Margaret Bromley

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{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.6835|long=-1.82653|label=Lichfield|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=left|link=Lichfield}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.6827|long=-1.7253|label=Tymore|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=right|link=Fisherwick}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.708503|long=-1.837942|label=Elmhurst|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=right|link=Elmhurst Hall}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.666|long=-1.901|label=Hammerwich|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=left|link=Hammerwich}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.5565 |long=-2.3653|label=Hallon|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=left|link=Worfield}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.4788 |long=-2.258|label=Enville|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=left|link=Enville, Staffordshire}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.7053|long=-2.3591|label=Sheriffhales|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=right|link=Sheriffhales}}

{{Location map~ |Staffordshire |lat= 52.6672 |long=-2.3729|label=Shifnal|label_size=|mark=blue pog.svg|position=right|link=Shifnal}}

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Margaret Bromley is identified by the heraldic visitation of Staffordshire as the daughter of Nicholas Lowe of Tymore, Enville, Staffordshire.[https://archive.org/stream/visitationshrop00britgoog#page/n132/mode/2up Visitation of Shropshire, 1623, volume 1, p. 78.] This Enville connection has been accepted by several authorities since, including successive volumes of The History of Parliament, which name her father as Nicholas Lowe of Enville. It is true that the Lowes had a long history as landowners in the region and were once the lords of the manor of Enville: it passed to the Grey family in the 15th century when Eleanor Lowe, heir of Humphrey Lowe, married Robert Grey, son of the notorious marcher lord Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn.[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsshr00britgoog#page/n26/mode/2up Vaughan, p. 5] However, Tymore or Timmor was not at Enville: the Victoria County History locates it rather at Fisherwick, near Lichfield,Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp237-252#anchorn172 Townships: Fisherwick with Tamhorn, note anchor 172] on the other side of the county. It was part of the manor of Lichfield, which was held by the Bishop of Lichfield,Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp237-252#anchorn139 Townships: Fisherwick with Tamhorn, note anchor 139] although leased to the corporation of Lichfield. Parts of Tymore, including the house, some of the land and other rights, were leased for £100 to Michel Lowe and his heirs in October 1581, using the archaic device of fine of lands, by Peter Roos or Ross.[https://archive.org/stream/collectionsforhi15staf#page/n313/mode/2up Collections for a History of Staffordshire, volume 15, p. 138.] Ross had himself purchased Tymore earlier that year for 400 marks.[https://archive.org/stream/collectionsforhi15staf#page/n307/mode/2up Collections for a History of Staffordshire, volume 15, p. 135.]

It seems certain that Margaret Lowe's father was Michael Lowe, the sole Lowe to be mentioned as a tenant of Tymore and the only Lowe resident at Tymore whose will was filed with Prerogative court of Canterbury in the relevant period.[https://archive.org/stream/indexofwillsprov25chur#page/268/mode/2up Index of Wills Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1584–1604, p. 269.] The detail of the will makes clear that he was the father-in-law of Edward Bromley. Written in July 1593,Public Record Office: PROB 11/83/159, Part 1. shortly after Margaret's marriage, and proved on 13 Feb 1594,Public Record Office: PROB 11/83/159, Part 2. it refers to two sons-in-law, George Abney and Mr. Bromley, and three daughters, Margery, Margaret, and Katherine. In his will Michael Lowe mentions his study in the Inner Temple, London, and his law books, as well as his study in Tymore, Staffordshire. His daughter Margery married George Abney and Margaret married Edward Bromley. Katherine was unmarried at the time of writing. Large number of relatives are mentioned in his will including Michael Lowe, a nephew and namesake, who received a considerable bequest.

It is known that Michael Lowe's wife, Margaret, was buried on 1 April 1584.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp237-252#fnn172 Townships: Fisherwick with Tamhorn, footnote 172] She was the daughter of Simon Biddulph, a mercer of Lichfield, just as Michael was the son of a Lichfield mercer, Humphrey Lowe.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp73-87#anchorn134 Lichfield: Town government, note anchor 134]

Hence the parents of Margaret Bromley née Lowe were:

:*Michael Lowe (died 1593-4), son of Humphrey and Joan Lowe of Lichfield.

:*Margaret Biddulph (died 1584), daughter of Simon and Margaret Biddulph of Lichfield.

