Yorkshire
Only a few Brocketts—incomers—live in Yorkshire
today, yet the first sustained hereditary centre of
the surname in Britain was just south of York City—in
the Ainsty. Here was the source,
along with the City later, of most 14th and 15th C English
Broket records,
few as they were.
A Broket had probably been born near York by at least
1210.
Subsequent records are mainly of related families in the Ainsty
and City—but only once or twice more than two of these
at one time—plus isolated families very occasionally
appearing elsewhere in the county. Many, if not all, of these
medieval Yorkshire Brokets were in the retinue of
the barons Percy and Vescy.
Then in the early 14th C they emerged as parish gentry,
on a par with other local landholders. Cloth was then a mainstay
of York's economy and probably a means by which Brokets who
moved to the City improved their status.
Although Broket numbers were tiny, the 14-16th C Yorkshire
picture is of a continuing hinterland stock
now and then providing an individual for York City, rather
than any established City line of more than three generations.
York's population was mobile, the Ainsty's less so. Sure, many Ainsty
manors were purchased by City men, but Brokets rose
locally to lordship of the manor, albeit possibly
via the City and perhaps helped by the decrease in population
from the Black Death.
Brokets remained lords in Appleton for 170 years but the
eldest line focused its attention on territory further south,
mainly Hertfordshire. They sold their last Yorkshire estates
by the 1560s but one line lived on in York till 1720.
Brokets then all but disappeared from Yorkshire, excepting
a small 19th C clan at Whitby and in Goathland on the moors
behind.
Maps
of parts of Yorkshire
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The overall picture from the 13-14th C Yorkshire Broket records
is of a small clan of a few families living and working
on the lands of the Percys and Vescys to the south
and west of York City. In some generations one or more moved
to the City and may have acted as contacts for rural parents
or brothers while having a City-bred family of their own.
But in 1400, for instance, there appears to have been only
a single Broket family in the City among its population of
12-15,000. None were recorded 66 years earlier in the 1334
City subsidy, although many adults were not included (Stell
& Hawkyard 1996). Similarly with the 1377 poll tax, of
which only about a half survives (Leggett 1971 p 131).
|
Throughout the century 1250-1350 the feudal system
was still in full force. It is estimated that 90%
of the population in those days lived and worked
outside the cities in the country. In the villages,
apart from the manor, houses were often 'long-houses'
of timber, wattle and daub, with living rooms at
one end and a byre for animals at the other
(Beresford & Hurst 1990 p 40; Palliser 1979
pp 10, 11). In contrast 13th century York was described
as a metropolis, and from 1298-1305 was the seat
of government for the whole of England and the guardian
of the heart of medieval England from northern invasion
(VCH City of York p 25). |
|
From the 1390s one Thomas
Broket rose to prominence through:
- training in the law
- marriage to the heiress of the Brokets' Lord of the Manor
in the Ainsty
- working for members of the Scrope family in York and Westminster.
By 1399 Thomas was doing work for Richard Scrope, Archbishop
of York, then in 1410 for Henry Scrope, Lord Treasurer of England,
who appointed him Remembrancer. Traces of his
influence remain at Bolton Percy parish church—where the
quire in the south transept is called the Brockett Chapel—and
at the well-preserved moated site in Appleton, which is still
known as Brocket
Hall.
