Publications
A long line of Thomas Brookers, by Phillipa Brooker, published September 2011 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 19 no. 7, article, pp.304-307) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508848] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:In the past there were many BROOKER families to be found in the Worth area (ref. www.thesussexweald.org) the first BROOKER entry in the parish register, the baptism of John son of William and Agnes, bears the date 17 August 1572. BROOKER is an old Sussex surname meaning 'dweller by the Brook'. Worth was a parish of scattered farms and woodlands with two large estates Crabbet or the Manor of Worth (owned successively by the SMITH, GALE and BLUNT families) and Rowfant (owned by the WHITFIELD, GOODWIN, BETHUNE and LAMPTON families). It was a centre for the charcoal/iron industry in Tudor and Stuart times. Leonard GALE who purchased Crabbet in 1698 was the son of Leonard GALE the ironmaster of Tinsley forge. Robert WHITFIELD also an ironmaster had Rowfant forge in 1574. The BETHUNEs held the advowson and produced three generations of vicars in the 18th and 19th centuries (Revd George BETHUNE, Revd George Maximilian BETHUNE, Revd George Cuddington BETHUNE). From 1699 for the purpose of rate assessment the parish was divided into three parts: West End, Middle and Burleigh Arches. There were usually two overseers appointed for each part. The population in 1835 was 1,850 and the acreage 12,400.