Kimbolton Brockets - The Broket Archive

The 19th C Kimbolton Brokets

Three young Agricultural-Labourer Brocket families lived in or near Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, in 1841, headed by:

Thomas, aged c 30, and Hannah in Rookery, Kimbolton¹
Daniel, aged c 25, and Sarah in Rookery
John, aged c 25, and Eliza in Stoneley, c 1 m SE of Kimbolton.

Hannah and Sarah were probably sisters, daughters of John and Jane ABRAM/S, neighbours of Thomas.Thomas, Daniel and John lived in Kimbolton the rest of their lives. Were they brothers?

Records of their baptisms haven’t been found, but censuses recorded their birthplaces:

	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881
Thomas, b c 1809	—	Carlton, Beds	Kimbolton	Radwell, Beds	Radwell, Beds
Daniel, b 1810-3	outside Hunts	Kimbolton	Kimbolton	Radwell, Beds	Radwell, Beds
John, b c 1816	Hunts	Kimbolton	Kimbolton	Hunts	deceased

The records for Thomas and Daniel conflict a little but point to the hamlet of Radwell—recorded by 2 separate enumerators in 1871—or perhaps Carlton, a slightly larger village c 4 m SW of Radwell. John consistently gave Hunts as his birthplace. If the 3 were brothers this suggests that their parents moved to Kimbolton by at least 1816. Who were they?

Radwell was a hamlet in Felmersham parish.
The IGI records a marriage in Felmersham of John and Elizabeth PAIN 24 Dec 1804, followed by the baptism of a daughter Susan there 11 Aug 1805 and perhaps a son William 26 Jun 1808.² There are no known further records of William and he is to be distinguished from the other William bap 1808, s/o James and Elizabeth HILLS of Blunham.
Felmersham was probably Elizabeth’s parish at least—the IGI records the baptism there of Elizabeth PANE 21 Aug 1785 d/o William and Susan—the names given to her first 2 children.
John and Elizabeth’s daughter Susan married Samuel ROBISON in Kimbolton in 1826.³ In 1841 the family lived near Thomas and Daniel in the Rookery, Kimbolton: Susan and Samuel both aged 36, son John, 6, and daughter Elizabeth, 10 weeks⁴—named for Susan’s parents.
Similarly, the John Brocket, Bachelor, Labourer, aged 22, s/o John Brocket Labourer who married Eliza INCH, Widow, aged 27 in Stow Longa Parish Church, Huntingdonshire—2 m N of Kimbolton—on 12 Oct 1838⁵ was John and Elizabeth’s son. John and Eliza lived the rest of their lives in Kimbolton in close proximity to siblings Susan, Thomas and Daniel.
The Kimbolton Burial Register⁶ records only 4 Broket burials for Kimbolton, as also the National Burial Index for Kimbolton, St Andrew:
1820 3 May: Andrew, of Kimbolton, aged 2 weeks
1821 2 Dec: Judith, of Stoneley, aged 6 days
1821 16 Dec: Elizabeth, of Stoneley, aged 35, ie b c 1786
1833 13 Jan: John, of Kimbolton, aged 62, ie b c 1771

showing that:
1. John and Elizabeth PAIN had moved to Kimbolton by 1820 at least, probably before son John’s birth.
2. Elizabeth would have been c 20 in 1805, when daughter Susan was born.
3. she died 3 weeks after giving birth to Judith.
4. Susan was c 16 when her mother Elizabeth died, Thomas c 11, Daniel c 9 and John c 5.
5. John snr lived a further 11 years in Kimbolton.
6. naming a son Andrew links him to the wider Bedfordshire Grouping.

John b c 1771 would in all likelihood have moved into Felmersham from another Bedfordshire parish. He is one of a number of Brokets born in Bedfordshire around this period who were either not baptised or not recorded in PRs, perhaps because the parents were of nonconformist persuasion. Son Thomas baptised his daughter in a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Higham Ferrers, Northampton. Up until civil registration in 1837 independent marriages had to be registered in the parish church, but not baptisms. However, a search through the register and the certificates of:
1. Kimbolton Baptist Chapel births 1818-1836
2. Kimbolton Moravian Chapel births and baptisms 1823-1837
found no Broket entries. The link to the wider Bedfordshire Grouping is shown by:
1. some uncommon name patterns: Daniel and Andrew were both rare names among Brokets at that time—suggesting that John may well have been a s/o Daniel and Mary CARINGTON.
2. comparison of the DNA of descendants of John of Kimbolton and other descendants from the Bedfordshire Grouping—showing that John was closely related to John of Colworth, son of Andrew and Ann LAWSON.