Excluding the numerous records of this Thomas and the 13
Brokets in the 1379 poll rax, records of 12 individuals
have been found in Yorkshire from the 13-14th Centuries:
|
|
| |
Thomas BROKET of Steeton
b by 1280 d bef 1379
_______________|________________
| | |
?| ?| ?|
William SAMPSON John Nicholas m ... William Cecilia
Lord of Southwood, of Steeton of Steeton b by 1330 of Appleton
d 1393 | Appleton b c 1310? b by 1324 ?alive 1379 alive 1379
|
| d bef 1379 alive 1399
|
|
|
|
Dionisia m Thomas Broket b c 1370
d 1437 | Lord in Appleton, Treasurer's Remembrancer
|
bur in church | d 1435 bur in church
|
|________________________________________________
| | |
| | ? |
Elzabeth m Thomas Esq Edward Esq m Elizabeth John m Alice
Asshe d 1477 d 1488 | Thwaites will 1472 | alive
| |
d 1481 bur Wheathampstead | d 1507 bur churchyard | 1472
| |
_____________________________|____ _______________|_____________
| | | | |
| | | | |
John of Wheathampstead Robert m Anne alive Edward William Thomas
Esq b bef 1460 d 1532 b bef 1466 1538 alive 1472 will 1508 alive 1508
co-exec father's d bef bur |
|
will 1508? churchyard |
|
d 1507 | |
| |
_________________________| | |
| | | |
| | | |
Robert m Anne, alive son m1 Elizabeth m2 ... John William
co-exec Wm's | 1542 exec d bef ... Holme b bef alive 1508,
|
will 1508 | husband's 1536 will 1538 d bef 1487 1538, 1546
|
bur | will no surv 1538 alive
|
churchyard | issue 1508
|
will 1542 |__________
| |
| |
Edwarde John, Notary m Isabell ... d 1604
alive 1538, alive 1538,
1542, 47 Lord in Appleton 1561
York 1566, 1593 d 1604
|
|
| |
For Hertfordshire lines, see Edward.
|
|
Alongside the clans out in Appleton and other vills in the
Ainsty, records show a Broket presence in the City
of York right through this prosperous century. Some
21 individuals are recorded, 10 of whom were from the City.
But this does not contradict the underlying premiss of a hinterland
stock. Councillors were drawn from a larger number of families
than other large provincial cities of the time—from gentry,
merchants and craftsmen (Palliser 1979 p 93)—yet no Brokets
were ever York councillors. In his Chancery complaint
of 1475-83 Johen Broket's claim that his ancestors had held
properties in the City 'tyme owt of mynd' would only have
meant about a century.
| BROKET—mainly
of York—14-15th C (suggested reconstruction) |
... BROKET ?from Steeton
|
_______________________|____________________
| | |
| ? | ? |
Thomas Robert, Draper Richard, Priest
b by 1366 e 1339? b by 1368 e 1359 b by 1372 e 1355
Mainpernor 1387, 93 Mainpernor 1389 Chaplain 1393
| Freeman 1390/1 Vicar 1405
|
| will 1429
|
| |________________________________________
| | | | |
?| ?| ? | | ? |
Thomas Robert, Draper John, Butcher Thomas Alice
c 1370-1435 b by 1376 b by 1390 alive alive
Remembrancer Freeman 1397 Freeman 1411 1444 1444
L of Brockethall Farm of Lyndesey Mainpernor 1425
m Dionisia SAMPSON 1432, 41 Corpus Christi 1427
| will pr 1450
|
| m ?1 ... m ?2 Katerine ...
|
| | will pr 1451
| |
___|_______________________ ?| |
| | | |
?| | | |
William Edward John Alice
b by 1411 b by 1417 alive 1444 alive 1451
lessee 1431 d 1488 inn owner 1475-83
dismissal 1433 m Elizabeth Constable 1480
d by 1452 Thwaites |
|
| ?|
John m Lucy ...
Corpus Christi 1491
|
|
| Note: 'b by' = born
at the very latest, perhaps long before; e = born earliest. |
Recorded in an inventory in York (Stell & Hampson 1998).
This is the first of many 15th C records of Thomas
Broket Lord of Brockethall manor and Treasurer's Remembrancer
1410-35.
ii. John Butcher 1411
The first record of John Broket 'boucher' is his admission
as Freeman of York 1411 (Register of
the Freemen 1897 p 116). In 1421/2 he was recorded living
in a tenement rented @ 5s from Sir John de Langton in le Flesshamyls—the
Shambles—the Butchers' quarter (Tringham 1993 pp 293-4
nos 540, 541, 545; see also his wife's will).
