence of Castle Broket—a little fort or 16th C towerhouse near Kypes Water—indicate? Was it originally a Percy outpost like Alenam?
• No Brokets are recorded further north than Glasgow/Edinburgh until the 20th C—other than a single family unit in Alloa near Stirling 1731-40.
• The Brokets of Scotland have no clan affiliation—exceptional for an indigenous name.

The first traceable Scottish Broket families become apparent in Mid Calder from 1609. They could have been there by the 1580s, moving north from Avondale or Lesmahagow for work perhaps. By mid 17th C the Mid Calder clan had again moved on or died out. Some may be recorded 4 miles west in West Calder—where during the 2nd half of the 17th C 2 Broket marriages and 12 births were recorded—but this may simply be because the West Calder OPRs started 41 years later than Mid Calder ones in 1645.

Other than Mid and West Calder only 17 Brokets are recorded elsewhere in 17th C Scottish OPRs. Had Lesmahagow OPRs started before 1692, however, they would have been recorded there. A series of 6 17th C wills, one from as early as 1626, show that there was a Lesmahagow Brocket clan at this time. And a Broket record from 1699 suggests that Brokets had been in the Carnwath area since the 1650s, if not since Jhon in the 1520s.

i. Mid Calder, West Lothian 1609-1644

Regularly spaced over the 35 years 1609-1644 there were 19 christenings in 3 families:

 
    Williame Brokat
 
           |
           |
   ________|________ 
   |               |
   |               |
 
    Williame  James
 
    1611      1618
 
 
 
    Jhone     Robert
 
    1616      1621

 
        Jhone Brokat
 
     m 1609 Agnes Auld
 
   __________|_________ 
   |                  |
   |                  |
 
    Williame  Helesone
 
    1613      1623
 
 
 
    James     Jonat
 
    1618      1624
 
 
 
    Jhone     Helen
 
    1619      1625
 
 
 
    Jean      Margrat
 
    1620      1625
 
 
 
          Marion
 
          1627

 
     James Brokat
 
m 1624 Marion Cuthbertson
 
   ________|_________ 
   |                |
   |                |
 
    James    Susanna
 
    1626     1638
 
 
 
    Margrat  Williame
 
    1629     1641
 
 
 
    Jonat    James
 
    1634     1644

In addition another 5 marriages were recorded at Mid Calder:

ii. West Calder, West Lothian 1651-1695

The West Calder OPRs date from 1645. Did some of the Mid Calder Brokets migrate or were they already here? Over a 41 year span 1651-1692 there were 11 christenings, again to 3 families:

iii. Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire 17th C

Gaps in Lesmahagow records prevent drawing a continuous line—the parish registers only record Brokets from the early 18th C—but Lesmahagow was a Broket centre from at least the 1580s until the deaths of Jane aged 88 in 1914 and Barbara aged 83 in 1926. The clan was relatively wealthy in the 17th C—perhaps a likely time for the hill to the east to have gained its local name of Brocketsbrae. They appear to have have been tenants then rather than proprietors, however, as no Brokets are recorded 1617-1720 in the Index to the Particular Register of Sasines for Sheriffdom of Lanark. Only 6 Broket wills were proved in Scotland 1500-1833, all in the 60 years 1626-86: 4 from Lesmahagow and the others only 10 miles east (www.scottishdocuments.com Apr 2004):

Of the places named above:

• Baittanes is not found in Irving & Murray or on any maps. • Cultermaynes or Culter Mains was a mansion house in the parish of Culter, about 12 m E of Lesmahagow as the crow flies. Johne would have been a tenant farmer or worker. Forrest's 1816 map shows it on the opposite bank of the Clyde to Symington Village (Symeintoun). • Gavehill or Gofhill are shown as a couple of houses on Forrest's 1816 map called Golfhill, as also on the 1st Ordnance Survey map, published 1864. Both it and Mid Town (Midtoune) would have been part of the Blackwood Estate and are shown by Forrest within a mile SW of Kirkmuirhill near the road going to Strathaven passing Castle Brocket c 4 miles further along. • Thankertoun is a couple of miles north of Symington.

iv. Carnwath, Lanarkshire 17th C

The earliest Carnwath record other than Jhon 1524 is the 1699 burial of James Brocket, Blacksmith. The front of his gravestone has a hammer and horseshoe, the back the letters P L A O 1699 (Unpublished List of Carnwath Memorial Inscriptions, p 85, no 165). James was with little doubt the father of Hugh Blacksmith.

It is not known if there was a continuous line between Jhon of 1524 and James of 1699. Carnwath was a small settlement, but it was at a crossroads on a route north, and although Broket was a rare name, a 150+ years gap could have seen Brokets coming there from different origins. If they came to Carnwath in the first place, they could have done so again. However, the 17th C Carnwath and Lesmahagow clans were with little doubt related; Carnwath is only c 10 m NE of Lesmahagow.

v. Elsewhere 1618-1698

The 17th C OPRs record only 8 marriages and 9 births elsewhere in Scotland:

Lanark, Pettinain and Douglas are all within a few miles of Lesmahagow or Carnwath. And did the 2 Leith families come up from Calder?