Brockett
Sir Thomas Brockett was knighted by King Henry VI, and he built the first Brocket Hall at Yorkshire. The site of Brocket Hall, in Yorkshire, an area of nearly two acres, lies east of the present village of Appleton. Although no buildings remain, the moat, which had surrounded the house, is distinctly visible, Brocket Wood, about 10 acres, is a quarter of a mile distant from Brocket Hall. This estate became the property of Sir William Milner, Bart.
His son, Thomas, was a member of Parliament for the County of Herts, in 1435. Due to his marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of William Ashe, or Manor of Almshoebury, he came into possession of the Symonds Hyde Estate and built Brockett Hall at Wheathamstead. They were Patrons of the Rectory from June 7, 1432 until his death in 1477, his son and heir, Edward Brocket, succeeded him.
For several generations, the Brockett's served as Sheriff of Herts and Essex. The Sheriff is one of the most ancient and honorable officers known to the English law. In England the Sheriffs of all the counties, with very few exceptions, were appointed by the Crown, and were men of high rank and great power in the realm. In the early English history the Sheriff was distinctly a royal officer appointed by the King each year as the chief executive officer of the county, exercising judicial authority.
Sir John Brockett, great-great grandson of Sir Thomas, was a member of Parliament in 1572 and 1584 and was Knighted in 1577 by Queen Elizabeth I, and was High Sherriff of Herts 1566-1581. He is buried in the Brocket Chapel of the Parish Church if Bishops Hatfield, which is dedicated to St. Ethelreda and is situated at the east end of the town, just within the gates of the old palace. His helmet hung over his tomb and the family crests and coats of arms on the shield were still perfectly legible March 12, 1902. He fathered one son and 6 daughters.
There is very little of official record, in this country, concerning the birth of John Brockett, the immigrant ancestor of the Brockett's in America.. Due to his Puritanical ideas, his father disinherited him, and John then gave up all claims to the title and estates of the Brocketts in England, in order to join the Puritan Band which came with Rev. John Davenport to America. In one of the Connecticut religious papers, published in 1868, we find the following: "John Brocket, the eldest son of Sir John Brockett, of the county of Herts, Eng., who was a well known loyalist of the time of Charles I, becoming convinced of the truth of the Gospel as preached by the Puritans, relinquished his birthright and all his prospects of honor and fame, joined himself to the little company of Rev. John Davenport, emigrated to New England and settled at new Haven in 1637. Of him, as of Moses, it could be said that he preferred to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season." John married Mary Blackwell on August 14th, 1635 in England. They had 9 children.
Their oldest daughter, Mary, married Ephraim Pennington II on October 23rd, 1667, in Milford, Connecticut. Her husband was one of the original signatories on October 30th, 1666 at the founding of a new township, Newark, New Jersey. Their land bordered the Passaic River. Ephraim died relatively young leaving her a widow with 2 young sons.
