Family History Home Page    Geoff.Broughton@hotmail.co.uk

Geoff Broughton's Family History

This is a summary of my family history. Most of the stories passed down the generations are supported by documented events. The discovery of illegitimate children solved some mysteries. The reason why six Broughtons were named Valentine is explained. There was one villain who lost the family fortune then stole from the parish poor.

 

Email me for much more information and the full tree.

 

 

My Broughtons originated in the northern tip Northamptonshire living near Stamford and Rutland. They then moved to Holborn, London around 1800, then from Clerkenwell in London to Aston in Birmingham in 1852. They were originally Stamford cabinet makers and wheel wrights, then London coach builders, then Birmingham railway coach builders / painters. Travelling from there to railway works in Swindon, Derby and Smethwick.

 

James Broughton (1799-1848) = Hannah Burk (1799-1844)

We do not know where James was born. We only know James was not born in Middlesex (all of England outside London!) in 1799. The most likely place is Stamford. The Stamford Broughtons were sawyers (employed to saw wood), wheel wrights and cabinet makers. The first definite appearance of James is at his marriage to Hannah Burk(e) on 27^th August 1822 at London St Giles in the Fields. Soon after they lived in Fothill St and then Pooles Place in Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell. His occupations ranged from carter (drives carts), labourer, watchman and then a scavenger. His parents, or just James himself, may have migrated down the Great North Road from Stamford sometime between 1800 and 1820. The Kemshead and Buck families also migrated from the nearby Peterborough area and were later united by marriage to the Broughtons. These three families appear to have migrated to London independently and at different times, probably for the same reasons, and only met when living in the Clerkenwell area of London.

 

John Broughton (1822-1873) = Rebecca Kemshead (1824-1908)

John attended St Andrew's School, Holborn the day after his 8^th birthday until aged 14. He was a cooper's apprentice in 1841. Then a coachmaker when he married Rebecca Kemshead in 1844. This enduring link with (stage) coach making and railway coach making is explained by the history of the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. The company was founded by Joseph Wright, a London coach builder, at Gray's Inn Road which is next to Fothill St and Pooles Place. John Broughton may even have painted the prestigious Royal Mail coaches. Joseph Wright later built a railway factory at Saltley, Birmingham in March 1845. John moved his family to Saltley in 1851 along with some of his wife’s Kemshead relatives who were also in the coachbuilding trade. He eventually worked as a coach painter at the Swindon railway works. He died at home in Swindon at the early age of 50. The sketch was drawn by his son Valentine Broughton (1957-1940). John’s image in the family grouping with his wife and children circa 1890 may be the same sketch or a later photo. His image was glued into the photo alongside his deceased eldest son John Thomas Broughton (1848-1882).

 

Rebecca Kemshead created a House Sampler on 18^th Oct 1834 at the age of 9.

 

This is the story about Rebecca Kemshead. When she was aged 18 (1843), she was sitting in an employment bureau in London when a lady of the bedchamber (or State Housekeeper) to Queen Victoria walked in. This lady asked the receptionist if she could recommend a woman to look after two children. The receptionist couldn't as she had no one on the books, so the lady of the bedchamber turned to Rebecca and asked if she would do the work. When General Tom Thumb the famous America midget visited Queen Victoria with the showman Barnum in January 1844 at Buckingham Palace, the lady of the bedchamber brought her two children along as a special treat. The Queen wanted the General placed onto a chair so that she could converse with him, and the lady of the bedchamber indicated to Rebecca to lift him up. The family of Bernard Broughton Taylor (1933-2015) has General Tom Thumb's shoes with steel rims around a leather sole.

 

Barnum had a miniature carriage built for Thumb and his wife to ride around London during their visit in 1844, which was made by Queen Victoria's carriage maker. John Broughton married Rebecca Kemshead on 15th July 1844. Although John and Rebecca were close neighbours in Clerkenwell, this possible carriage making connection is interesting. Rebecca lived to 1908 and probably passed on these stories to her descendants inspiring several subsequent family historians.

 

Rebecca was buried in Smethwick Cemetery with the gravestone erected by her children. John Broughton is also named on the gravestone although buried in Swindon.

 

John and Rebecca’s youngest child, Emily Louisa (1868-1946), married Josiah Edmunds Taylor (1866-1958). He built a large housing estate in Northfield, Birmingham and named several roads after his relatives.