Margaret Bromley's date of birth is unknown, but as her sole marriage was in 1593 it was probably in the early 1570s. Margaret's family, if related to the Lowes of Enville, as seems likely, were a very junior branch of the family. They had recently become fairly substantial landed gentry with interests in several parts of Staffordshire and neighbouring Derbyshire. However, Michael Lowe's background lay in the urban ruling group in Lichfield, rather than the landed gentry, and his considerable wealth came from his career as a lawyer. Humphrey Lowe and Simon Biddulph or Biddle, Margaret Bromley's grandfathers, both appear repeatedly in the lists of the town's officials, particularly the bailiffs, as do her uncle and cousin, both also called Simon Biddulph.[https://books.google.com/books?id=N3tbAAAAQAAJ Harwood, p.418-24.] There is evidence that the small, close group of families that dominated Lichfield was strongly Protestant even during the Marian persecutions. Margaret's grandmothers, Margaret Biddulph and Joan Lowe, are listed among the supporters of Joyce Lewis a Protestant martyr burnt at Lichfield in 1557.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp73-87#anchorn138 Lichfield: Town government, note anchor 138] The Biddulphs, as much as the Lowes, acquired country properties close to their urban base, with substantial estates at Elmhurst Hall.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp229-237#h3-0002 Townships: Curborough and Elmshurst: Estates.] and Hammerwich.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp258-273#anchorn88 Townships: Hammerwich, note anchor 88.] Lichfield's records refer to the elder Simon Biddulph always as a mercer, while the younger is described as a gentleman, reflecting the social ascent of these merchant families into the rural landed class. However, Michael Lowe seems to have wanted a country retreat close to Lichfield rather than an investment in agriculture. He took on only three of the farming tenants, with their tofts, cottages and orchards, and only 80 of the 300 acres of grazing. Prominent among what he leased were 100 acres of flooded land and fishing rights on the River Tame, suitable for sport and leisure pursuits.

That Michael Lowe's focus and commitment remained at Lichfield is made clear by his 1571 grant of houses and 45 acres of land there to fund provision of clothing and coal to 12 poor local men annually – a grant that was confirmed in his will.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp185-194#anchorn70 Lichfield: Charities for the poor: Michael Lowe's Charity, note anchor 70, and attached footnote.] This was the origin of Michael Lowe's Charity, which grew in income and scope over the next three centuries. In 1980 it was merged with nine other charitable funds to form Michael Lowe's and Associated Charities, which continued to emphasise provision of fuelGreenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp185-194#anchorn110 Lichfield: Charities for the poor: Michael Lowe's and Associated Charities, note anchor 110.] and it plays a part in combatting poverty in the area to the present.

It seems likely that it was around Lichfield, rather than Enville, that Margaret Lowe and her sisters grew up, and that they came to maturity while living at least some of the time at Tymore. Their mother died while they were still children. Perhaps sensing that his profitable lessee was approaching death, Peter Roos sold the Tymore estate to William Skeffington in November 1593:[https://archive.org/stream/collectionsforhi16staf#page/n315/mode/2up Collections for a History of Staffordshire, volume 16, p. 131.] The Skeffington family had held Fisherwick itself since the 1520s and Sir John had handed it over to his son William in 1587, so this was a natural extension to his estates in Staffordshire.Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp237-252#anchorn105 Townships: Fisherwick with Tamhorn, note anchor 105] In 1594 Skeffington leased the house at Tymore to Batholomew Farmer for ten years,Greenslade (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp237-252#anchorn173 Townships: Fisherwick with Tamhorn, note anchor 173] so it cannot have bee occupied by Michael Lowe's heirs at that date.

As they were their father's heiresses, Margaret and her two sisters cannot have had surviving brothers. By some point in 1594 all three seem to have moved from Tymore to join their recently married husbands. Nevertheless, they seem to have remained close to easch other. Margaret and Edward Bromley were to remain childless, so her most important male relatives were to be her nephews, the sons of her sisters: these included Oliver Bromskill[https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/BromleySmPagesfromvolumesVIIIpart2-3.pdf#4 Fletcher (1894), p. 73.] and James and Thomas Abney.[https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/BromleySmPagesfromvolumesVIIIpart2-3.pdf#1 Fletcher (1894), p. 70.]

