BROWKER, Hugh (d.1608), of Southwark, Surr.

Browker was an official in the court of common pleas. He was granted arms in 1589, employed a tutor for his children, and accumulated property in Southwark and elsewhere. In a levy imposed upon lawyers in 1600, he, at £20, was among the most heavily taxed officials in the common pleas. By 1602 he was in a position to purchase, in conjunction with his son, the lease of the manor of Paris Garden in Southwark. His will, dated 31 Dec. 1607, was proved five weeks later, leaving the bulk of the property to his wife the executrix to hold for 14 years, after which it was to pass to his eldest son Thomas. Included in the bequests was a gift to the puritan preacher Edmund Snape, who at that time resided in Southwark.1W. Rendle, Old Southwark, 260; Vis. Surr.(Harl. Soc. xliii), 139; PCC 15 Windebanck; Surr. Arch. Colls. xii. 107; xvi. 58; xviii. 187; Survey of London, xxii. 24, 26, 62; APC, xxx. 30; G.L.C. RO, vestry mins. St. Saviour’s, Southwark.