Edward Broket, (I) of Steton

Edward Broket of Steton is listed on Harley 807 as the most senior ancestor of the Broket/Brocket family in Yorkshire and Hertfordshire, England. He would have been born c.1225, probably in Yorkshire. He married Maude de Gouer or Gower, an heiress "from the Northe." The earliest coats of arms for the Brocket family used elements of the Gower arms. Harley 807 lists three children.

The primary source of data on the early Broket/Brocket/Brockett family is a medieval document commonly called Harley 807. The British Library's Harley manuscript 807 is a 120-folio note book of pedigrees 'in the hand writynge of Robert Glover Esq., Somerset Herald', according to a 17th C inscription on the front page. The book measures c 35x22 cm. For his reference and record Glover sketched numerous coats of arms in trick—with tinctures denoted by initial letters, like g for 'gules' red and az for 'azure' blue. He then passed these notes to College of Arms artists to produce illuminated paintings on parchment for clients to display.

On folios 44 and 45 Glover sketched a Broket pedigree—from now on referred to as 'Harley 807'—spanning 3 pages and 12 generations, the last 6 of which feature the eldest Wheathampstead line. The pedigreee has no dates, but 30-year-generation gaps would provide a birth date of c 1220 for Edward Broket of Steton at the top.

Elizabethan pedigrees played specific roles in their day and while Harley 807 deviates in places from known facts, it has value:

• It is a good example of Elizabethan genealogy.
• It shows how the head of the Wheathampstead Brockett dynasty portrayed his ancestry and heraldry.
• Behind its contemporary context and creativity there is sound genealogical information.
• It was reproduced literally in the 1860 Gateshead pedigree, which in turn was republished in New Jersey 1905. From there it has become widely available in various forms on the internet.

Steeton is a 'lost village', the traces partially destroyed by the building of a great pond, now dry. The outlines can be seen from an aerial photograph. The Elizabethan Brockets of Wheathampstead clearly thought of Steeton as their ultimate place of origin. Glover traced a line for them there stretching back to the 1200's, but without dates. Although this coincides with dates of the earliest records of Brokets elsewhere in the Ainsty, two deeds dated 1269 listed no Brokets among the occupants of Steeton's 27 tofts. Perhaps marriage first brought them to Steeton late 13th - early 14th century from a nearby township.

Including children and those who evaded or couldn't pay the poll tax, the population of Steeton in 1379 was about 100. They lived in roughly 20 houses on either side of the one street. Nicholas Broket and family were there then and deeds suggest that his forbears had been landholders there for at least 50 years. In 1450 half the township was granted to Edward Broket, although by then there were probably no Brokets living there.

Children of Edward Broket of Steton and wife Maude de Gouer:

• Edward II, the heir, who married Dyonise, and left at least one heir, a son Lyonell.
• Maude Broket, wife to Eldercare
• Anne Broket

Links to additional material:

• http://www.brockett.info/Hertfordshire/Glover.htm
• http://www.brockett.info/Earliest/EarliestBrokets.htm
• http://www.brockett.info/Yorkshire/BoltonPercy.htm

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Brocket Hall as it is known today, was built by renowned architect James Paine for the owner, Sir Mathew Lamb in 1760. However, the Hall stands on the site of two predecessors, the original of which was built in 1239.