Windygates, Leekfrith, Staffordshire

The Descendants of Richard Burgh

of Windygates, Leek, Staffordshire:

1450 to Present

by R. Clayton Brough, April 2003 from earlier material he provided for the 1988 RBFO book: The Ancestors and Descendants of the Broughs of Staffordshire, England

Selected Descendants of Richard de Burgh:

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

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

Richard Burgh (b.1510) of Windygates, Leek

Thomas Burgh (b.1540) of Windygates, Leek

Richard Brough (b.1570) & Anne Wright

Thomas Brough (b.1590/1595) & Elizabeth Cotton, built Windygates:1634

Richard Brough (b.1624) & Rebecca Fowler

Thomas Brough (chr.1650) & Parnell Trist, of London

John Brough (b.1626/1641) & Margaret Trafford...had two sons...

Richard Brough (chr.1664) & Dorothy Carthwright

Richard Brough (chr.1700)

Thomas Brough (chr.1667) & Sarah Barnett

Richard Brough (chr.1707)

Richard Burgh and His Descendants

Richard Burgh was born about 1510, and was apparently the second son of Thomas Burgh (born abt. 1480). Like his father, Richard Burgh (born abt. 1510) was a "leaseholder of land," and appears to have been moderately successful in securing and maintaining different land holdings in and around the hamlet of Windygates, Leek. Richard's land holdings were later inherited by his eldest and possibly only son, Thomas Burgh (born abt. 1540), who likewise resided in Windygates during the later 1500's, and who was apparently married twice.

During the early 1600's, Thomas Burgh (born abt. 1540) and his family increased their land holdings in Windygates, and Thomas became recognized as an important "freeholder" of land. His family consisted of at least two children: Richard Brough (born abt. 1570) and Thomas Brough (born abt. 1574). By the time of Thomas Burgh's death, his eldest son, Richard Brough (born abt. 1570) had married Anne Wright, and with his father's inheritance and possibly some additional land given to him from Anne's father, Richard Brough became a rather prosperous Gentleman, Yeoman and freeholder of land. (It is interesting to note that Richard Brough paid a 10-pound fine for not taking up his obligatory knighthood under King Charles 1 at this time.) Eventually Richard Brough and Anne Wright had at least three children, with their oldest and possibly only son, Thomas Brough, being born about 1590/1595. Richard Brough died in 1637, leaving most his inheritance and lands to his son Thomas Brough (born abt. 1590/1595).

[Footnote to the above paragraph:

Originally a "Freeholder of land" was a man who "held land" directly from the Crown or from a tenant or sub-tenant of the Crown. However, as time went on, it more than less meant a person who actually "owned" his own land.]

Before his father's death, Thomas Brough (born abt. 1590/1595) had married Elizabeth Cotton in 1620. Elizabeth was a daughter of Walter Cotton and Elizabeth Young who were a very important and prosperous couple in Staffordshire. Soon after his marriage to Elizabeth, Thomas combined his own assets with that of his wife's, and using the skills and knowledge his father had taught him, Thomas soon became a very prosperous and well-respected individual in Staffordshire.

By 1634, Thomas Brough had acquired the title of "Gentleman" and had been given a "tenement and land in Leek Frith, specifically accepted in King Edward VI's grant to Sir Ralph Bagnall (which was done about one hundred years earlier)," and had erected a Hall in Windygates--which still stands and serves as a beautiful farmhouse today, and which has the initials of Thomas Brough and the date the Hall was built inscribed over the top of its porch entrance: "T.B. 1634". [The Windygates Hall Farm is currently owned and operated by Geoffrey and Rose Robinson.] By 1637, Thomas Brough and Elizabeth Cotton had several "servantmen and maid servants," and by the 1640's they were the parents of ten children: three boys and seven girls.

Following his father's death in 1637, Thomas Brough inherited additional wealth, and by 1653, Thomas and Elizabeth owned a number of items and utensils of "pewter, brass and silver" and held "lands, houses, buildings" and numerous "impliments of husbandry" in Windygates, Staffordshire, and other property in Clowne and Fairfield, Derbyshire. Thomas Brough died in 1654, with his last Will and Testament recording him as stating: "I bequeath and command my soul to Almighty God my Creator[,] trusting through the alone merits of Christ Jesus to have all my sins forgiven me and to enjoy everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven...."

Thomas Brough and Elizabeth Cotton had three sons: Richard (born abt. 1624), John (born abt. 1626/1641) and Thomas (chr.1639). Richard Brough (born abt. 1624), married Rebecca Fowler of Barthomley, Cheshire County in 1648. It is interesting to note that Rebecca was given 700 pounds by her father, Richard Fowler (who in 1617 was the Rector of Barthomley in Cheshire) when she married Richard Brough. Richard and Rebecca had only one child: Thomas (born in 1650). Rebecca died shortly after childbirth. In 1652, two years after his wife's death, Richard Brough became a Church Warden in Leek, and served in that capacity for one year. He died in 1659, nine years after his wife's death and at a time when his son Thomas was only nine years of age. After Richard's death, his young son, Thomas, was raised by relatives in Leek and nearby areas. Later, Thomas Brough (born in 1650) married Parnell Trist and entered Cambridge University and became a barrister of the Middle Temple in London. Thomas and Parnell Brough had four children, with their youngest child, Thomas Burgh (1694-1771), marrying Mary Cavendish in 1738. Thomas Burgh (1694-1771) eventually became a well-known "Doctor of Physick"-or Doctor of Medicine--in Coventry.

[Footnote to the above paragraph:

Rebecca Fowler's father, Richard Fowler, was presented Rector of Barthomley in Cheshire, on July 17, 1617. He was incumbent there when the following incident occurred during the Civil War, in which his son John was killed in the following manner: "On the 22 of December, 1643, the Royalists passed over the river...and on Saturday they came to Bartomley...; as they marched they set upon the church, which had in it about twenty neighbors that had gone in for safety; but the lord Byron's troop, and Cannought, a major to colonel Sneyd, set upon them, and won the church; the men fled into the steeple, but the enemy burning the forms, rushes, mats, etc., made such a smoke that being almost stifled, they called for quarter, which was granted by Cannought; but when they had them in their power, they stripped them all naked, and most cruelly murdered twelve of them, contrary to the laws of arms, nature and nations. Cannought cut the throat of Mr. John Fowler, a hopeful young man, and a minor, and only three of them escaped miraculously, the rest being cruelly wounded." (Burghall's Diary.)]

Thomas Brough and Elizabeth Cotton's son, John (born abt. 1626/1641), married Margaret Trafford at Leek in 1663. Margaret was the daughter of William Trafford (a Gentleman of Swythamley Grange) and Mary Bagnald (of Onecote Hall).

John Brough and Margaret Trafford had two sons: Richard (chr. at Meerbrook in 1664) and Thomas (chr. at Meerbrook in 1667). Richard (chr. 1664) married Dorothy Cartwright in 1684. Richard Brough and Dorothy Cartwright had seven children: Hester (chr. 1686), Mary (chr. 1688), Thomas (chr.1692), Dorothy (chr. 1695), Parnell (chr. 1699), Elizabeth (chr. 1699) and Richard (chr. 1700). Thomas (chr. 1667) married Sarah Barnett in 1704. Thomas Brough and Sarah Barnett had four sons: Richard (chr. 1707 at Leek), William (ch. 1712), Thomas (chr. 1715) and John (chr. 1718).