The Broughs of Gnosall, Staffordshire
and their English and American Descendants

Pedigrees of the Later Broughs of Staffordshire, England: 1450-2004

The Ancestors and Descendants of Ralph Brough (b.1559)
of Waterhouse, Leekfrith: 1450 to the Present

by the RBFO Research Committee, May 2006

A List of the Ancestors and Descendants of Ralph Brough (b.1559)
     Richard de Burgh, b.1450, Brewood, Staffordshire, England, m.Alice
     Robert Burgh (b.1488) & Joan, moved to Chapel House, Leek, England, in early 1500's
     Thomas Burgh (Broughe, b.1523) & Margarett, Waterhouse, Leek, Staffordshire, England
     Ralph (Raphe) Burgh (Broughe, b.1559), Waterhouse, Staffordshire, England
     Edmund Brough (b.1602) & Alice, Waterhouse, Staffordshire, England
     Ralph Brough (b.1638), Leek, Staffordshire, England
     Ralph Brough (Burke, b.1670) & Elizabeth, Rushton Spencer, Staffordshire, England
     Robert Brough (chr.1711) & Hannah Hancock, Rushton, Spencer, Staffordshire, England
     Thomas Brough (chr.1742) & Elizabeth Walter, Biddulph, Staffordshire, England
     Ralph Brough (b.1772) & Elizabeth Kerby, Haughton and Gnosall, Staffordshire, England
     Sarah Brough (chr.1800, d.1823), Gnosall, Staffordshire, England
     William Brough (chr.1818, d.1893) & Mary Stagg, Auldmore and Gnosall, Staffordshire, England
     William Brough (b.1848, d.1903) & Jane Mear, Gnosall, Burton and Branston, Staffordshire, England
     
     The Brough's of Waterhouse apparently descend from Robert Burgh (b.1488) and Joan of Chapel House. Both Chapel House and Waterhouse were located near each other within the Leekfrith area of northern Staffordshire. Unfortunately, the exact location of the Waterhouse that belonged to the Waterhouse Brough's may be lost to history. According to Catharine Ann Brough Hind, "There are in fact two quite separate Waterhouses of Leekfryth. One is high on the ridge up on Blackshawmoor, east of Middlehulme. The other--was in the Middlehulme area between Meerbrook and Leek, close by New Grange, and was probably associated with the cornmill that was there from Medieval times until mid-20th Century. Now, of course, this Waterhouse is probably with the cornmill and New Grange under the water of the Tittesworth Reservoir."
     As can be seen from the above list of Robert Burgh's descendants, Waterhouse was held by several generations of Broughs. In fact, Ann Hind has stated that "Waterhouse, like Rochegrange and Middlehulme, has housed a variety of Broughs from all lines--probably during interregna or because bequest or indenture to rights from a former generation entitled them to a roof over their head or to economic benefit."
     Waterhouse was first held by Robert Burgh's son, Thomas Burgh (b.1523). It was later held by Thomas's son, Ralph Burgh (b.1559), and then by Ralph's son, Edmund Brough (b.1602). In the mid 1600's, Edmund Brough's son, Ralph Brough (b.1638), apparently left Waterhouse for Leek, and his son, Ralph Brough (b1670), eventually settled in Rushton Spencer-located northwest of Leek.
     In the 1700's, the Broughs of Rushton Spencer moved westward to Biddulph. In the 1800's, they moved northward to Congleton and southward to Gnosall. Regarding the migration of the Waterhouse Broughs, Ann Hind has stated, "These Broughs [of Waterhouse] did not only go southwest to Biddulph via Rushton; another line went from Brownsword and then east to Doveridge and southeast to Quixhill."
     At the present time, RBFO researchers are striving to document and expand the genealogical lineages and histories of the Broughs of Chapel House, Waterhouse, Rushton Spencer, Biddulph, Horton and Congleton, and Gnosall. In fact, the Brough ancestry of several RBFO members-such as James Henry Brough of Stoke-on-Trent, England, Gregory Brough Hargreaves of Dumfries, Scotland, Adrian John Clare of Surrey, England, and Constance Brough Thomas of New Hampshire, USA--goes back to Ralph Brough (b.1670) of Rushton Spencer, then to Edmund Brough (b.1602) of Waterhouse, and then apparently to Robert Burgh (b.1488) of Chapel House. Anyone with additional genealogical and historical information on the descendants of the Broughs of Chapel House and Waterhouse are asked to contact the RBFO Research Committee.

A Brief History of the Descendants of Ralph Brough (1670)
and the Broughs of Gnosall, England, and the United States

     As mentioned in the History of the Broughs, in the 1400's, the de Burghs had established themselves in the areas of Ranton, Brewood and Gnosall, Staffordshire, England. By the early 1500's, several de Burgh families had moved northward and settled in the Leekfrith area of northern Staffordshire. In the late 1500's through the 1600's, the name "Burgh" gradually changed to "Brough."
     During the 1400's to the 1800's, a number of related Brough families in and around Gnosall and the Leeklfrith areas of Staffordshire, England, occasionally communicated with and visited each other. In fact, several Brough families have been traced to both geographical areas, and their descendants eventually settled in different parts of the United Kingdom and the United States.
    In 1697, Ralph Brough (b.1670) married Elizabeth, their first child Mary being born at Blackshaw Moor. They then had six other children who were all born at Rushton Spencer (northwest of Leek). Ralph (b.1670) died at Rushton Spencer in 1729, followed by Elizabeth in 1738. The fourth child and third son of Ralph and Elizabeth was Robert Brough, born 1708 (chr.1711) at Rushton Spencer. Robert married Hannah Hancock in 1733/1734 in Stone, Staffordshire. Robert and Hannah had seven children, with their fourth child and second son, Thomas Brough, christened in 1742 at Biddulph.
     In 1765, Thomas Brough (chr.1742) of Biddulph, married Elizabeth Walter of Gnosall. In 1869, William Brough of Gnosall--who was the 2nd great-grandson of Thomas Brough--married Jane Mear in 1869 in Wittingham, Staffordshire, England. Between 1870 and 1890, William and Jane Brough had nine children. Five of these children eventually immigrated to the United States in the early 1900's. Today, many of their descendants reside in Utah and California.

     The following photographs were provided to the RBFO in March 2006 by Eileen Brough Ernst
of California, USA. Eileen is a grand-daughter of Albert Brough Sarah Jane South.

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