Richard was the only son of Joel Bromhead (also known as Broomhead) and his wife Mary Ann nee Barnes.
Joel Broomhead was born in about 1847 in Spileby, Lincolnshire, and his wife, Mary Ann Barnes in Nottingham (birth registered 1845 J/F/M Nottingham). They were married in 1872 (O/N/D Nottingham) and according to the 1911 Census which was completed by the widowed Joel they had had four children. However, five children were named on the census between 1881 and 1911: Caroline b. 1874 (A/M/J Radford), Richard b. 10 November 1875 (O/N/D Radford), Betsy b. 1877 (O/N/D Radford), Hannah b. 1879 (A/M/J Radford) and Ellen (Nellie) b. 25 September 1885 (O/N/D Nottingham).
In 1881 Joel (34) a railway plate layer and Mary Ann (35) were living at 9 Deakins Place, Radford, with their four children, Caroline (6), Richard (5), Betsy (3) and Hannah (2). Also in the household was Elizabeth Barnes (71 b. Rothley, Lincolnshire), Joel's widowed mother in law. Ellen was born four years later in 1885.
The family was still living at the same address in 1891. Four of Joel and Mary's five children were at home on the night of the census: Richard (15), Betsy (13), Hannah (12) and Ellen (3). The eldest child, Caroline, has not yet been traced on the 1891 Census.
Richard married May/Mary Hill in 1895 (O/N/D Nottingham) and they had a daughter, Clara, the following year (1896 A/M/J Nottingham). His wife died in 1899 (A/M/J Nottingham) age 23.
In 1901 the widowed Richard (25), an iron turner, was living with his parents at 7 Deakins Place, Radford. Also in the household was his sister Ellen (15) a cigarette worker, and his daughter Clara (4).
At the time of the same census, Richard's eldest sister, Caroline (26), was a general domestic servant in the household of Samuel Hughes, a joiner and decorator (employer), and his wife Mary, a shopkeeper on her own account, at 230 Ilkeston Road, Nottingham. Caroline probably married in 1907 (A/M/J Nottingham - Henry Hall/Charles Henry Savage).
Betsy had married Frank Simpkin in 1898 (O/N/D Nottingham) and in 1901 they were living at 1 Deakins Place, Radford, with their two children Thomas (2) and Gertrude (4 months). Betsy died in 1947 (Sep Nottingham) aged 69.
Hannah had probably married in 1897 (A/M/J Nottingham - John Clay) but has not been traced on records after this date although she and her sister Ellen placed an 'in memoriam' notice to their brother in the local paper in 1918.
Richard's mother, Mary Ann, died in 1904 (O/N/D Nottingham) aged 58, two years after he had joined the Royal Navy.
Richard married May Frances Hodges on 6 April 1907 at St John the Evangelist, Clapham, Wandsworth. Both were living at 139A Larkhill Lane, Clapham. May was the daughter of William Francis Hodges, a painter, and his wife Elizabeth Mary. She was born on 24 July 1883 and baptised on 4 August 1887 at Clapham Christ Church along with four of her siblings, Elizabeth Emma Ann (1876), Florence Maud (1879), Janet Matilda (1881) and William Francis (1886). The CWGC record gives May's address as 11 Coleman Road, Camberwell, London. May did not remarry and died in 1942 (December Hemel Hempstead) aged 59.
Richard was serving in HMS Grafton in 1911. His daughter Clara, now 14, was living at 7 Harrison's Row, Nottingham, with her widowed grandfather Joel (64) and his daughter, Ellen (25), a tobacco worker. Ellen probably died unmarried in 1970 (June Nottingham, b. 25 September 1884).
Joel died later that year (1911 A/M/J Nottingham) at the age of 64. It is probable that Richard's daughter Clara had continued to live with his family in Nottingham as the 1918 'in memoriam' notice from two of his sisters includes her name. Apart from this record, Clara has not been traced after the 1911 Census.