File:Worfield - Edward Bromley and Margaret Lowe 01.JPG

File:Worfield - Edward Bromley epitaph 01.JPG

Members of the Lowe family were prominent in the Law and it was probably through connections in the profession that Margaret's marriage was arranged. On 5 July 1590, the parliament or governing body of the Inner Temple allowed Michael Lowe a chief clerk of the King's Bench, lifetime's access to a study he had helped repair above the Inn's buttery.[https://archive.org/stream/innertempleitsea00inne#page/368/mode/2up Inderwick, volume 1, p. 368]. At the same time it granted permission to use the study to his nephew, Humphrey Lowe, and to Edward Bromley, a young lawyer who was called to the bar at the same meeting. Michael Lowe, was given a supervisory role in Bromley's work in November 1590.[https://archive.org/stream/innertempleitsea00inne#page/370/mode/2up Inderwick, volume 1, p. 371]. They were joined in their chamber by George Abney, who was admitted to the Inner Temple in April 1591.[https://archive.org/stream/innertempleitsea00inne#page/372/mode/2up Inderwick, volume 1, p. 373]. and paid his share of the repair bills.[https://archive.org/stream/innertempleitsea00inne#page/406/mode/2up Inderwick, volume 1, p. 407]. It seems that the working relationship between Bromley and the Lowes was close and culminated in his marriage to Margaret Lowe, which took place on 18 April 1593.{{cite ODNB|id=66565|title=Bromley, Sir Edward|first=N. G. |last=Jones}} Moreover, Abney also married into the Lowe family by the same route.

Edward Bromley was a son of Sir George Bromley, a prominent politician and lawyer, a nephew of Sir Thomas Bromley, a former Lord Chancellor, and had already been returned three times as MP for Bridgnorth.Hasler (ed). W. J. Jones. [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/bromley-edward-1563-1626 Bromley, Edward (1563-1626), of Shifnall Grange and Bridgnorth, Salop.] However, he was Sir George's second son, with only a small inheritance of property at Shifnal and Bridgnorth. His and his wife's status was transformed in February 1610, when, in a few weeks, he was made Serjeant-at-law and a Baron of the Exchequer, inherited the family estates on the death of his nephew and was knighted.Thrush and Ferris (eds). Simon Healy. [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/bromley-edward-1563-1626 Bromley, Edward (1563-1626), of the Inner Temple, London and Hallon, Worfield, Salop.]

The couple remained childless. When Sir Edward Bromley died in 1626, disputes about the inheritance of the family estates had already begun. The codicil to his will showed that he had been forced to sacrifice some of the lands he had intended as part of Lady Margaret's jointure to placate the Davenports, his great-niece and her husband,[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh25shro#page/n501/mode/2up Fletcher (1893), p. 227.] who were ultimately to acquire the main estate at Hallon, next to Worfield,[https://archive.org/stream/TheVisitationOfShropshireV.29/VisitationshrophshireTaken1623_treswellVol.28P2#page/n215/mode/2up Visitation of Shropshire, 1623, volume 2, p. 492-3.] after protracted litigation.[https://archive.org/stream/worfielditstowns00randiala#page/88/mode/2up Randall, p. 88-9.] As compensation, he left her all his moveable property, although he had originally intended to give her only the use of it during her life and the right to bequeath £400-worth in her own will. For everything not relating to the property dispute, Lady Margaret was appointed executrix. Sir Edward set aside £100 for a monument "to be set up in Shifnall Church, or elsewhere, to me and my wife Dame Margaret." However, he directed that his burial itself be "without funeral pompe," probably an indication of Puritan views. He was buried in the church at Worfield, where his wife subsequently had the prescribed monument built, with an inscription attesting her role: "Dame Margaret his wife according to his will did dedicate This monument to his memory."[https://archive.org/stream/worfielditstowns00randiala#page/38/mode/2up Randall, p. 49.]

{{Puritan history|inline}}

The Bromleys had property at Sheriffhales, a parish then divided between Shropshire and Staffordshire,[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/n249/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. iii.] and Sir Edward had left a small sum for the poor of the parish. Lady Margaret settled at Sheriffhales after his death and it became her base for the support of Puritan ministers. Her presence locally is first noted in the parish register in 1630, when her servant Robert Cowper died.[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/244/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 56.] She seems to have taken steps to manage and invest her wealth. In 1636, for example, she leased a meadow at Worfield from a consortium of businessmen: William Whitmore, George Whitmore and John Weld of Willey.[http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X5586_2_1_347/ Shropshire Archives, document reference: 5586/2/1/347, at Discovering Shropshire's History]