BROCKETT of Kimbolton — the next generation

Did they also have a daughter or cousin Anne?

1. Thomas b c 1809-11 d 1884

Probable eldest son of John and Elizabeth PAIN. Born in Beds, either in Carlton⁷ or Radwell.⁸ The 1861 record of Hunts Kimbolton is unreliable. He married Hannah ABRAHAMS 1833 in Kimbolton, Hunts.⁹ Thomas d 1884 St Neots District, aged 74.¹⁰ She died 1899 St Neots District aged 87.¹¹

Census records for Thomas and Hannah:+Read more

Child:

Eliza, b 29 Nov 1834, bap 26 Apr 1835 Wesleyan Methodist, Higham Ferrers, Northampton.¹² Probably married 1857 St Neots District¹³ to George STONEBANKS—on 22 Sep 1858 George Thomas STONEBANKS was born in Kimbolton, father George STONEBANKS, Journeyman Shoemaker, mother Eliza STONEBANKS, formerly Brockett.¹⁴

2. Daniel and Sarah

Probable 2nd son of John and Elizabeth PAIN. Married Sarah ABRAHAMS 1837 in Kimbolton, Hunts.¹⁵

Census records for Daniel and Sarah:+Read more

Sarah died 1889 St Neots District, aged 75.¹⁶ Daniel, Farm Labourer aged 83, died 17 Aug 1893 of senile decay at 112 Princes St, Kettering.¹⁷ This would place his birth c 1810, but the censuses point rather to 1811-3. To be distinguished from his contemporary namesake, and ?1st cousin, Daniel of Souldrop 1814-93. Children:

Susan/na, b 1837, St Neots District, Cambs;¹⁸ d 12 Jun 1850 Kimbolton, aged 12.¹⁹
Jane, b 1842 St Neots District;²⁰ m James BERWICK St Neots District 1861.²¹ The 1891 census for Kettering shows that her 4 children were all b Kimbolton. Jane was residing 112 Princes St, Kettering, at the death of her father 1893.

In 1834, when aged c 21, Daniel was recorded in the Bastardy Papers and Maintenance Orders of St Andrew’s Parish Church, Kimbolton:²²+Read more

Whereas it hath been duly made to appear unto us, the said Justices, as well upon the Complaint of the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Kimbolton in the said County, as upon the Oath of Fanny Fletcher Single Woman, that she was delivered of a male Bastard Child, within the said Parish, on the 28th Day of December now last past, and that the said Bastard Child is now living, and chargeable to the said Parish: And further, that Daniel Brocket of Kimbolton in the said County did beget the said Bastard Child on the body of her the said Fanny Fletcher. And Whereas the said Daniel Brocket hath appeared before us, in pursuance of a Summons for that purpose, hath not shown any Cause why he should not be adjudged the reputed Father of the said Bastard Child
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We do, therefore, upon the Examination of the Cause and Circumstances of the Premises, hereby adjudge him, the said Daniel Brocket to be the reputed Father of the said Bastard Child; and Order, that he do pay to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the said Parish of Kimbolton or to some or one of them, the Sum of two Pounds ten Shillings for the Costs, Charges, and Expences incident to the Birth of the said Child, and the Maintenance thereof, to the Time of this our Order…
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And we do further Order that the said Daniel Brocket shall also pay to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the said Parish of Kimbolton for the time being, the Sum of one Shilling and eight Pence Weekly for and towards the Keeping, Sustentation, and Maintenance of the said Bastard Child, for so long as the said Bastard Child shall be chargeable to the said Parish. And that the said Fanny Fletcher shall also, in like manner, pay the Sum of six Pence Weekly, in case she shall not nurse and take care of the Child herself.
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Given under our Hands and Seals the sixth Day of March in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty four
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Warrant for arrest for failing to pay maintenance
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Whereas by an Order made this sixth day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty four … Daniel Brocket of Kimbolton in the County of Huntingdon was adjudged to be the reputed Father of a male Bastard Child, then lately born in the said Parish, of the body of Fanny Fletcher Single Woman, and that the said Daniel Brocket should forthwith, upon Notice thereof, pay … £2 10s … And whereas it appears unto us, … two of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the said County … that the said Daniel Brocket hath had due Notice of the said Order, a true Copy thereof having been personally delivered to him … on this 6th day of March … and that the said Daniel Brocket hath made default in not performing the said Order, against which no appeal hath been made …
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These are therefore to charge and command you the said Constable forthwith to take and convey the said Daniel Brocket to the Common Gaol at Great Stewkley [1 m N of Huntingdon] and there to deliver him to the Keeper thereof, together with this Warrant…
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Given under our Hands and Seals the sixth Day of March in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty four

