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Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 2 p.140
any thing more to do with the manor more than a steward or
as a trustee; nor does it prove he lived at Brougham. It was
the habit of the Cliffords, on going to the wars, to make
over their estates in trust as a provision for their wives
in case they fell in battle; as in the preceeding reign, for
instance, Roger de Clifford feoffed William de Cornbrigg and
others in the castle and manor of Brougham, 47 edw.
III.* - and what do we find in the following reign of
Hen. IV. after the boundary riding of Rich. II? Why that by
inquisition of 4 Hen. IV. No.37, Matilda, wife of Roger de
Clifford, Knight, died seized of Brougham castle and manor.
Again, in 34 Hen. VI. by inquisition taken at Brougham, 28
Sept. before William Parr, escheator for Westmoreland, Sir
Thomas Clifford, Knight, is found to hold of the king in
capite the castle and manor of Brougham.
But an inquisition is found in 10 Eliz. 1567, which is to
shew that the Broughams were lords of Brougham. And Thomas
Brougham, in 1553, is termed by Mr. Shaw Lord of Brougham.
Unfortunately again, the castle and manor were in
Elizabeth's reign included in the marriage settlement of
George Earl of Cumberland with Lady Russell. We will only
put in another inquisition and have done. By inquisition
post mortem, Dec. 20, 6 James I. 1609, taken before William
Hutton and Thomas Carleton, escheators to the king, on the
death of George Earl of Cumberland, it was found he died
seized of the castles and manors of Brougham, Appleby,
Brough, and Pendragon, with the church of Brougham to the
said manor belonging.
Next, Mr. Justice Wightman is made to say at the trial at
Appleby assizes, Brougham v. Bird, Aug. 1843, "that he had
never in his experience seen a pedigree carried back so far
and with such clear proof." Mr. Justice Wightman said
nothing of the kind. There was no pedigree put in nor any
required beyond the year 1727, when the Broughams bought the
property of the Birds. Here is, from the report of the
trial, what Mr. Justice Wightman did say, - "It was seldom
so clear title could be established (not a pedigree);
possession had been proved for 117 years." This is
"compiling from memory."
Now comes the last stake. An Act of Parliament was passed in
1776 for dividing Brougham moor, in the pre-amble of which
Bill Henry Brougham is styled lord of the manor - admitted -
and passing strange it is that it should be so, but so it
was. But the pre-amble of a Bill does not go for much - it
only proves extraordinary negligence in drawing up that Bill
- the award is the evidence at the long run. Mr George Shaw
thinks he has floored us at last by this awkward
home-thrust, and certainly it looks like a poser; but we
shall call up the surveyor who divided the common to the
rescue. Mr. James Clarke, land surveyor, who published a
useful book, called a "Survey of the Lakes," in 1789, fol.
at p.6 makes the following statement, -
"The next remarkable place upon the road is Brougham Hall,
called till lately the Bird's Nest, the seat of Henry
Brougham, esq. Dr. Burn calls this estate a manor, but very
erroneously; it lies within the manor of Oglebirds, and is
held of the Earl of Thanet as part of the forest of
Whinfield. This was not well ascertained till after the
division of the common in 1775, when the commissioners were
directed to set out such a proportion of ground as they
thought proper to Henry Brougham, esq. for the signory of
Brougham Hall. Mr. Brougham made no claim, knowing he had no
manor, and the Commissioners upon inquiry found that the
manor belonged to the Earl of Thanet, and that the tenants
were all freeholders. Mr. Brougham therefore took his share
among the other tenants without ever attempting to establish
any claim as lord."
Now Mr. George Shaw of St. Chad's Upper Mill, "take," as
Hume says, "your change out of that;" nay moreover, there
are only two customary tenants left within the manor of
Brougham, and Lord Brougham is one of them. Need we go any
further, Sir?
From the above evidence it will be seen that the history of
the manor of Brougham in Nicolson and Burn's History of
Westmoreland has been written by some Mr. George Shaw of
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