Sir Berney Brograve, 1st Baronet

Berney Brograve of Worstead House, co. Norfolk

Biography

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berney_Brograve

Sir Berney Brograve, 1st Baronet (10 October 1726 - 23 February 1797) was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Brograve (1691–1753) of Great Baddow, Essex, and his wife Juliana Berney. He was a descendant of Sir John Brograve (d. 1613), Attorney-General to the Duchy of Lancaster. Juliana Berney was descended from Sir Richard Berney, 1st Baronet of Parkhall.

According to local legend, like his ancestors, Sir Berney is still around and can be seen on wild and stormy nights galloping between Worstead and Waxham.

Family

From Complete Baronetage of England, Vol. V, 1707 - 1800 MyHeritage

BROGRAVE(=) : cr. 28 July 1791 ; ex. 1 June 1828. I. 1791. Berney Brograve, of Worstead Hou.se [in Worsted], CO. Norfolk, Esq. ,() 1st s. and h. of Thomas Brograve, of Great Badow, CO. Essex (d. 20 April 1753, aged 61), by Julia, da. andh. of John Berney, of Westwick, co. Norfolk, was b. 10 Oct. 1726, at St. Dunstans in the West, London, and was cr. u Baronet, as above, 28 July 1791. He m. firstly, 31 May 1761, at Great Baddow, Jane, 1st da. and coheir of Edward Hawker, of that parish. She d., at Worstead, 6 Aug. 1765, aged 34. He m. secondly, 23 Jan. 1769, at Norwich, Jane, da. of Matthew Hallcott, of Hoo, co. Norfolk. She d. 14 May 1793, at Waxham, co. Norfolk the day before the death of her son Thomas Brograve. He d. in, or shortly before, 1797. Admon. March 1797. II. 1797 1 Sir George Berney Brograve. Baronet [1791], of Worto stead House aforesaid, 2d but 1st surv. s. and h., being 1st s. by 1828. the second wife, b. and hap. 4 Feb. 1772, at Worstead ; sue. to the Baronetcy, in or shortly before 1797. He m. 7 May 1800, Emma Louisa, vst. da. and coheir of Edward Whitwell, by Mary, da. of John Milkes, of Wakefield, co. York. She was divorced by Act of Parliament, 28 April 1809.(5) He d. s.p., 1 June 1828, aged 56, when the Baronetcy became extinct.

Notes

From “Sir Berney Brograve: A Very Anxious Man; the Untold Story of Norfolk's Most Notorious Ghost.” Cheryl Nicol. CreateSpace Publishing Platform, Jan 2, 2016 - 164 pages. GoogleBooks

Just below the windswept veneer of East Anglia runs a rich seam of ghost stories, tales of shipwrecks, smuggling and villages lost to the sea. Foremost amongst these is the 250 year-old legend of Sir Berney Brograve of Waxham Hall. His name still echoes across the picturesque Norfolk Broads. Despised in life and feared in death, he terrorised the local populace. Strong men were said to have half died of fright on encountering his ghost as he rode across Brograve Level, his horse snorting flame from its nostrils. Such was his notoriety even the devil wanted a refund on the bargain he'd made. But just who was this madman of the marshes? Was he really as bad as his reputation would have us believe, or was he merely misunderstood? Reminiscent of a character from a Thackeray novel, his contemporaries paint Sir Berney as well-connected but mean-spirited, disheveled, hard-drinking. After much painstaking research a surprising picture of the real Sir Berney emerges. He was Cambridge educated. But beneath his gruff exterior there lurked an anxious man. He felt particularly vulnerable in his 16th century manor house at Waxham, perched precariously on the crumbling edge of the beautiful, wild and desolate coast. He had a lot to lose. His fortune. Seventeen children. Two wives. Peace of mind. The French jockeyed for position. Smugglers fired cannonballs at his house at night. It was a battle of wits. He didn't sleep well; Mother Nature made sure of that. With each inundation of his land by the North Sea his world darkened. Wracked with disease, death, squandered inheritance and suicide, eventually the house of Brograve came crashing down. This is the real story behind the legend of the notorious ghost of Waxham.

References

• “Brograve Mill in England: It is believed that the Devil tried to knock it down” May 16, 2018 Bojan Ivanov. “Throughout the years, Brograve Mill has been engaged in a constant battle with atmospheric conditions and the passage of time. According to local legend, it even survived a fierce attack by the Devil himself. ...”