Around this time he was one of 12 jurors—all butchers—in
a case of debt owing to a fellow butcher (York City Archives
E39 Lib Miscellanea vol 8 p 173).
In 1425 he was a mainpernor for a commitment at the Exchequer:
| Date/source |
Calendar entry |
1425
Mar 8 Westminster Calendar of Fine Rolls 1425,
p 96
|
Commitment
to John Arderne,—by mainprise of John Broket
of the county of York and John Derby of the county
of Worcester,—of the keeping of the manors of Shene,
Petrishamme and Hamme, co. Surrey, with all their appurtenances,
and of a close, in which a house for religious men of
the order of Celestines was lately established by Henry
V, with all its appurtenances, within the county of Middlesex;
to hold the same from Michaelmas next for 10 years, rendering
yearly at the Exchequer ... |
This was during Thomas Broket's time as Remembrancer at
the Exchequer, as were the commitments to Robert
and William.
In 1427 John Brokytt and his wife (et uxor ejus) were admitted as members
of the Corpus Christi Guild, York's leading religious
guild (Register of the Guild 1872 p 27). Founded in 1408 as the
parish fraternity of Holy Trinity Micklegate, membership was
related to possession of property in York and over the century
included high-ranking nobility (Pollard 1990 pp 189-90).
John died in 1450; his will was written 9 Jun 1444 and proved
26 Nov 1450 (York Registry vol 2 f 212—YASRS vol
6 p 25) He was a working man, but of some material substance—an
owner of land near the city, he willed to be buried in the
choir of St Trinity (l 5; the butchers' church in King's Square,
demolished 1937—A Raine 1955 p 41). His will mentioned
his wife Katerine, his son John
and daughter Alice. There were probably
no other living children. He also gave a bequest of 6s 8d
to his brother Thomas.
| Date/source |
Calendar entry |
1431
Aug 1 Westminster Calendar of Fine Rolls 1431,
p 45
|
Commitment
to William Broket,—by mainprise
of Roger Byrne of the county of York,
'gentilman', and John Holme of the same
county, 'gentilman',—of the keeping of 2 cottages
in 'Munkgate' and a cottage in 'Bakynerset', 'Walmegate',
in the city of York, which Adam Osbaldwyk,
clerk, alias Adam Somondour, a bastard, held of the king
in chief, as in burgage, to himself and his heirs in fee
simple, and died seised thereof without heir of his body,
and which John Lincoln, of late one of the grooms of the
chamber of Richard II, held for life of the grant of the
said late king; to hold the same from Michaelmas next
for 20 years, at a yearly farm of the 20s. at which the
said 3 cottages are extended and an increment of 12d.;
with clause touching maintenance of houses, enclosures
and buildings, and support of charges. By bill of the
treasurer. |
| Note: 'All messuages in York were
held directly of the king in free burgage, as near to
freehold as might be' (Palliser 1979 p 295). |
The 3 cottages must have been substantial houses—the
rent for the messuage, 5 tenements and 3 cottages of Lady Row in Goodramgate, along with 2 other tenements
totalled only 32s in 1575 (A Raine 1955 pp 47-8; Wilson 1997 p 2). This and other
evidence strongly suggests that William was a son of Thomas
Lord of Brockethall manor. The commitment was effected during
Thomas' time as Remembrancer at the Exchequer, like the grants
to William's cousin Robert.
Both used John Holme as mainpernor. William would also therefore
have been the William dismissed from his post in the Exchequer for
tampering with the King's records in 1433.
William had most probably died within the 20 year lease,
since a feoffment given at York 12 Feb 1452 refers to 'the
tenement of the late William Broket' in Walmegate
(York Memorandum Book p 200). The cottages are not
indexed again in the Calendars of Rolls.
Alice Brokett was recorded in an inventory in York (Stell &
Hampson 1998). Sister of John, Butcher?
