The Early Lincolnshire Broughams

​​It is uncertain how the Broughams came to settle in Lincolnshire or where they originated from. The earliest records date back to the early Elizabethan age in the second half of the 1500s. A significant number of the Lincolnshire Broughams were located in and around Fillingham, 11 miles north of Lincoln. Other early Brougham locations in the county include:

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• Ingham (2 miles south)

• Glentworth (2 miles southwest)

• Upton (7 miles southwest)

• Owmby-By-Spital (7 miles east)

• Marton (10 miles southwest)

• Lincoln (11 miles south)

• Gainsborough (12 miles west)

• Scotton (13 miles west)

• Kettlethorpe (14 miles southwest)

• Messingham (15 miles northwest)

• Baumber (18 miles northwest)

• Bigby (21 miles northeast)

• Barnetby (22 miles north)

• Croxton (25 miles north)

• Swineshead (41 miles northeast)

• Grantham (42 miles south)

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Most of these locations are small rural villages within a few miles of each other, where agriculture is the main occupation. The 1801 census records a population of 243 for Fillingham.The first recorded Broughams date back to the early Elizabethan Age, a family headed by William, who had three children in Scotton:​

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• Margarette Brougham (Bpt. 4 March 1567)

• Steven Brougham (Bpt. 26 March 1567)

• Agnes Brougham (Bpt. 17 November 1572)

 

There are other pockets of Broughams scattered around at this time:​

• John Brougham had two daughters, Elizabeth (Bpt. 11 Sep 1597) and Mary (Bpt. 30 Mar 1600) in Grantham.

• Another John Brougham had three sons, William (Bpt. 23 Aug 1602), Symon (Bpt. 14 Oct 1606), and Thomas (Bpt. 14 Oct 1606) in Messingham. It is possible these two Johns are the same person; the birth dates of the children seem to follow on, but this is not verified, as Messingham and Grantham are 55 miles apart.

• Christofer Brougham baptised his son John on 8 Mar 1588 at Croxton – no further records of Croxton Broughams are found.

• Thomas Brougham is the earliest recorded Brougham in Bigby, only 12 miles from Messingham, suggesting a possible relation to one of the Johns. He baptised his son Thomas on 7 Dec 1588.

• Anthony Browholme, also from Bigby, heads another group (Browholme is an alternative spelling of Brougham). Anthony’s children are:

  • Dorthie (Bpt. 18 Oct 1607)

  • Joane (Bpt. 19 Oct 1608)

  • Elizabeth (Bpt. 17 Feb 1610)

  • Ann (Bpt. 1 Mar 1610) – the first part of the parent's name is unreadable but ends in Marie, likely the mother

  • Alice (Bpt. 25 Mar 1614) – father's name not legible, assumed to be Anthony

  • Dorothie (Bpt. 18 May 1617) – probably the first Dorothy died young

• Just a few miles away from Bigby is Barnetby, where Peter Brougham baptised his son Richard on 9 Apr 1610. Peter could be Anthony's brother given their likely ages and the proximity of their locations.

•  William Brougham lived 30 miles south of Binting, on the eastern side of Lincoln, in Minting. William is believed to have had seven children:

  • Thomas Brougham (Bpt. 27 Aug 1612)

  • Elizabeth Brougham (Bpt. 8 Feb 1615)

  • Charles (Bpt. 4 Mar 1620)

  • Elizabeth Brougham (Bpt. 4 May 1622) – father's surname spelt Browholme, Brougham assumed

  • Maria Brougham (Bpt. 15 Mar 1625) – father's name looks like Gulielmj, William assumed

  • Maria Brougham (Bpt. 7 Aug 1628) – father's name looks like Valentina, William assumed

  • William Brougham (Bpt. 11 Nov 1631)

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There is then a 26-year gap before any more recorded Brougham births. William and Isabell had a daughter, Isabell, baptised on 24th March in Messingham. This William could be the son of William from Minting (Bpt. 11 Nov 1631), although this is not certain, the timeline makes this feasible.

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Five years later, Charles and Mary were born and baptised together on 12 August 1662 in Baumber, to parents Charles and Faith Brougham. The proximity of Baumber to Messingham (37 miles) and Minting (3 miles) suggests a familial connection between Charles and William. This further implies that Charles is likely the same Charles who was baptised on 4 March 1620, with William Brougham being his father.

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In 1680, with King Charles II on the throne, we see our first recorded Broughams in Fillingham. John Brougham (1661-1704/5) and Elizabeth (-1704) had the following children:

• Elizabeth Brougham was baptised 6 Feb 1680 in Glentworth.

• Anne Brougham was baptised 20 Aug 1682 in Fillingham. She married Richard Eirel on 13 Nov 1704 in Fillingham.

• John Brougham was born in 1684 in Fillingham.

• Thomas Brougham was baptised 22 Nov 1686 in Fillingham. He married Elizabeth Taylor on 1 Aug 1722 in Fillingham. Their children are detailed below.

• William Brougham was baptised 10 Mar 1688 in Fillingham and buried 28 Dec 1694, aged just 6, in Fillingham.

• William Brougham was born on 3 Feb 1694 in Fillingham and was buried, aged 68, on 11 Feb 1779 in Fillingham. He married Jane Rickell on 20 Mar 1719 in Fillingham. She was born 1694 in Fillingham.  This family are discussed in more detail below.

 

Interesting that the family would have 2 living children with the same name William – I flag as a cautionary note. This was at the time when two calendars were in operation so it is possible the recorded years are out by 1.

