Wotton Braham

Wotton Braham’s peculiar name comes from the fact that he was the son of Mary/Maria/Mariam Wotton and Thomas Braham, a grocer from Diss in Norfolk (it’s interesting that his father was a grocer, given the historical connection between grocers and apothecaries – Wotton was always described as a surgeon, but he likely would have had some medicinal skills; see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation). Thomas Braham had married Maria Wotton at East Harling in Norfolk in 1687 (it’s also interesting that a village called Watton lies just 10 miles north of East Harling; perhaps her surname and so Wotton’s first name can ultimately be traced back to there?). Wotton was baptised at Diss in 1689 (the register uses a variant spelling of Braham, i.e. Brame). Various other references help confirm these relationships. A lease and release document from 1699 mentions ‘Wotton Braham son of Thomas Braham of Diss aforesaid grocer’. Thomas Braham was buried at Diss in September 1701, intestate, and in October 1701 the administration of his estate was granted to his widow Mariam/Mary (the administration also mentions Antonium Wotton). A mortgage document from 1758 posthumously mentions Wotton Braham of Newmarket as ‘nephew and devisee of Anthony Wotton of ffairsfield in the County of Norfolk’ (this appears to be Fersfield next to Bressingham – 5 miles south-east of East Harling).

Wotton Braham married Mary Marcon of Norwich in 1713, and the marriage record from St Stephen’s church in Norwich describes him as ‘of New Buckenham’ (very near East Harling and Fersfield). They subsequently had a daughter Mary baptised at New Buckenham in September 1714. She was buried at Newmarket in 1717.

Wotton Braham is first mentioned in Newmarket at the baptism of his son, also called Wotton, in 1716. So presumably he’d arrived in town some time between 1714 and 1716. This is very interesting, since it raises the possibility that he replaced William Raby as Newmarket’s ‘surgeon’, marking the transition from barber-surgeon to surgeon. William Raby the barber-surgeon died in January 1714. Obviously that’s 8 months before Wotton’s daughter was baptised at New Buckenham, which perhaps argues against a replacement, but perhaps the Braham’s returned for family reasons to New Buckenham for the baptism, or perhaps Newmarket was a few months without a surgeon highlighting the need for one (unless Thomas Searancke 1 had surgical skills, which is possible – see discussion on the pages about him and his son), or some other scenario. However, there are other reasons to suppose that Wotton Braham might have replaced William Raby (see further comments below).

Aside from Mary and Wotton junior, Wotton and Mary Braham had at least five further children baptised in Newmarket: Penelope 1718, Marcon 1719 (following the tradition of using the mother’s surname as a first name), Thomas 1721, John 1723 and Edmund 1726.

In 1719 Mr* Braham as he was called is recorded as having a servant named Simon, described as ‘Mr Braham’s boy’, who sadly died that year. This description perhaps implies that he was a young servant. Whether he was a servant to the family or perhaps an assistant in his medical practice is not known – perhaps both?

Where Wotton Braham trained as a chyrurgeon/surgeon is not known either. It’s interesting that there was a medic named William Braham licenced by the bishop of Norwich in 1665 who practised in Lavenham, Suffolk. It’s possible that Wotton Braham was from a family of medics with whom he trained, as appears to have been common at this time (see The history of medical treatments, training qualifications and regulation for more on surgeons at this time and bishop’s licenses etc.).

Wotton Braham is recorded having an apprentice named Will Sandiver son of John from 1726 (paying the indenture tax on 30th May 1728 – see image below).

A record of tax being paid regarding William Sandiver 1's apprenticeship to Wotton Braham – note the tax was paid on 30th May 1728, but the indenture is dated 23rd February 1726 (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 1).

A record of tax being paid regarding William Sandiver 1’s apprenticeship to Wotton Braham – note the tax was paid on 30th May 1728, but the indenture is dated 23rd February 1726 (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 1).

This was William Sandiver 1, who continued working in Newmarket, likely alongside Wotton Braham until his boss’s death in 1735. Aged 23 at that point, William Sandiver 1 would then presumably have continued the practice. At the very least being in the same town he would have continued treating some patients he’d started seeing as Wotton Braham’s apprentice, and thus began the longest practice chain of Newmarket, unless it goes back even further to William Raby as mentioned above. Aside from the timing of Wotton Braham’s arrival in Newmarket being right for that, as mentioned above, also William Sandiver 1 was a close relative of William Raby, perhaps making the possibility even more likely (see the page on William Raby for a more detailed discussion on this).

So Wotton Braham would have been in practice in Newmarket from about 1714/6 until his death in 1735. At the start of his career, as far as we know the only other medic in town would have been Thomas Searancke 1, who called himself an apothecary. Edward Harwell (who died the same year as Wotton Braham) and Simon Clements the apothecary were younger and would have started in practice some time during Wotton Braham’s career – they were possibly associated with The Searanckes practice.