Son of John, Butcher and mentioned
in his will 1444. John would have been born by 1436 at the latest. Four other probable records:
|
1. In 1475-83 Johen
Broket complained to Chancery
about unpaid rent for his inn called the Crowned Lion
in Micklegate and several other properties in the city
(PRO C1/464/28).
| To be sure, 14-22 years
later property was being held in the City by the
absentee landlord John
Broket of Wheathampstead, eldest son of Edward and
Elizabeth Thwaites. But he was an Esquire, a rank
that would certainly have been accorded this John
if it had been due. |
2. In 1480 John Brokettes,
Constable of the parish of St John Ousebridge paid the
City Chamberlains money owed by soldiers going to Scotland:
| Memorandum
that the chamberleyns hau rescevyd
be the handes of John Brokettes
& John Wyndrys constabilles of Sancte John
parich at Owse bryg end in pairte of payment
of certain money lent to certain Sochers by Thomas
Davyson at thys last viage now made to Skotland
as it apeirs by a bill thar of made that is to say
for Richard Herryson ijs John Colson Shypman ijs
Robert Smyth Shypman ijs and xijd for the
standard berer in the holl vijs (York City Archive
ms CB1a f 41v ll 1-8; A Raine 1939 p 36). |
Stell (1998 pp 17-20) said: 14-15th C York constables
were usually drawn from the mercantile elite. They were
responsible for watching the City walls and lived in
the parish responsible for their watch. St John Ousebridge's
watch was from the middle of Mickelgate Bar to the Toft
tower opposite the Archbishop's tithe-barn—now
just to the east of the south end of platform 3 of the Railway Station.
Other duties included administrative ones as above,
attending on the mayor and sheriffs, settling disputes,
policing, repair of pavements, removal of waste from
the streets and holding the keys for the city gates.
On average 23 years elapsed between taking freedom of
the City and becoming Constable, pointing to John's
freedom c 1457, and a birth by 1436 at the latest.
3. 1485/6 'Capias Iohannem Thomeson
pro securitate pacis ad sectam Iohannis Broket' = You
are to arrest John Thomeson in order to keep the peace
at the suit of John Broket (Attreed
1954- p 449, also p 363).
4. In 1491 John and
Lucia Brokett were
admitted as members of the Corpus Christi Guild
(Register of the Guild 1872 p 132). By this time the guild
had become 'something akin to a county club' with high
ranking noble members; 'representatives of some 55 noble
and gentry families with land and other connections
in the county of York were at times members 1440-90'
(Pollard 1990 p 189).
|
Brother of John, Butcher and mentioned
in his will 1444.
vii. Edward Esq 1450
and 1488
In 1450 Edward Broket was married to Elizabeth Thwaites and
received half of Steeton. From his father's death in 1435 he
probably deputised for his elder brother as Lord of Appleton,
and then in 1477 he inherited his brother's estates in Wheathampstead.
His will,
proved 1488, left the local manor of Jewleas to son Robert.
Widow of John Brokett, butcher. Will
written 28 Aug 1451, pr 30 Aug 1451 (York Registry vol 2 f
228—YASRS vol 6 p 25).
She willed to be buried in the cemetary of St Trinity next
to her sons (l 5), rather than in the Choir next to her husband.
These were perhaps not also John's sons, but hers from a previous
marriage. She mentioned their daughter Alice, but no other
living children. John's son John was perhaps from a previous
marriage of his. She was living in a tenement rented from Sir John Langton (l 18).
Daughter of John Brokett, Butcher
and Katerine. Mentioned in both their wills.
x. John of Apylton 1472
In his testament
of 1472 John Brokett called himself 'husbandman' and asked
to be buried in the churchyard, even though he may
have been a son of the manor. Donating to different
churches probably indicates that he farmed in more than one
parish, suggesting that he was a relatively wealthy husbandman.
