People who seem to have had an strong influence over the Brachers
Last updated 8 March 2017
My aim is to give outline histories of people who appear in the Bracher story.
Coombes / Combes
There are many inter-marriages between the Coombes/Combes family and the Bracher family. It started in 1782 with the marriage of Edward Bracher and Margaret Coombes in 1782. Their daughter and grandson then married into Coombes family. By 1840 Henry Bracher and John Combes jnr were in the farming business together, but then Henry Bracher had married Anna Combes in 1836. However this partnership was dissolved in 1842.
The Hoare family of Stourhead
Richard Hoare was raised near Smithfield market in London. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith from 1665 for seven years before being granted the Freedom of the Goldsmiths Company in 1672. It was then he founded C Hoare & Co as a goldsmith’s business at the sign of the Golden Bottle in Cheapside, London. Goldsmiths had secure premises so they were easily able to evolve into banks – in 1677 some 58 goldsmiths kept ‘running cashes’! So C Hoare & Co became a bank - it is actually the oldest bank in the UK and the fifth oldest in the world. Richard Hoare was knighted in 1702, appointed Sheriff of London in 1710 and Lord Mayor of London in 1712. He and his wife Susanna had 17 children but his main heir was Henry Hoare I.
Henry Hoare I became a partner in his father’s bank in 1702 and commissioned 50 new churches in London in 1711. He bought the Stourhead estate in 1717. Following his father’s death in 1719, he steered the bank through the South Sea Bubble of 1720. He died in 1725 before his new house was completed. He had two sons – Henry Hoare II and Sir Richard Hoare (who also became Lord Mayor of London 1745-46).
Henry Hoare II dominated the Hoare family through his wealth and personal charisma. He was a great patron of the arts and was responsible for laying out the gardens at Stourhead, which were admired as a showplace. He died in 1785 leaving Stourhead to his grandson, Richard Colt Hoare, whose passion was archaeology. He and William Cunnington did the first recorded excavations at Stonehenge in 1798 and again in 1810. He also excavated 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain and published an “Ancient History of North and South Wiltshire”.
Lord Arundell of Lanherne of Wardour
Mayhews
Robert Mayhew and his wife Joan had a son Thomas in 1509. Thomas married Alice Waterman and had a daughter Alice in 1530 and a son Matthew Mayhew in 1550. Daughter Alice married Robert Bracher whilst son Matthew married Alice Barter in 1587. Matthew Mayhew had 3 sons (Thomas, Edward and John) and 3 daughters (Joane, Alice and Katherine). He died in 1613; interestingly the will names a John Bracher and an Edward Bracher as overseers of the execution of the will.
Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury on 31 March 1593. He married Anna Parkhurst about 1600 in Hampshire and had two children – Thomas and Robert. They left England in 1631 during the Great Migration of Puritans. He had been appointed to manage properties in Massachusetts and to engage in trade and shipbuilding. Thomas Mayhew returned to England on business in 1634 and married Jane Gallion, by which he had four daughters. In 1641 Thomas secure Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands as proprietary colony. This enabled him to transfer his business there, establishing a settlement, farming and whaling. In 1642 Thomas described himself as governor of Martha’s Vineyard. In 1657 Thomas the Younger drowned when a ship he was sailing in was lost at sea. Thomas died 1682
Coombes / Combes
There are many inter-marriages between the Coombes/Combes family and the Bracher family. It started in 1782 with the marriage of Edward Bracher and Margaret Coombes in 1782. Their daughter and grandson then married into Coombes family. By 1840 Henry Bracher and John Combes jnr were in the farming business together, but then Henry Bracher had married Anna Combes in 1836. However this partnership was dissolved in 1842.
The Hoare family of Stourhead
Richard Hoare was raised near Smithfield market in London. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith from 1665 for seven years before being granted the Freedom of the Goldsmiths Company in 1672. It was then he founded C Hoare & Co as a goldsmith’s business at the sign of the Golden Bottle in Cheapside, London. Goldsmiths had secure premises so they were easily able to evolve into banks – in 1677 some 58 goldsmiths kept ‘running cashes’! So C Hoare & Co became a bank - it is actually the oldest bank in the UK and the fifth oldest in the world. Richard Hoare was knighted in 1702, appointed Sheriff of London in 1710 and Lord Mayor of London in 1712. He and his wife Susanna had 17 children but his main heir was Henry Hoare I.
Henry Hoare I became a partner in his father’s bank in 1702 and commissioned 50 new churches in London in 1711. He bought the Stourhead estate in 1717. Following his father’s death in 1719, he steered the bank through the South Sea Bubble of 1720. He died in 1725 before his new house was completed. He had two sons – Henry Hoare II and Sir Richard Hoare (who also became Lord Mayor of London 1745-46).
Henry Hoare II dominated the Hoare family through his wealth and personal charisma. He was a great patron of the arts and was responsible for laying out the gardens at Stourhead, which were admired as a showplace. He died in 1785 leaving Stourhead to his grandson, Richard Colt Hoare, whose passion was archaeology. He and William Cunnington did the first recorded excavations at Stonehenge in 1798 and again in 1810. He also excavated 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain and published an “Ancient History of North and South Wiltshire”.
Lord Arundell of Lanherne of Wardour
Mayhews
Robert Mayhew and his wife Joan had a son Thomas in 1509. Thomas married Alice Waterman and had a daughter Alice in 1530 and a son Matthew Mayhew in 1550. Daughter Alice married Robert Bracher whilst son Matthew married Alice Barter in 1587. Matthew Mayhew had 3 sons (Thomas, Edward and John) and 3 daughters (Joane, Alice and Katherine). He died in 1613; interestingly the will names a John Bracher and an Edward Bracher as overseers of the execution of the will.
Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury on 31 March 1593. He married Anna Parkhurst about 1600 in Hampshire and had two children – Thomas and Robert. They left England in 1631 during the Great Migration of Puritans. He had been appointed to manage properties in Massachusetts and to engage in trade and shipbuilding. Thomas Mayhew returned to England on business in 1634 and married Jane Gallion, by which he had four daughters. In 1641 Thomas secure Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands as proprietary colony. This enabled him to transfer his business there, establishing a settlement, farming and whaling. In 1642 Thomas described himself as governor of Martha’s Vineyard. In 1657 Thomas the Younger drowned when a ship he was sailing in was lost at sea. Thomas died 1682