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Following their marriage in 1722, Thomas Brougham (son of John and Elizabeth above) and Elizabeth Taylor lived in Upton.  They had at least 3 children.

• Elizabeth Brougham was born in 1721 in Upton

• Thomas Brougham was born in 1723 in Upton

• John Brougham was born in 1725 in Upton.
   

​In addition we have identified a Sarah Brougham , baptised on 25 July 1736 in Swarby, 37 miles away, father Thomas Brougham.  We cannot be certain if the two Thomas Brougham are the same person.  We have not been able to locate an alternative possibility, but the distance may preclude this.

 

We do not have any further information on this group of Broughams. 

 

​William Brougham, the brother of Thomas and son of John and Elizabeth, born on 03 Feb 1694 in Fillingham, was buried at the grand age of 85 on 11 Feb 1779 in his birth village. He married Jane Rickell on 20 Mar 1719 in Fillingham. She was most likely born in 1694 in Fillingham, though there is one record that shows the birth as early as 1687.​

 

William Brougham and Jane Rickell had 4 children, 2 of whom died very young:

• William Brougham was baptised on 06 Jan 1720 in Fillingham. He died in 1757 in Fillingham. He married Anne Markham on 24 Dec 1745 in Fillingham. She was born in 1720 in Laneham, Nottinghamshire. Their children are detailed below.

• John Brougham was baptised 19 May 1722 in Fillingham. He died shortly afterwards and buried, 04 Jul 1722 in Fillingham.

• Thomas Brougham was born about 01 Jul 1723 in Fillingham. He died a young boy aged 5 and was buried on 10 Sep 1728.

• Anne Brougham was born on 01 May 1725 in Fillingham. She married Edward Hides on 27 Mar 1758 in Fillingham. We don’t have any further information about the Hides Children to date.

 

​William Brougham Jnr (1720-1757) we know a little more about.  William Brougham (son of William, grandson to John) was born on 06 Jan 1720 in Fillingham. He died relatively young in 1757 in Fillingham. He married Anne Markham on 24 Dec 1745 in Fillingham. She was born in 1720 in Laneham, Nottinghamshire. William Brougham and Anne Markham had the following children:

• Ann Brougham was baptised on 10 Jul 1748 in Fillingham. She married William Pool, born 1742, on 24th April 1768 in Fillingham. They have one recorded child Richard born 1771.  Richard later went on to marry Esther Cooking, but he died relatively young aged 42 and was buried in Fillingham on 31st July 1813. We are not aware of the death dates for Ann and her husband.

• William Brougham was born in Jun 1750 in Fillingham. He was buried 17 Feb 1821 in Fillingham. He married Elizabeth Blakey on 23 Jun 1778 in Fillingham (one source has a marriage date of 26 March 1778).  She was born about 1753 in Cammeringham, 3 miles south of Fillingham. She died much older than her husband at the remarkable age of 95, during the last quarter of 1848 in Fillingham. Their family are detailed later; they form a large part of the Brougham story in Fillingham, who later moved to Sheffield during the 19th century.

• Thomas Brougham was baptised 1 Oct 1752 in Fillingham. Here the ancestral trail goes cold on Thomas.

• Jane Brougham was born and died in Sep 1755 in Fillingham, living only a few days, baptised on 7 September and then buried on 15 Sep 1755. It is because of so many infant deaths that parents had their children baptised within a few weeks of birth.

 

​Thankfully, the Brougham name continues through the children of William (1750-1821) and the resilient Elizabeth Blakey (1753-1848).​William Brougham and Elizabeth Blakey had the following children:

• Sarah Brougham was born in March 1779 in Fillingham. She married William Reavill on 20 April 1813 in Fillingham.  2 children have been identified through baptism records in Fillingham: Mary Reavill Born 1814 and William Reavill born 1816, died1892.

• Ann Brougham was born in January 1783 in Fillingham. She died December 1865 in Lincolnshire. She married John Akrill on 01 January 1811 in Fillingham.  They had 5 children which are detailed below. Her husband dies relatively young and Ann then lives with her younger brother William.

• John Brougham was born in September 1785 in Fillingham. He died in October 1870 in Sheffield. He married Mary, probably around 1805, Mary was born about 1781, 20 miles away in Everton, Nottinghamshire (maiden name possibly Hutchinson given the name of their son) She died in May 1859 in Sheffield. 

• William Brougham was born in February 1789 in Fillingham. He died in June 1868 in Lincolnshire.

• Elizabeth Brougham was born in Aug 1791 in Fillingham.

• Mary Brougham was born Apr 1794 in Fillingham.​  There are two possible scenarios for Mary born April 1794. There is a mary who was burried in Lincoln on 13th April 1795, aged 0 (but why burried inLlincoln if born in Fillingham) (source ancestry hint).  But possibly she married James Robinson on 24 November 1834 at All Saints Church Gainsborough (source ancestry hint). The 1851 census and 1861 census has a James Robinson living with Mary Robinson but her dob is estimated to be 1814 on both these census records and so maybe it is questionable that the Mary Brougham who married James is this Mary and we are left with a yet unidentified Mary Brougham Dob 02/11/2024. ​

• Joseph Brougham was born about 1796 in Fillingham. He died on 24 September 1863 in Fillingham. He married Maria Dawber, daughter of Joh Dawber and Margaret, on 21 Jul 1836 in Fillingham.  Joseph was a farmer. ​​

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