The OED cites a 13th and 14th century Northumbrian and Lowland
Scots connotation of 'husbandman' meaning a tenant of non-demesne
manorial lands, not integral to the manor. With Edward as
Lord of Brokethall till 1477, John perhaps looked
after some non-demesne lands.
| |
John Brokett of Apylton, husbandman
m
Alice ...
co-executrix
|
|
________|________
| |
| |
Edward sons and daughters
alive 1472 alive 1472
co-executor
|
|
|
For his relationship to the other
Brokets of Appleton see above.
|
Probably among his sons were William
and Thomas.
Wife of John Brokett of
Apylton. Mentioned in his will. Not recorded elsewhere.
Son of John Brokett of Apylton.
Mentioned in his will. Not recorded elsewhere.
A deposition given at York 1593 referred to:
| one Roberte
brockett father to mr
brockett one of the proctors in the spirituall
courte of yorke who dyd about fyfty yeres agoo and was
about thre score yeres of age att his deathe |
|
BI Cause Paper CP G 2676 (4) p 2y
|
'fyfty yeres' and 'thre score yeres' are approximations.
But the first is in fact accurate, so the second may not be
far out: 50 years previously would make Robert's death c 1543
and 60 years before that his birth date c 1483. The first
record is as co-executor to kinsman
William Brokett's will in 1508.
For his son to be a Mr and a lord,
Robert would have had to have been a direct descendant
of the Manor family, i.e. the son of Robert
the second son of Edward Broket Esq of Wheathampstead. Nonetheless,
he willed to be buried in the churchyard. He mentioned wife
Anne and sons Edwarde
and John:
| |
| Will
of Robert of Appleton, written 7 Nov 1542, pr 31
Jul 1543 (BI Probate Register, v.11, f.692r) |
1. In the name
of god so be it The vijth daye of Nouembre in the
yere of oure Lorde god almightie ml vc xlij.
2. I Robert Brokett of Appleton
of holl mynde and goode remembrance makes
this my last will and
3. testament in manner and forme followinge ffirst
I give my soull to god almightie to oure
4. ladie sancte marie . and to all the sanctes
in heaven' and my bodie to be buried within the
5. churche yerde of all sanctes in Bolton
Percie Item I giue to the highe altare vijd Item
I
6. giue to Edwarde my sonne
my yonge sconed horse a fetherbede a mattres a bolster
a couerlet
7. a counter and a siluer spoone Item I giue
to John my sone a siluer spoone,
and towe
8. oxen Item I giue to Anne my
wif ij siluer spones a fetherbede a mattres a bolster
a cowe
9. an oxe stirke and a mayre and a foill. The Residue
of all my goodes not bequeathed my
10. dettes and legacies paide I giue to Anne
my wif whome I make myne executrix of this my
11. last will and testament Thes witnesses John
Goode John yngalby Guye Wright' and John
12. Hudsone |
|
|
Robert is recorded in the 1523 subsidy for Appleton township,
when he paid almost a third of the township's total of 26s
6d. He declared £16 in goods (http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/SubsidyRolls/ARY/ARYSubsidyRolls5.html
accessed 9 June 2003; see also M J Harrison 2000 p 77).
| taxpayer |
rate |
| George Battersby |
9s 0d |
| Robert Broket |
8s 0d |
| George Godson |
20d |
| William Cowpar |
2s 6d |
| Robert Marshall |
12d |
| John Tomson |
12d |
| Cristofer Bolton |
4d |
| John Plompton |
4d |
| John Smyth |
2s |
| Robert Fletcher |
4d |
| William Aynger |
4d |
Robert was listed first of 13 men in a Bill of Complaint
brought against them before the Star Chamber in the 1530s
(PRO STAC 2/23/74). One of the others was John Engilby, a
witness to Robert's will (l 11).
