BROKE, John (1538-98), of Madeley, Salop.

The absence of Broke’s name from his inn of court records indicates that about 1572, by which time he had twice sat for a borough in his native county, he returned to his manor of Madeley, which, under the terms of his father’s will, came to him on the death or remarriage of his stepmother. There he lived, and, 20 Oct. 1598, died, having made his will 10 May the previous year, remembering his friends and referring to his settlement of Madeley and other property on his elder son Basil, who became a leading Catholic royalist in the Civil War. Broke left £1,000 for a marriage portion for one of his daughters, and appointed his wife, John Bradwin and George and Thomas Shirley executors. He was buried, at his request, near his father at Claverley, ‘distinguished in the science of law and other learning ... of a very liberal mind and universally beloved’.1Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 4), v. 46-7; Vis. Salop (Harl. Soc. xxviii), 79-81; PCC 54 Noodes, 13 Kidd; LP Hen. VIII, xix(1), p. 635; C142/256/9.