Benjamin Brook, the nonconformist minister and historian, wrote that Margaret Bromley was "many years famous for promoting, by her influence and practice, the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, and the genuine principles of the reformation."[https://archive.org/stream/livespuritansco01broogoog#page/n450/mode/2up Brook, p. 441.] Brook's estimate was based on the testimony of Samuel Clarke, a Puritan minister of the period, who wrote of Margaret Bromley in 1651, while she was still alive, that she

:deserves an honourable remembrance, because she was a constant and unparallel'd favourer of all good ministers and People, being both tender-hearted and open handed towards such who suffered under Prelatical pressures and otherwise.[https://archive.org/stream/ageneralmartyro00clargoog#page/n523/mode/2up Clarke, p. 469.]

This she did essentially by providing accommodation for persecuted ministers and a platform for their preaching, and by making her home available for religious exercises held by what appear to have been regional networks of Puritan ministers. Of those mentioned by Clark and Brook, Julines Herring seems to have been central: he was the public preacher appointed to St Alkmund's Church, Shrewsbury, by the town's corporation; John Ball was an old friend of Herring, ordained alongside him[https://archive.org/stream/ageneralmartyro00clargoog#page/n517/mode/2up Clarke, p. 462.] by an Irish bishop in 1610 to avoid subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles;[https://archive.org/stream/ageneralmartyro00clargoog#page/n497/mode/2up Clarke, p.442.] Robert Nicolls of Wrenbury was Herring's brother-in-law;[https://archive.org/stream/ageneralmartyro00clargoog#page/n521/mode/2up Clarke, p.467.] Thomas Pierson of Brampton Bryan was one of the ministers Herring invited, along with Nicolls, to preach in Shrewsbury.[https://archive.org/stream/ageneralmartyro00clargoog#page/n519/mode/2up Clarke, p. 464.] Another who took refuge at Sheriffhales was Thomas Langley of Middlewich.[https://archive.org/stream/historicalsketch00urwi#page/n27/mode/2up Urwick, p. xii, note 2.] Nicolls had clashed with the ecclesiastical authorities over ceremonial practice since Thomas Morton's time as Bishop of Chester. He died while taking refuge at Sheriffhales in 1630,[https://archive.org/stream/historicalsketch00urwi#page/474/mode/2up Urwick, p. 474][https://archive.org/stream/livespuritansco01broogoog#page/n386/mode/2up Brook, p. 375.] leaving polemical writings that would not be published until 1660, attacking in particular signing with the Cross in baptism, the surplice and kneeling to receive Communion.[https://archive.org/stream/livespuritansco01broogoog#page/n388/mode/2up Brook, p. 376.]

Clarke related that the Puritan preachers residing with Margaret Bromley were able to deliver sermons on special occasions in the local parish church. The circumstances locally were unusual. The advowson of the parish was held by the Aston family of Tixall[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/n251/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. iv.] and both incumbents during Margaret Bromley's time were presented by Sir Walter Aston,[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/n253/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. vi.] a noted diplomat who had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1623.{{cite ODNB|id=828|title=Aston, Walter|first=A. J. |last=Loomie}} The vicar from 1622 was William Jeffray or Jeffreye, Aston's chaplain but an inexperienced cleric, straight out of university. In 1631 he was replaced by John Morton, whose attitude seems to have been ambiguous or possibly subject to the "Vicar of Bray" spirit apparently common in the region at the time:[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh1907shro#page/604/mode/2up Auden, p. 247.] he preached bitterly against the Parliamentarians at the opening of the English Civil War but remained in place throughout the Presbyterian experiment of the 1640s to die in office in 1649.[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh1907shro#page/698/mode/2up Auden, p. 294.] By far the most important landowner locally was Sir Richard Leveson, who held the manor of Sheriffhales and the neighbouring estate of Lilleshall. It is possible he was sympathetic or neutral: his parents, particularly his mother, Christian Mildmay, had been of Puritan background,Hasler (ed). S. M. Thorpe. [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/mildmay-sir-walter-1523-89 Mildmay, Sir Walter (bef.1523-89), of Apethorpe, Northants. and St. Bartholomew-the-Great, London.] and he was to take the royalist side in the Civil War only after efforts at neutrality and mediation.Thrush and Ferris (eds). Andrew Thrush. [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/leveson-richard-1598-1661 'Leveson, Richard (1598-1661), of Whorne's Place, Cuxton, Kent; Lilleshall Lodge, Salop and Trentham, Staffs.; later of Boswell Court, nr. St. Clement's Well, London.''] Moreover, he was preoccupied with his Trentham Estate in the 1630s.