 

 

Another family legend says that we are related indirectly to the famous pugilist Jack Broughton (1704-1789). There is only one piece of tenuous evidence. A coach making family called Monk also migrated from Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell to Saltley, Birmingham around 1851. Jack's niece married a Roger Monk (1754-1831). Roger Monk is in the same tomb as Jack Broughton in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. How these Monks are related is a mystery. There are also at least three generations between the childless Jack Broughton (1704-1789) and James Broughton (1799-1848) who would need to keep this memory alive. The descendants of James' second son James (1824-1884) have no knowledge of this story.

 

Thomas Kemshead (1791-1874) = Rebecca Buck (1793-1841)

Rebecca Kemshead's father Thomas was baptised in 1791 at Wollaston, Northamptonshire. His family can be traced around this small area, London and across the English speaking world. He married his first wife, Ann Kemshead a relative, in 1818 at St Andrews Holborn, London. The migration to London may have been due to Thomas leaving an illegitimate son, Thomas Barnes (1817-1906) of Elizabeth Barnes, who was born in 1817 at Yaxley near Peterborough and Stamford. Thomas Barnes, named as the “reputed son”, was the executor of his father’s 1858 will which was proved sixteen years later in 1874. An important role for a reputed son.

 

Thomas married a second time in 1823 at Southwark to Rebecca Buck (note the perplexing similarly to Hannah Burk’s surname). Rebecca was aged 30 which is unusual for a first marriage. Thomas was a brewer between 1841 and 1858 living in the same Clerkenwell area as the Broughtons. Thomas’s younger brother William (1805-1870) was knocked down by a train in Peterborough and died 9 days later. 'The deceased was a feeble old man; he stated his age to be 65 yrs but looked much older'.

 

Valentine Buck (1817-1879)

There is a mystery about the origin of Valentine forename being used six times in the Broughton family (1857, 1876, 1878, 1881, 1900 and 1920) and once in the Kemshead (1866).

 

Valentine’s father was recorded as Thomas Buck, a brewer, when he married in 1840 at St Pancras and then in 1842 at St Andrews Holborn. Note the similarity to Thomas Kemshead a brewer of Clerkenwell, Holborn.

 

The census for 1851 shows Valentine as the head of household born 1818 in Northamptonshire. Besides his wife Sarah, there were four unmarried workmen (possible lodgers) and a 10 year “visitor” called Emma Gibbs who was born in London. The unaccompanied child must have been a relative. This remarkable coincidence suggests the Birmingham Gibbs also had relatives in London although not proven.

 

The 1861 census is the key to the Valentine mystery. Valentine and his wife Sarah were accompanied by Rebecca Broughton their 15 year old “Niece” who was born in St Andrews Holborn. This was Rebecca Sarah Broughton (1845-1923) visiting from Birmingham. The Broughtons had moved to Birmingham in 1851.

 

There is only one explanation for Rebecca Sarah Broughton being the niece of Valentine Buck. Valentine Buck (born 1817) was the son of Thomas Kemshead and Rebecca Buck who married in 1823. Valentine retained his mother’s Buck surname. Rebecca Kemshead (1824-1908), the daughter of Thomas Kemshead and Rebecca (nee Buck) married John Broughton (1822-1873). John Broughton and Rebecca’s (nee Kemshead) eldest daughter was Rebecca Sarah Broughton (1845-1923) who was the niece of Valentine Buck.

 

Valentine Buck was not mentioned in his father’s (Thomas Kemshead) 1858 will but Thomas Kemshead’s “reputed” son Thomas Barnes (1817-1906) was the executor. There may have been two “reputed” sons born in 1817 of two different mothers. One son became the executor while the other was excluded.

 

The Valentine name has perpetuated throughout the generations of Broughtons without the reason being known. The first was Valentine Broughton (1857-1940) born a year before Thomas Kemshead’s will.

 

William Broughton (1854-1941) = Mary Jane Gibbs (1853-1931)

William was born in Saltley, Birmingham. He and his brothers followed the family tradition by becoming railway coach painters / builders. He worked at the railway works in Swindon, possibly Derby and then Smethwick. William married Mary Jane Gibbs in 1876 at Wolverhampton. His wife ran a corner shop in Smethwick. They then moved to Kinver and rented a large Tudor building called "The Burgesses". Eric Geoffrey Broughton (1912-2005) wrote a description.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Gibbs (1802-1882) = Mary Gale / Pitcher (1819-1907)

Mary Jane Gibbs' parents were Henry Gibbs (1802-1882) and his second wife Mary Gale / Pitcher (1819-1907). The confused surname is explained as follows. Mary’s mother was Elizabeth Pitcher (1800-) while her father was Jonathan Gale (1790-1858) who was already married to Sarah Robinson. Mary Gale / Pitcher was baptised by her mother and her grandfather Edward Pitcher (-1835). Hence her baptised name was Mary Pitcher. Jonathan Gale later married (1822) her mother Elizabeth Pitcher when Mary was aged 3. Mary continued to be known by her mother’s surname Pitcher at her marriage (1850) and at the baptism of Mary Jane Gibbs (1853).

