Francis Drake-Brockman was possibly a son of the Rev. Ralph Drake-Brockman of Beachborough (1724-1781) who had assumed the name of Brockman in 1768 in compliance with the will of his cousin James Brockman, and his wife Caroline, youngest daughter of Henry Brockman of Cheriton, Kent. The Kentish family name of Brockman appears on record as early as King Richard II, when the monarch granted lands to the family in the County.