3. John and Eliza’s family

Probable 3rd son of John and Elizabeth PAIN, b c 1816. Known descendants comprise a clan that flourished in Lincolnshire from the 1880s. In Stow Longa Parish Church, Huntingdonshire, on 12 Oct 1838 John Brocket, Bachelor, Labourer, aged 22, s/o John Brocket Labourer, married Eliza INCH, Widow, nee MASH, aged 27.²³ Neither John nor Eliza could write. Eliza had been baptised in Long Stow in 1811, d/o John and Mary MASH. She died 1885 St Neots District Cambs, aged 74.²⁴

Census records for John and Eliza:+Read more

Children of John and Eliza—all born Kimbolton:

Charlotte, b c 1836,²⁵ a couple of years before John and Eliza married. No further census or GRO record. Did she marry … PARROTT?
John, b 1839 St Neots District, Cambs;²⁶ m Sarah Putterill THOMSON 1861 St Neots District.²⁷ Occupation 1863 Farm Laborer.²⁸+Census records for John and Sarah:+Read more

1871: In Carnaby, Kimbolton, John, Rural Messenger, aged 31; wife Sarah P, 44;Elizabeth PARROTT, niece, 8, all b Kimbolton. [It isn’t clear who Elizabeth’s mother was, perhaps Charlotte.]
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1891In Carnaby, Kimbolton, John, Rural Postman, aged 51; wife Sarah P, 63, both b Kimbolton.
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1901: In Kimbolton, John, Retired Postman, aged 61; wife Sarah, 74, both b Kimbolton.
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1911: In the Churchyard, Kimbolton, John, aged 71, Head, Retired Postman; wife Sarah Putterill, 84, both b Kimbolton. 1 child born alive, one died; 4 rooms in the dwelling; entry written and signed by John.

Child:
1. Mary Eliza, b 7 Dec 1863 Kimbolton, St Neots District;²⁹ d 1868 St Neots District, aged 4.³⁰
No other issue recorded in GRO. Sarah P died 1913 St Neots District, aged 86.³¹ John died 2 Aug 1915 from cardiac failure and gangrene of the leg, 2 Primrose St, Accrington, Lancashire, aged 75, retired Town Postman, informant nephew Alfred E KELSALL.³²
Samuel 1844-1906.
William 1845-1904.
Eliza, b 1849 St Neots District, Cambs;³³ m 1869 St Neots District,³⁴ also recorded as Elizabeth. Probably witness to brother William’s marriage 1866, rather than their mother.
Mary, b 1851 St Neots District, Cambs;³⁵ m 1870 St Neots District.³⁶ Witness to brother Samuel’s marriage 1866.
Emma, b 1853 St Neots District, Cambs;³⁷ m 1876 St Neots District.³⁸

Page Last Updated: April 5, 2020

Footnotes

For full bibliographical details please see the sections Publications or Glossary.

Expand

[1] Census—adult ages were often rounded up or down to the nearest 5.

[2] Patron submission

[3] Huntingdonshire Marriage Index 1601-1700, 1734-1837 (HMI); not in IGI

[4] Census

[5] Marriage certificate

[6] HP52.1.4.1

[7] 1851 census

[8] 1871 and 1881 censuses

[9] HMI; not in IGI

[10] GRO qtr 1

[11] GRO qtr 1

[12] IGI

[13] GRO qtr 4

[14] Guild of One-Name Studies pdf faux birth certificate 1858

[15] HMI; not in IGI

[16] GRO qtr 2

[17] Death certificate

[18] GRO qtr 4

[19] Kimbolton Burial Register HP52.1.4.1

[20] GRO qtr 1

[21] GRO qtr 2

[22] CROH HP52/15/3/19

[23] Marriage certificate

[24] GRO qtr 3

[25] 1851 census

[26] GRO qtr 4

[27] GRO qtr 4

[28] Birth certificate of daughter

[29] Birth certificate

[30] GRO qtr 1

[31] GRO qtr 1

[32] Death certificate

[33] GRO qtr 2

[34] GRO qtr 1

[35] GRO qtr 1

[36] GRO qtr 2

[37] GRO qtr 1

[38] GRO qtr 4