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Broughton of Berkeley County


Andrew Broughton, born 1602, died 1687 is believed to be the progenitor of the Broughtons of South Carolina. Andrew was Clerk of the Court at the High Court of Justice for the trial King Charles I of England. He is thought to have been born in Seaton, Rutland as the younger son of Richard Broughton (d. 1635). In 1627 Broughton was living in Maidstone, Kent and in 1639 he was appointed clerk of the peace for the county of Kent by the Earl of Pembroke who was at that time Lord Chamberlain. He lost this position under the machinations surrounding the start of the English Civil War, specifically his involvement in the impeachment of Earl of Strafford and the imprisonment of Geoffrey Palmer for protesting against the Grand Remonstrance. Broughton was a member of the Kent county committee from 1643 and acted as attorney on behalf of the corporation of Maidstone during the First English Civil War. In November 1648 he was elected Mayor of the town. Two months later he was he was appointed Clerk of the Court at the High Court of Justice for the trial King Charles I of England. As Clerk of the Court, it was Broughton who read out the charge against the king and required him to plead, and at the end of the trial declared the court's sentence of death. At the Restoration Broughton, was exempted from the general pardon under the Indemnity and Oblivion Act,[2] and was likely to lose his life. The other clerk at the trial, John Phelps was also exempted but only for "penalties not extending to Life" so Broughton and Phelps fled, reports in 1662 placed them in Hamburg, but later that year Broughton arrived in Lausanne in Switzerland where several other regicides were residing. In 1664 he travelled to Bern with Edmund Ludlow and Nicholas Love, to thank the Senate of Bern for their offer of sanctuary. Broughton remained in exile for 25 years dying peacefully in Vevey, where he was buried in the church of St Martin.

Andrew Broughton was born ca 1702 and died 30 Jul 1739 in St. Johns Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina. He was married to Hannah Guerard by whom he had two children, viz: Andrew Broughton (below) and Edward Broughton, born 1740 in Berkeley County, died in Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina.

Andrew Broughton, son of Andrew, was born 1728 in Berkeley Parish, died April of 1783 in Dorchester, South Carolina. His will specified that his sons were to inherited at 21 years of age some land warrants and daughters were in herited at 18 years of age. He was married on 19 Nov 1750 to Ann Singleton. Issue:
Sources: Sean Kelsey, Broughton, Andrew (1602/3 to 1687), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; Last Will and Testament of Andrew Broughton, St. Georges Parish, Dorchester, South Carolina dated 7 June 1779, probated 11 April 1783.