Gents Mag 1848 part 2 p.140

Gents Mag 1848 part 2 p.140




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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
	* See Rot. Orig. 47 Edw. III. ro.30; also Inq. Post Mortem same year, No.26.

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