Robert was the second son of Edward
Broket Esq of Wheathampstead and co-executor of his will
in 1488. His brothers were left land in Hertfordshire, but
Robert was bequeathed the manor of Jewleas,
near Appleton. Although Robert was buried in Wheathampstead
in 1507 he would have looked after the estates in Appleton
after his father left for Wheathampstead in 1477. His descendants
were local lords of the main Broket manor there on behalf
of the eldest line in Hertfordshire until they sold it in
1565. The alledged marble and brass memorial to 'Robert gentleman
died 10 June 1569 aged 49' in St Margaret's Church (Herts?)
has not been traced and is unreliable (E J Brockett 1905 p
227).
The will of his daughter-in-law Elsabeth Holme referred to
him many years after his death (l 13):
| |
| Will
of Elsabeth Holme,
written 20 May 1538, pr 5 Jul 1538 (BI Probate Register,
v.11, f.311) |
1. In the name
of god so be it. The xxti daye of the monethe
of maye, in
2. the yere of our lorde god Ml Cxxxviij. I Elsabeth
holme of appilton, of hoole mynd. and
3. good of memorie makes this my last will
or testament in this maner foloing. ffirst I gif
4. my saull to god almyghtie, to our ladie sancte
marie, and to all the sanctes in hevyn
5. my bodie to be beried within the churche yerde
of alsanctes in Bolton percye. Item
I gif
6. to on prest to syng for me, and my moder half
a yere .xls. Item to Roberte Brokett
.
7. xxvjs viijd Item to Sir William' Wright' my curate
.iijs iiijd. Item to John' Brokett
.iijs
8. iiijd Item to Edwarde Brokett
.iijs iiijd. Item to William' Brokett
.iijs iiijd Item to John'
9. Hudson' .xxd. Item to anne Brokett
my fader in lawe wif .xiijs iiijd. Item to
agnes dawson
10. a violett gowne. Item to John' Hill .iiijd.
Item to Edwarde Robynson' .iiijd. Item to
Isabell marche
11. viijd Item to Roberte newburghe' .iiijd. Item
to Thomas Saunder .iiijd. Item to Thomas
Thomson'
12. vj li xiijs iiijd. and my parte of a certen
porcion of land belongyng to me after the
13. decesse of Roberte Brokett
my fader in lawe Item to the hie altar on altar
clothe. The
14. residue of all my goodes my legacies and funerall
expenses fulfilled I gif to Thomas
15. Thomson, whome I make my executor of this my
last will and testament ... witnes …
16. Georgie Godsone Richarde Peyne and John' Hudson
and Sir William' Wright' curate with
other
|
|
|
Elsabeth was closely connected with the Broketts of Appleton.
They were her first legatees; no other family group
received legacies. Only Thomas Thomson—her brother?—was
to receive more than Roberte Brokett.
- Elsabeth Holme was a widow with no children.
- Roberte Brokett, deceased, was her 'fader in lawe'.
- Anne Brokett was her 'fader in lawe wif'. She received
13s 4d.
- The Roberte still alive would have been the son
of Roberte. He received 26s 8d.
- John and Edwarde were sons of the Roberte
still alive. They each received 3s 4d. There is a faint
possibility that John could have been son of William son
of John, but this isn't borne out by further records of
John.
- William was probably son of Thomas son of John.
It seems that Elsabeth had been married to a son of the deceased
Roberte Brokett. This son died and she married a Holme, who
also died before her. The currently living Roberte
Brokett was her brother-in-law and without surviving
children of her own she left legacies to his sons Edwarde
and John.
xv. John Esq [of Wheathampstead]
1497
A 20 May 1497 deed mentioned 'the tenement of John Broket
Esq [in Botham, York City] in the tenure of John Kyrkeby Chaplain'
(Charter SRJ/4376 in Tringham 1993 p 29 no 50).
John
was the eldest son of Edward and Elizabeth Thwaites. He died
1532 and the IPM (PRO E150/233A) held at Selby recorded properties
held in chief in Fenton, Colton, Biggin, Wigginton, Aberford,
and Castle Carrock in Cumberland, but not Appleton—those
lands were not held in chief. There was a separate IPM for
his Hertfordshire lands (PRO C142/397).
|
