New Grange, Leekfrith, Staffordshire

The Descendants of Richard Burgh

of New Grange, Leekfrith, Staffordshire:

1450 to Present (which includes

Richard Brough and Mary Horleston)

by R. Clayton Brough and Marie B. Nielson, February 2004. Most of this material was originally prepared in July 2000.

The Descendants of Richard de Burgh (b.abt.1450)

Richard de Burgh (b.abt.1450) of Brewood, & Alice

Thomas Burgh (b.abt.1480) of Brewood, & Maude, moved to Middle Hulme in early 1500's

John Burgh (b.abt.1508) & Johanna of Middle Hulme, Leek

Thomas Burgh (b.abt.1538) & Ann Cooke (Cockeld) of Middle Hulme, Leek

Richard Burgh (Brough, b.abt.1579) of Middle Hulme, buried in New Grange, Leek

Richard Brough (b.abt.1620) & Ann, raised their children in Kingsley and Ipstones

Richard Brough (b.abt.1657) & Margaretae, raised their children in Ipstones

Richard Brough (chr.1688) & Ann (Mary) Mellor, raised children in Meerbrook, Leek

Richard Brough (chr.1722) & Mary Lownds, raised children in Burslem & Newchapel

Richard Brough (chr.1759) & Ellen Parrott, raised their children in Trentham

Richard Brough (b.1786) married Mary Horleston in 1825 in Stoke-upon-Trent

Descendants of Thomas Burgh (b.abt.1538)

Thomas Burgh and Ann Cooke of Middle Hulme, Leek had two known sons: Richard (born about 1579) and Lionel (born about 1582). Richard (b.abt.1579) apparently inherited lands adjoining Middle Hulme, Kingsley or Ipstones, while Lionel (b.abt.1582) inherited a messuage and land in Middle Hulme. In fact, family indentures and legal documents name these two sons amongst their descendants. Also, the tandem ownership of Brough properties, similar given-name patronymics, and their related occupations and positions make it probable that the Broughs of Kingsley and Ipstones were related to the Broughs of Middle Hulme, Leek.

Richard Burgh (Brough, b.abt.1579) was buried "of New Grange" (near Middle Hulme), Leek, on 19 March 1635/1636. He and his wife had "dependants"--including but probably not limited to--a daughter Alicia (chr.1608) and a son Richard (born about 1620). This Richard Brough (b.abt.1620) married an Ann in about 1656, and they had seven children, with the first six children born or christened in Kingsley and the last child christened in Ipstones. The first child and son of Richard and Ann was also named Richard, who was born about 1657. This Richard married a Margaretae in about 1680, and they had six children born or christened in Ipstones. (The sixth child and third son of Richard Brough [b.abt.1620] and Ann was John Brough, christened in 1672 in Kingsley. This John Brough married a Sarah Hulme in 1702 in Leek. BFO member, Ms. Fon Matthews, of Burslem, England, is a descendant of John Brough and Sarah Hulme.)

The fourth child and third son of Richard Brough and Margaretae was also named Richard, and he was christened in 1688 and married an Ann (Mary) Mellor in 1716 in Leek. This Richard (chr. in 1688) was a "husbandman" (or agricultural laborer or farmer), and he and his wife Ann were the parents of five children--all of whom were christened in Meerbrook, Leek: Hannah (chr. 1717), Samuel (chr. 1718), Jana (chr. 1721), Richard (chr. 1722) and Jacob (chr. 1724). Four years after the birth of their second son, Richard Brough (chr. 1722), and a year and half after the birth and death of their last child, Jacob Brough, Ann (Mary) Mellor, the wife of Richard Brough, took ill and died in February 1726. The next five years were a struggle for Richard Brough who often found it necessary to leave the care of his small children with close relatives in the area while he tried to earn enough money to provide for their upbringing and take enough time to look for another wife. Finally, when his son Richard Brough (chr. 1722) was seven years of age, Richard Brough met and married his second wife, Ann Willshaw, of Alstonfield, Staffordshire in 1731. Together, Richard Brough and Ann Willshaw then raised the remaining young children of Richard Brough: four children-including Richard Brough (chr. 1722)-by his first wife, Ann (Mary) Mellor, and one other child by his second wife, Ann Willshaw.

Following his marriage in 1731 to Ann Willshaw, Richard Brough began to train his second son, Richard Brough (chr. 1722), in the skills of husbandry and craftsmanship. By the time Richard Brough (chr. 1722) turned of legal age in 1743, he was assisting his own father with his labors and was employed as a husbandman by other people in and around the parishes of Leek and Wolstanton, Staffordshire. (Wolstanton is located about ten miles southwest of Leek.)

During the period of time in which Richard Brough lived (from 1722 to 1779), England's influence at home and abroad was rapidly changing. In 1707, fifteen years prior to the birth of Richard Brough (chr. 1722), the Kingdom of England and Wales, and the Kingdom of Scotland, united under one great kingdom called the United Kingdom of Great Britain. At the time of this union, England controlled the world's seas and possessed the beginnings of a large empire abroad, particularly in North America.

One year after the Seven Year's War had begun in 1756 in Europe, Richard Brough (chr. 1722) who was then 35 years of age and who had continued to work as a husbandman and laborer in the parishes of Leek and Wolstanton, married Mary Lownds (who was then 25 years old). Prior to their marriage, Richard Brough and Mary Lownds had already had one child, and following their marriage they eventually had four more children, with their second child and eldest son, Richard Brough, being born in 1759 in the parish of Burslem-where his father, Richard Brough (chr. 1722) had secured work as a husbandman. Richard Brough (chr. 1722) died in 1779, but he lived long enough to teach his son Richard Brough (born 1759) the trades and values of a skilled laborer, husbandman and craftsman.

With the knowledge his father had taught him, Richard Brough (born 1759) left his father's home in Burslem prior to 1776 and found work as a skilled laborer and craftsman in the parish of Trentham, Staffordshire, located about five miles south of Burslem. It was then in Trentham that Richard Brough (born 1759) met and married Ellen Parrot in 1777. Richard and Ellen then lived in Ellen's parents home prior to the death of Ellen's father. Richard and Ellen had four children, with their fourth child being named Richard Brough, born on February 14, 1786 in Trentham, Staffordshire. This Richard Brough (born 1786), married Mary Horleston in Stoke-Upon-Trent (located next to Trentham parish), Staffordshire in 1825, and it is this Richard Brough (born 1786) that the Richard Brough Family Organization (of Utah) is named after. In fact, many RBFO Officers and members are directly descended from Richard Brough and Mary Horleston.