Regarding Wotton Braham’s children, Marcon became a Newmarket Attorney (it’s also of interest that he appears amongst the inhabitants of Newmarket declaring Newmarket free from smallpox in 1762 – see the page on Newmarket and smallpox for an image of this). Wotton Braham junior (who would have been about 19 years of age when his father died) appears to have followed in his father’s footsteps as a medic, yet not in Newmarket, choosing it seems not to play it safe and just settle into the family business (alongside the slightly older William Sandiver 1). He’s surely the Wotton Braham who made a will in 1761 (probate 1771) in which he described himself as ‘late of Bencoolen in the East Indies and now of Edwardston in the County of Suffolk Surgeon’. Bencoolen was a trading post / garrison of the East India Company, now Bengkulu in modern day Sumatra, Indonesia. Wotton Braham junior (also spelt Woton or Wootton like his father) was a medical officer at Fort Marlborough in Bencoolen between 1741 and 1759, with a couple of short stints at nearby Muko Muko during that period. It was quite an extreme existence by all accounts. Interestingly he’s referred to as both Mr and Dr Braham, so an early example of a medic being called doctor without necessarily having a doctoral degree, or any degree for that matter (see The history of medical treatments, training qualifications and regulation). He was obviously in Edwardstone when his will was made in 1761, but was buried at Soho in 1771 and described then as from Lichfield. His wife was called Elizabeth in his will and she died at the ripe old age of 91 in Bury St Edmunds in 1825. It’s possible that she was a Malay, since a Philip Braham, said to be the son of a Malay woman, was Deputy Governor at Bencoolen 1799-1800 and Wotton and Elizabeth had a son called Philip (mentioned in his will).

* See comment on the use of the title Mr on The Greenes page.

 

Image sources and acknowledgements:-

Image 1: 1728 apprenticeship tax records, reference IR1/49 (cropped – red annotations mine); image ©, reproduced with kind permission of The National Archives.

Note: see comments regarding images and copyright © etc. on the Usage &c. page as well. 

Relevant references in chronological order

1665, 10th June: William Braham of Lavenham, Suffolk, licensed to practise by the Bishop of Norwich. Reference: Wallis PJ, Wallis RV. Eighteeth century medics. [2nd ed.]. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Project for Historical Biobibliography; 1988.

1687, 31st July: Thomas Braham of ‘Dis’ married Maria Watton, East Harling, Norfolk. Reference: MF/RO 266/12, microfilm of East Harling parish register, (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1689, 15th September: ‘Wotton sonne of Thomas and Mary Brame’ baptised, Diss, Norfolk: Reference: MF/RO 379/5, microfilm of Diss parish register, (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1699: Lease and release document mentions ‘Wotton Braham son of Thomas Braham of Diss aforesaid grocer’. Reference: MC2755/1/64/1-2, (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1701, 21st September: Thomas Braham buried, Diss, Norfolk. Reference: MF/RO 379/5, microfilm of Diss parish register, (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1701, October: Administration of the estate of Thomas Braham granted to his widow Mariam/Mary (the document also mentions Antonium Wotton). Reference: Microfilm 117 (111), (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1713, 8th September: Wotton Braham of New Buckenham married Mary Marcon of ‘this city’, St Stephen’s church, Norwich. Reference: NRO, PD484/4, Microfiche of Norwich St. Stephen’s parish register (fiche 20), (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1714, 29th July: Mary daughter of Wotton and Mary Braham baptised, New Buckenham, Norfolk. Reference: Microfilm of New Buckenham parish register (microfilm 1692), (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1716, 10th March: ‘Wootton ye Son of Mr Wooton Braham and Mary His Wife’ baptised, All Saints’, Newmarket. Reference: J503/4, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: this is on the 1715 transcript – see New Year change], [Note also: the original All Saints’ parish register for 1715, on microfiche 2, is very badly damaged at this point and can’t be read; the phrase ‘son of Wotton’ can just about be made out in the bottom left hand corner of the page, faintly, knowing it’s there!]

1717, 30th July: Mary daughter of Mr Wotton Braham buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1718, 2nd January: Penelope daughter of Wotton and Mary Braham baptised, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1719, 17th March: ‘Mr Braham’s servant’ buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the ‘bishop’s transcript’ translates this into ‘Simon Mr Braham’s boy’, giving him a first name at least and suggesting that he was a youngish servant – this is on the 1718 transcript, in view of the New Year change. Reference: J502/44, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).]

