According to Threlfall’s GMC50388, William Brackett, “like his brothers George and Thomas, and his father before him, lived in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was born about 1515-1520. He was a butcher by trade and had a shop, or stall as it was called, in Sudbury. This he left to his son William.

“However, it appears that he lived for a few years in Bury Saint Edmunds, for here we find baptismal records of several children. Of the six entries, only the last one for the baptism of a daughter gives the father’s name. Presumably all the others were also William’s children. Also, there was no other known William Brackett and there is no record otherwise of him in Bury Saint Edmunds, so he must have returned to his native Sudbury where he died. Sudbury and Bury Saint Edmunds are about 14 miles apart.

“In the 1568 Subsidy Return, he is listed in the parish of Saint Peter, and was taxed 14 shillings on £5 worth of goods.

“On 4 May 1575, he made his will and was buried two days later on the 6th at Saint Peter’s, not Saint Gregory’s as he had requested in his will.

“On 11 September 1575, four months later, at Saint Gregory’s Church, Alice Brackett remarried to Richard Morells (or Merrells).” An abstract of William Brackett’s will follows.

His name was also spelled Merrells. See data from Threlfall under his wife Alice’s first husband, William Brackett.