Richard Baxter affirmed that Margaret Bromley gave a home to her nephew Oliver Bromskill or Brumskill.[https://archive.org/stream/reliquibaxterian00baxt#page/n77/mode/2up Baxter, p. 44.] He was a clergyman, educated at Christ's College, Cambridge{{VennAC |name=Bromskill, Oliver |part=1 |volume=1 |page=225 }} and ordained as priest by Bishop Morton at Eccleshall in 1620, when he subscribed to the Thirty-Nine Articles.[http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/DisplaySubscription.jsp?CDBSubscrID=25642 CCEd Record ID: 25642]. However, the Clergy of the Church of England database has nothing further on him.[http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?PersonID=25073 CCEd Person ID: 25073] The Victoria County History for Leicestershire says he was curate at Sheriffhales,Stephens (ed). [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp372-382 The City of Coventry: Protestant nonconformity, Introduction] citing Baxter. However, Baxter does not mention his position at Sheriffhales and the editor of the parish register gave a list of curates, on which he does not figure.[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/n253/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. vii.] Samuel Clarke implies the contrary, stating that Margaret Bromley's supportive relatives in Sheriffhales were "Parishioners of the Congregation." Nevertheless, Oliver Bromskill and his wife Sarah are well-attested in the parish register during the 1630s. A daughter, Sarah, was baptised by John Morton, the vicar, on 25 April 1633[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/216/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 29.] but buried on 19 August of the same year.[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/244/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 57.] A son, Epaphras was baptised on 27 April 1634 and reached the age of three, being buried on the same date as his sister, 19 August, in 1637.[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/246/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 58.] Four further children, George ( baptised 28 June 1635),[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/218/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 30.] Samuel (baptized 10 July 1636), Margaret (baptised 11 February 1638),[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/218/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 31.] and John (baptised 4 August 1639),[https://archive.org/stream/shropshireparish07lichshro#page/220/mode/2up The Register of Sheriffhales, p. 32.] all survived to receive bequests in Margaret Bromley's will. There is nothing to indicate that Oliver Bromskill was living in the parish of Sheriffhales in anything but a private capacity: none of the register entries gives his occupation or status, as was customary. It was known for displaced Puritan ministers to assist in pastoral work in a private capacity, staying with a relative, as Herring did at Wrenbury, where he stayed with Nicolls' widow after he fled Shrewsbury in 1635.

The deteriorating political situation forced Bromskill to flee, although it is not known at what point he was followed by Margaret Bromley and other family members. As the country drifted into war during 1642, the ecclesiastical situation became polarised, with clergy forced to take sides,[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh1907shro#page/606/mode/2up Auden, p. 248-9.] a situation intensified in Shropshire by Francis Ottley's royalist coup in Shrewsbury, which led to the arrival of the Charles I's army on 20 September. Puritan clergy who were committed to Parliament, even those in the rural parishes, like Samuel Fisher of Upton Magna were forced to flee. When the king's army headed south, Richard Baxter was displaced from Kidderminster and fled east, taking refuge at Coventry, after witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of Edgehill.[https://archive.org/stream/reliquibaxterian00baxt#page/n75/mode/2up Baxter, p. 42-3.] It was there that he met Bromskill, one of "about thirty worthy ministers in the City, who fled thither for safety from Soldiers and Popular Fury, as I had done, though they never meddled in the wars." Baxter comments on Bromskill that he: "lived with that Eminent Saint the old Lady Bromley, Widow to Judge Bromley, whose only discernible fault to me was too much Humility and low thought of her self." As Baxter uses the simple past tense, there is ambiguity about whether he understood Bromskill to be living with Margaret Bromley at Coventry or in the period before. However, it is certain that she, together Bromskill's wife and children did move east to join him at some stage in the Civil War, as they were next recorded at Loughborough in Leicestershire.

