Lawrence Brockett (13 August 1724 – 12 July 1768) was an English academic. The youngest of five sons born to Lawrence Brockett and Anne Clarke, Lawrence inherited from his parents Headlam Hall, a country house near Gainford,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. The house was originally built by Henry Birkbeck, Lawrence’s maternal great great grandfather. Brockett matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1743 from Scorton Grammar School, graduating BA in 1747 and becoming a fellow of Trinity in 1749. Brockett was tutor to James Lowther (1736–1802), 1st Earl of Lonsdale. Lowther later married the daughter of

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...

. Stuart had been tutor to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and was from May 1762 to April 1763 his first appointment as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. On the death of Shallet Turner in 1762, the King preferred Brockett over

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

for the post of Regius Professor of Modern History at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, a sinecure. Gray succeeded Brockett in this position after the latter's death. Brockett died on 12 July 1768 after a riding accident while returning from Hinchingbrooke, near

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

, to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He was buried according to tradition at Gainford by torchlight, probably the church's last nocturnal burial. An ancient foliated cross in the porch of Gainford church, Co. Durham, is superinscribed as memorial to Lawrence Brockett, MA, BD of

. "Professor Brockett was the last person who was buried, according to the custom of the family, by night and with torchlight. There are several persons now living who retain a vivid recollection of the awful solemnity of the scene as the procession moved slowly on with its line of torches down the long and shady lane from Headlam to the last resting-place of the dead." Walbran, J. R., ''The Antiquities of Gainford, in the County of Durham; comprising the baronial and ecclesiastical history of that place, and of Barnard Castle: With accounts of the township of Headlam, and the chapelry of Denton etc.'' (Ripon: 1846)

References

External links

Headlam Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brockett, Lawrence 1724 births 1768 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 18th-century English historians Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Gainford, County Durham Regius Professors of History (Cambridge)