1719, 18th September: Markham son of Wootton and Mary Braham baptised, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: there is an additional remark after this entry adding ‘it should have been Marcon’. This might have been added when the ‘bishop’s transcript’ was made, since that reads, ‘Marcon y son of Mr Wootton & Mary Braham’ and is dated 17th interestingly. Reference: J502/45, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).]

1721, 13th September: Thomas son of Wootton and Mary Braham baptised, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1723, 1st March: ‘John ye son of Wotton and Mary Braham of St Maries’ baptised, All Saints’, Newmarket. Reference: J503/5, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: this is on the 1722 transcript – see New Year change.], [Note also, the original All Saints’ parish register, on microfiche 2, is very damaged at this point and only parts of this entry are visible.] 

1726, 18th February: Edmund son of Wootton and Mary Braham baptised, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1728, 30th May: Tax paid regarding Will son of Jno Sandiver’s apprenticeship to Wotton Braham of Newmarket, surgeon. Indenture date 23rd February 1726. Reference: Online image of apprenticeship tax records held at The National Archives, ancestry.co.uk (accessed 27th March 2015). [Note: see above for an image also.]

1735, 30th August: Wootton Braham buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1735, 2nd September: Administration of the estate of ‘Wotton Braham of Newmarket aforesaid surgeon deceased’ granted to ‘Mary Braham Wid Relict’. Reference: Microfilm 127 (108), (Norfolk County Record Office, Norwich).

1757, 22nd October: Mary Braham widow buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).

1758, 7th October: Mortgage document between Mary Goate and Thomas More. Mentions the late Wotton Braham of Newmarket’s occupation (chyrurgeon), that he was the nephew of Anthony Wotton and husband of Mary: ‘of Newmarkett in the County of Suffolk Chyrurgeon, nephew and devisee of Anthony Wotton of ffairsfield in the County of Norfolk [appears to be Fersfield next to Bressingham] Gentleman deceased and Mary the wife of the said Wotton Braham (both since deceased)’. Reference: 1754/1/494, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: a Thomas More (possibly the same one) was witness to the 1761 will below.]

1761, 11th June: The will of Wotton Braham late of Bencoolen in the East Indies and now of Edwardston in the County of Suffolk Surgeon (probate 1771). Reference: The National Archives, Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 11/968/146. [Note: Thomas More was a witness to this will, possibly the same Thomas More as on the 1758 mortgage document above.]

1771, 25th May: Wootton Braham from ‘Litchfield St M’? buried, Soho St Anne, Middlesex. Reference: Online image of the Soho St Anne burials register held at the City of Westminster Archives Centre, www.findmypast.co.uk (accessed 20th August 2019, and also having seen the burial year without date earlier on familysearch.org, accessed 16th May 2015).

1771, 5th December: Advert regarding auction at The Bell in Kennet of an estate in Beck-Row ‘Enquire of Marcon Braham, Attorney at Newmarket for further Particulars.’ Reference: The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Nov 16 1771: 3.

1825, 28th October: Memorial to Elizabeth Braham in the Abbey Burying Ground, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. ‘Here were interr’d the mortal remains of Mrs ELIZABETH BRAHAM who died on the 28th day of October in the 92nd year of her age’. Reference: Haslewood F. Monumental inscriptions at Bury St Edmund’s (in the Abbey Burying Ground); June 1887; Vol 1. Acc 1163, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: this transcription was made over a hundred years ago. I have not been able to find the stone. Apparently many have been removed and those that remain are largely weathered beyond legibility.]

1825, 2nd November: ‘On Friday last, in Northgate Street, in this town, aged 91, Mrs. Eliz. Braham, relict of the late Wotton Braham, Esq.’ printed under Bury deaths. Reference: Bury and Norwich Post. Wednesday Nov 2 1825: 2.

Some other sources consulted include:-

Harfield A. Bencoolen. A History of the Honourable East India Company’s Garrison on the West Coast of Sumatra (1685-1825). Barton-on-Sea: A & J Partnership; 1995.

Suffolk Medical Biographies. Profile for Braham, Wotton. http://www.suffolkmedicalbiographies.co.uk/Profile.asp?Key=958 (originally accessed pre October 2013). [Note: at the time of writing, this website’s only reference to Wotton Braham was William Sandiver’s apprenticeship to him], [Note also, see comments regarding this website on the Francis Greene page.]

Note: For published material referenced on this website see the ‘Acknowledgements for resources of published material’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page. The sources used for original unpublished documents are noted after each individual reference. Any census records are referenced directly to The National Archives, since images of these are so ubiquitous on microfilm and as digital images that they almost function like published works. Census records are covered by the ‘Open Government Licence’ as should be other such public records (see the ‘Copyright and related issues’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page for which references constitute public records, and any other copyright issues more generally such as fair dealing/use etc.).