File:All Saints Church, Loughborough 2006-04-06 061web.jpg

Margaret Bromley moved to Loughborough to live with Bromskill and his family by the later stages of the Civil War: this was remarked by Edmund Calamy in his famous account of the ejected ministers. Bromskill was appointed or, as royalist writers like to say, "intruded" as rector of Loughborough Parish Church by the county's parliamentary committee on 26 June 1647, during the period when Parliament was trying to impose a Presbyterian polity on the country. The living was reckoned as worth £300 per year,[https://archive.org/stream/continuationofac02calaiala#page/580/mode/2up Calamy, p. 581.] a very substantial income. Bromskill was sufficiently wealthy to buy the Loughborough manor house from Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon, in 1654. Nicholas Hall, the existing rector, was displaced, although he was to regain his position when Bromskill was removed in the Great Ejection of 1662, and Hall was treated as the existing incumbent when he subscribed to the Act of Uniformity.[http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/DisplaySubscription.jsp?CDBSubscrID=32794 CCEd Record ID: 32794].

Margaret Bromley died in 1657 and was buried at Loughborough on 23 March. In her will she asked for no solemnity of any kind, specifically prohibiting the use of bells, and asked that no relative be sent for, apart from her nephew Abney: she left small bequests to both James and Thomas Abney but it was James who was appointed executor, along with Sarah Bromskill. Samuel Bromskill was given the proceeds of a lease she had recently taken out. John and George Bromskill were given £50 each, but Margaret Bromskill was to receive £100. There were other small bequests and the residue was to go the Oliver and Sarah Bromskill. The will was proved on 28 May 1657.

{{GeoGroup|left|article=Margaret Bromley|section=Mapping Margaret Bromley's life}}

