Brokets of North East England

As early as 1401 a John Broket, Chaplain, was recorded with reference to an order sent to the sheriff of Northumberland, as also a John Brokete. Later records from London show a Broket family in Alnham by the 1470s—a hamlet in the rolling Cheviot foothills. They probably first settled here as part of the Percy expansion in the 14th C, but local records of ordinary people are virtually non-existent from these times when Northumberland was often at war and plunder was common. No other records of Brokets have been found before the 15th C.¹

Separating the few pre-1570 North East records from those of Yorkshire and Scotland is not to say their Brokets were not related—they might have been—but because of subsequent developments these 3 regions are more easily described separately.

The late 16th C found Brokets in 2 of the 3 main North Eastern ports and a couple of outlying villages, after which on average during each century up to the 20th there were 48 marriages and 81 births. With 31 baptisms, the North East (Northumberland) was the 4th largest Broket Grouping 1600-49, after Hertfordshire, London and Bedfordshire.

The 17-19th centuries show 2 well-documented clans: one in Durham City in the 17th C—who claimed descent from Yorkshire Brokets—with an offshoot as lords of Headlam in the Tees valley in the 18th, and a separate one flourishing in Gateshead in the 19th.

Statistics show a large decrease of Broket numbers in the North East 1905-54 compared with 1855-1904. Today the few Brocketts left are mostly incomers.

North East pages:

++++++++++++1300-1549
++++++++++++1550-1749
+++++++++++++++Durham family
++++++++++++++++++Headlam family
++++++++++++1750-1949
+++++++++++++++Lanchester family
++++++++++++++++++Gateshead family
++++++++++++Map of the North East

Page Last Updated: April 7, 2020