 

 

Henry Gibbs was from a very wealthy family of goldsmiths. As the eldest son, Henry administered the estate of his father William Gibbs (1776-1826) who left £1,500 (about £300,000 today). A notice in the Birmingham Gazette of 6 Mar 1826 read “Friends of the late William Gibbs are respectfully informed that several trades of Metal, Jappanning, Steel Buttons, Fancy Gilts & Steel Toys will be carried on by his son H Gibbs on behalf of himself and his family & trusts by punctuality & attention he will make a continuation of their much esteemed favours as hereby so liberally conferred on his father”.

 

The Gibbs left two photo albums which spanned the early days of photography and the expensive dresses of the 1860s to 1870s. Henry married his first wife Catherine Minors (1811-1846) in 1834 and had four children. Henry, however, had problems which led to the loss of his part of the family fortune.

 

Henry and his brother John (1812-1843) manufactured buttons, fancy gilt goods and steel toys. This business was declared bankrupt in November 1840 and was closed in September 1845. His brother John may have passed away during this time.

 

Henry’s next occupation was a Relieving Officer (distributing the parish poor relief) in 1843 on an annual salary of £100. Henry also became a linen draper (1855 and 1856).

 

Catherine, Henry’s wife, died in 1846. She stipulated in her will that all the money and property left to Henry was on condition that he did not remarry. The money would return to Catherine’s family. Catherine must have been wealthy in her own right. There was a land transfer from his mother-in-law Elizabeth Minors, a widow, to Henry in 1847.

 

The clause in Catherine’s will may have been broken when Henry married his housekeeper Mary Pitcher (Gale) In 1850. Mary Jane was born 1853.

 

Henry prospects then took a turn for the worst. He was taken in custody in Moor Street Prison, Birmingham on 21^st November 1857 charged with the embezzlement of £1,000 from the Guardians of the Poor. Henry was remanded on 25^th November 1857. Then Mr Edward Griffin, the senior clerk and the superintendent over Henry, was charged with conspiring with Henry to embezzle the money of the parish. They were both sentenced to two years hard labour: Henry was about 56.

 

Henry then became a clerk in a brass founder warehouse (1861), lacquerer (1871) and finally time keeper (1876 to 1882). His house in Alvaston, Derby was very modest but hosted the births of some of his Broughton grandchildren. It was said that Mary Jane Gibbs married William Broughton the "gardener" in 1876 who was well below her station, but her father Henry was no longer a wealthy man. Some of the lady’s dress styles in the Gibbs photo album are around 1860 to 1870 which indicates that some of the descendants of William Gibbs (1776-1825) remained wealthy or were wearing costumes for the photos.

 

There is a possibility that the Gibbs and Gale families migrated separately from London which parallels the movement of the Broughton and Kemshead families. This is possible since Birmingham grew from virtually nothing during the industrial revolution.

 

Arthur Harold Broughton (1892-1991) = Cissy May Sutton (1892-1988)

Arthur was born above the corner shop in Cambridge Road, Smethwick the son of William Broughton and Mary Jane Gibbs. A biography of AH Broughton was written by his son Donald John Broughton (1930-2024). Arthur created several illuminated letters and scriptures showing an artistic flair. An aerial photo taken in 1947 shows how close the Luftwaffe came to obliterating Arthur and his house in Wiggin Street, Birmingham. Only Arthur was living in the house at the time. His wife Cissy and son Donald John had been evacuated to Rhoose in South Wales while his daughter Phyllis (1921-2016) was staying with relatives in Birmingham.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donald John Broughton (1930-2024) = Jeanne Fox Bulmer (1935-2003)

My parents were married on 11^th February 1956. My father passed away in 2024 at the age of 94. His biography was related to me in 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geoffrey Francis John Broughton (born 1961)

I was born in Quinton, Birmingham the son of Donald John Broughton and Jeanne Fox Bulmer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact me Geoff.Broughton@hotmail.co.uk