Manor & Lordship
- Manor / site
- Unknown
- Associated lordship
- Lordship of Brocton Associated
- Lordship status
- Unknown
The supplied record repeatedly describes the property as the Lordship of Brocton and refers to its lordship, supporting a distinct associated lordship designation; survival status and current holder are not established.
Location: Staffordshire
Places / associated places: Staffordshire
About the Manor
The Lordship of Brocton, in the East Cuttlestone Hundred of Staffordshire, originally formed part of the Manor of Baswich. The lordship was given to the Priory of St. Thomas.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the manor was vested by Act of Parliament in the person of His Late Majesty King Henry VIII. It is recorded in the Letters and Papers of the King that in 1539 the manor was granted to Bishop Roland Lee. The Bishop settled the manor on his nephew, Brian Fowler, in 1540.
On Brian Fowler's death in 1587, the lordship came to his son, Walter. He died in 1621 and was succeeded by his son, Edward, and the manor remained in the Fowler family until Catherine Fowler, an heiress, married Viscount Fauconberg in 1726.
By 1744 the manor had been acquired by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who left the lordship to her grandson, John Spencer. In 1785 George, Earl Spencer, transferred his interest to George Anson, an ancestor of the present Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Lichfield.
Associated manorial documents / archive references
- 1 House of Lords Appeal cases — Fauconberg v. FitzGerald 1730
- 2 Anson Papers — Abstract of title of Lord Spencer to William Fowler's estate
- 3 Court papers on trespassing case 1626
Ownership / Holder Account
Historical holder / succession information
- Bishop Roland Lee
1539 · granted_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
Source wording: It is recorded in the Letters and Papers of the King that in 1539 the manor was granted to Bishop Roland Lee. - his son, Walter [source claim requiring identity review]
1587 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
Source wording: On Brian Fowler's death in 1587, the lordship came to his son, Walter. - Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough
1744 · purchased_by · historical_holder_or_transferee
Source wording: By 1744 the manor had been acquired by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who left the lordship to her grandson, John Spencer.
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Bishop Roland Lee
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 7 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Transfer: granted_to
Source role: historical_holder_or_transferee. It is recorded in the Letters and Papers of the King that in 1539 the manor was granted to Bishop Roland Lee.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Transfer: purchased_by
Source role: historical_holder_or_transferee. By 1744 the manor had been acquired by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who left the lordship to her grandson, John Spencer.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Brian Fowler
Transfer: settled_on
Previous holder: Bishop Roland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 1534–1543, Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches
Bishop Roland Lee settled the manor on his nephew Brian Fowler in 1540.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Walter Fowler
Transfer: passed_to
Previous holder: Brian Fowler
On Brian Fowler's death in 1587, the lordship passed to his son Walter, who held it until his death in 1621.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Edward Fowler
Transfer: succeeded_to
Previous holder: Walter Fowler
Edward succeeded his father Walter in 1621, and the manor remained in the Fowler family thereafter until Catherine Fowler's marriage in 1726.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Transfer: left_by_will_to
Previous holder: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, wife of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, courtier and landowner
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, left the lordship to her grandson John Spencer.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Transfer: transferred_to
Previous holder: George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty, Home Secretary
In 1785 George, Earl Spencer, transferred his interest in the lordship to George Anson.
Source: Lot #35 of Bernard Thorpe Auction - June 1986
Lordship / Title Associations
Associations are recorded by period so changes in estate composition do not imply that every manor remained attached to the same title indefinitely.
Associated · Provisional
Source: Offline model knowledge; source verification required
The supplied record repeatedly describes the property as the Lordship of Brocton and refers to its lordship, supporting a distinct associated lordship designation; survival status and current holder are not established.
Research Status / Wanted Evidence
Wanted evidence: Source-backed evidence resolving this point
Offline backfill could not securely resolve this without source research.
Wanted evidence: Source-backed evidence resolving this point
Offline backfill could not securely resolve this without source research.
Wanted evidence: Source-backed evidence resolving this point
Offline backfill could not securely resolve this without source research.
Corrections / Challenges
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
https://manorialregistry.com/index.php?rest_route=/mhr/v1/manor/broctonPublic API access is currently disabled. Authorised API clients must use a private X-MHR-API-Key; currently only administrator keys are enabled.
Private source files, pending edits, moderation/admin information, user API keys and non-public import identifiers are not returned.