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• {{cite journal |last1=Auden |first1=J. E. |date=1907 |title=Ecclesiastical History of Shropshire during the Civil War, Commonwealth and Restoration |url=https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh1907shro#page/592/mode/2up |journal=Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society |publisher= Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society|series=3 |volume=7 |pages=241–310 |access-date=17 January 2016}}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Baxter |author1-first=Richard |author1-link=Richard Baxter |editor1-last=Sylvester |editor1-first=Matthew |date=1696 |title= Reliquiæ Baxterianæ : or, Mr. Richard Baxter's narrative of the most memorable passages of his life and times |url=https://archive.org/details/reliquibaxterian00baxt |location=London |publisher=T. Parkhurst et al. |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Brook |author1-first=Benjamin |author1-link=Benjamin Brook |date=1813 |title= The Lives of the Puritans |volume=2 |url= https://archive.org/details/livespuritansco01broogoog |location=London |publisher=James Black |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Calamy |author1-first=Edmund |author1-link=Edmund Calamy (historian) |date=1727 |title= A Continuation of the Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters and Fellows of Colleges, and Schoolmasters, who were Ejected and Silenced after the Restoration in 1660, by or before the Act for Uniformity |volume=2 |url= https://archive.org/details/continuationofac02calaiala |location=London |publisher=R. Ford, R. Hett, J. Chandler |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Clarke |author1-first=Samuel |author1-link=Samuel Clarke (minister) |date=1651 |title= A Generall Martyrologie … Whereunto are added, The Lives of Sundry Modern Divines |url= https://archive.org/details/ageneralmartyro00clargoog |location=London |publisher=Underhill and Rothwell |access-date=15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp |title=CCEd search |author= |website=Clergy of the Church of England Database |access-date= 5 January 2016 }}
• {{cite journal |last1= Fletcher |first1=W. G. D. |date=1893 |title=Will of Sir Edward Bromley knt., of Shifnal Grange, 1626 |url=https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh25shro#page/n497/mode/2up |journal=Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society |publisher=Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society|volume=5 |pages=225–228 |access-date=15 January 2016}}
• {{cite journal |last1= Fletcher |first1=W. G. D. |date=1894 |title=Lady Margaret Bromley |url=https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/BromleySmPagesfromvolumesVIIIpart2-3.pdf |journal=Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural Society |publisher=Leicestershire Architectural Society |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=70–73 |access-date=15 January 2016}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last= Fletcher |editor1-first=W. G. D. |date=1909 |title= Shropshire Parish Registers: Diocese of Lichfield |volume=7 |url=https://archive.org/details/shropshireparish07lichshro |publisher=Shropshire Parish Register Society |access-date= 12 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Greenslade |editor1-first=M. W. |date=1990 |title=A History of the County of Stafford|volume=14 |work=Victoria County History |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14 |location=London |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=25 May 2017 }}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Harwood |author1-first=Thomas |date=1806 |title= The History and Antiquities of the Church and City of Lichfield |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3tbAAAAQAAJ |location=London |publisher= Cadell and Davies |access-date= 2 June 2017 }} at Google Books.
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Hasler |editor1-first=P. W. |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603 |volume=5 |location=London |publisher=The History of Parliament Trust |year=1981 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/research/members/members-1558-1603 |access-date=15 January 2016}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last= Inderwick |editor1-first=Frederick Andrew |editor1-link=Frederick Andrew Inderwick| date=1896 |title= The Inner Temple: its early history, as illustrated by its records, 1505-1603 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/innertempleitsea00inne |location=London |publisher=Inner Temple |access-date= 25 May 2017 }}
• {{cite ODNB|id=66565|title=Bromley, Sir Edward|first=N. G. |last=Jones}}
• {{cite ODNB|id=828|title=Aston, Walter|first=A. J. |last=Loomie}}
• {{cite book |author1-last=Randall |author1-first=John |date=1887 |title=Worfield and its Townships |url= https://archive.org/details/worfielditstowns00randiala |location=Madeley, Shropshire |publisher=Self-published |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/ |title=Shropshire Archives|author= |website= Discovering Shropshire's History |access-date=20 January 2016 }}
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• {{cite book |editor1-last=Stephens |editor1-first=W. B. |date=1969 |title=A History of the County of Warwick|volume=8 |work=Victoria County History |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8 |location=London |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Thrush |editor1-first=Andrew|editor2-last=Ferris |editor2-first=John P. |date=2010 |title=The History of Parliament: the House of Commons, 1604-1629 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/research/constituencies/members-1604-1629 |location=London |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |last1= Tresswell |first1=Robert |last2=Vincent |first2=Augustine |author-link2=Augustine Vincent |editor1-last=Grazebrook |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Rylands |editor2-first=John Paul|editor-link2=John Paul Rylands |date=1889 |title= The visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623 |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/stream/visitationshrop00britgoog#page/n2/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=Harleian Society |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |last1= Tresswell |first1=Robert |last2=Vincent |first2=Augustine |author-link2=Augustine Vincent |editor1-last=Grazebrook |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Rylands |editor2-first=John Paul|editor-link2=John Paul Rylands |date=1889 |title= The visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623 |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheVisitationOfShropshireV.29 |location=London |publisher=Harleian Society |access-date= 15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite book |editor1-last= Urwick |editor1-first=William |editor1-link=William Urwick the younger |date=1864 |title= Historical Sketches of Nonconformity in the County Palatine of Chester |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00urwi |location=London and Manchester |publisher=Kent and Co. |access-date=15 January 2016 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Vaughan |first1=H. F. J. |date=1883 |title=Donington Church and Lordship |url=https://archive.org/stream/transactionsshr00britgoog#page/n22/mode/2up |journal=Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society |publisher=Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society|series=1 |volume=6 |pages=1–97 |access-date=15 January 2016}}
• {{VennAC |name=Bromskill, Oliver |part=1 |volume=1 |page=225 }}
• {{cite book |editor= William Salt Archaeological Society |title= Collections for a History of Staffordshire |volume=15 |location=London |publisher=Harrison |year=1894|url=https://archive.org/details/collectionsforhi15staf |access-date=2 June 2017}}
• {{cite book |editor= William Salt Archaeological Society |title= Collections for a History of Staffordshire |volume=16 |location=London |publisher=Harrison |year=1895|url=https://archive.org/details/collectionsforhi16staf |access-date=8 June 2017}}
• {{cite web |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D929928 |title=Will of Michael Lowe, Gentleman of Tymore, Staffordshire|author= |website= National Archives |access-date=25 May 2017 }} Fee payable for download: free access at National Archives.

{{refend}}

At Shropshire Archives:

:* [http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X7381_258_1604/ !8th century drawing of Bromley monument at Worfield.]

:* [http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X7381_258_1605/ Drawing of arms of Sir Edward and Lady Margaret Bromley, from Bromley monument.]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromley, Margaret}}

Category:Women in the English Civil War

Category:17th-century English Puritans

Category:English Presbyterians

Category:1570s births

Category:1657 deaths

Category:17th-century English women landowners

Category:17th-century English landowners

Category:People from Lichfield

Category:People from Telford and Wrekin

Category:People from Loughborough

Category:17th century in Shropshire

Category:History of Leicestershire

Category:Religion in Shropshire