Thomas John Branfoot

1. Thomas John Branfoot of Vere, Esquire, was a member of the Grand Court jury in Jamaica in February 1814.

2. Thomas John Brandfoot [sic] esq and Sarah Ann Treadaway, spinster, both of the parish, were married in Westmoreland, 24/5/1810. Thomas John Branfoot had two children with Sarah Ann Treadway Branfoot, baptised in Kingston 21/07/1814: Elizabeth Aisley Branfoot and Thomas Redhead Branfoot. Eliza, about 5 years old, of free condition, daughter of Thomas John Branfoot esq of Newfield Plantation and Elizabeth Burton, a free woman of colour of Plowden Plantation, both in Westmoreland, was baptised in Clarendon parish (but baptism recorded in Westmoreland register) 22/9/1815.

3. In December 1815 Branfoot offered for sale his property of Newfield together with “one-hundred prime slaves who are a very increasing Gang”, stating that the sale was motivated only by his “desire immediately to pay what demands are made against him and be enabled to leave the island with his family”.

4. Three futher children were baptised in Jamaica with Sarah Ann Branfoot: Jonathan Haigh (Westmoreland, 28/03/1818); Hopper (Westmoreland, the same day); John Haigh (Manchester, 06/03/1825).

5. William Branfoot, age 11, died at Stratford-upon-Avon while bathing, 29/04/1830, described as fourth son of the late Thomas John Branfoot Esquire of Jamaica.

6. Thomas John Branfoot of Manchester, Jamaica, but formerly of the city of Durham Esquire, will proved at the Prerogative Court of York in October 1830. This suggests he was also the Thomas John Branfoot, son of Rev. Jonathan Branfoot and his wife Elizabeth, baptised in Durham Cathedral, 23/10/1771. Rev. Jonathan Branfoot was variously described as master and headmaster of Durham Grammar School from 1768 until his death in 1833.

7. John Haigh Branfoot, youngest son of the late Thomas John Branfoot, was found dead on the banks of the Rio Cobra, near Spanish Town, Jamaica, 14/07/1858.

8. William Branfoot, the son of Thomas John Branfoot of Jamaica and his wife Sarah Ann, died in 1850; a memorial stone to him can be found in the Holy Trinity graveyard, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. This may be a transcription error in his year of death with the 3 transcribed as a 5.

9. Thomas Redhead Branfoot, first son of Thomas John of Manchester, Jamaica, matriculated Trinity College, Oxford, 1830, aged 17; rector of 1st mediety of Lymm, Chesthire, 1863-1881; died 1883.

10. Jonathan Haigh Branfoot (of Jamaica) graduated MD, Edinburgh, 01/08/1837; married, Durham, 26/12/1839, Jane Hutchinson; died, Brighton, 23/06/1858, aged 43; his son, Sir Arthur Branfoot, KCIE, Indian Medical Service, latterly President of the Medical Board at the India Office, died at Folkestone, 17/3/1914, aged 66.

1. Royal Gazette (Jamaica), 25/06/1814.

2. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online]; Familysearch.org, Westmoreland Parish Register, Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1739-1825, pp. 161, 183.

3. Royal Gazette (Jamaica), 30/12/1815.

4. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

5. Worcester Journal, 13/05/1830.

6. Findmypast.co.uk, Prerogative & Exchequer Courts Of York Probate Index, 1688-1858 [database online]; Findmypast.co.uk, Durham Baptisms [database online]; Clergy of the Church of England Database ID 109570; Ancestry.com, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 [database online].

7. Morning Post, 05/02/1859.

8. http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?available=yes&fullname=Thomas%20John%20Branfoot&grave=137327&personid=290904&db=137327&scrwidth=300 [accessed 11/05/2016]; Findagrave.com memorial ID 197763047.

9. Ancestry.com, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 [database online].

10. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, 1837; Newcastle Journal, 28/12/1839; Brighton Gazette, 01/07/1858; Army & Navy Gazette, 28/03/1914.

We are grateful to Paul Hitchings for his assistance with compiling this entry.