Although Broughton is not the surname of the present-day owners of the Broughton Castle, some members of the Broughton family would be and are known as lords and ladies of the realm in Great Britain. Ironically a young woman from Massachusetts named Cara... who fell in love with an English engineer... would wind up with a British title. By royal decree in 1929 Cara Leland Rogers Broughton became the first "Lady Fairhaven." The title was bestowed upon Cara's husband posthumously. Both her sons, Urban Huttleston Broughton and the younger Henry Rogers Broughton would bear their father's title of Baron Fairhaven of Lode. The title would later pass to Henry's son, Ailwyn. To learn more about this remarkable Lady and her family, visit "Her Ladyship" at the Millicent Library's Web site in her hometown of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Another Broughton line has members with British titles. One such member of the Delves Broughton family led a rather scandalous life, which became the subject of a famous novel and movie. The 11th Baronet of Doddington was Sir John Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton. He was educated at Eton and had a military career, rising to the rank of Major. He was a member of the Turf and Guards clubs. And at one time, he owned homes and land in Cheshire and Staffordshire as well as residing just off Berkeley Square in London.

But the following events of his life began a downward spiral toward scandal which eventually led to his death....

"Despite inheriting substantial wealth on becoming the 11th baronet, he was in financial difficulties by the mid 1930s. At first he sold a large part of his land in Cheshire, which was in fact in trust and not his to sell. Then three valuable paintings and, later, some pearls were stolen, for which he eventually received the insurance money. Although the insurers and the police were suspicious, they could not prove fraud. "

"At the end of the thirties his wife left him for Lord Moyne and in November 1940 he took a young wife, Diana Caldwell, and went to live in the so-called 'Happy Valley' in Kenya. Lord Erroll, who had already seduced a number of the ex-patriot wives, soon began an affair with Diana. When Lord Erroll's body was found in January 1941, shot through the head in the footwell of his Buick, suspicion fell on Sir Delves. He was tried for Erroll's murder, but flimsy evidence, and a good counsel, saw him acquitted for a lawyer's fee of £5,000."

The Sixth Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Porchester, was a close friend of Sir Delves, and a horse-racing jockey. Upon hearing of Jock's acquittal, he sent the famous cable:

'HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS UNDERSTAND YOU WON A NECK
CLEVERLY REGARDS PORCHEY'.

"Even so, the scandal, though largely hushed up at home, resulted in Sir Delves being shunned by society on his return to England. In December 1942 he committed suicide at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool by injecting himself at least 14 times with Medinal. It is now believed by many people that he was Erroll's murderer."

The book and subsequent 1987 film 'White Mischief,' was based on this famous murder and its aftermath.

Data submitted by Shelagh Delves Broughton along with information on
Sir Delves Broughton republished here by permission of Colin Richards.
(http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pony_racing/founders.htm#Broughton)