Christopher Browne (abt. 1482 - bef. 1538)

Born about 1482 in Swan Hall, Hawkedon, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Unknown) Browne — married 1517 in Hawkedon, Suffolk, England

Descendants

Died before 3 Jul 1538 before about age 56 in Swan Hall, Hawkedon, Suffolk, England

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Biography

From Burke’s Landed Gentry ^[1]

Pages 2585-2586

BROWNE formerly OF TOLETHORPE MANOR and STAMFORD

Lineage – The Brownes were established in the County of Lincoln from early medieval times, and attained great prosperity in the wool trade.

The first of whom definite record has been traced is John Browne, of Stamford, Co. Lincoln, b. ca. 1330, Alderman of Stamford (i.e. Chief Magistrate of the town, which had no Mayor until the time of Charles II), who purchased from Sir Thomas de Burton, Kt., the Manor of Tolethorpe, in the Parish of Little Casterton, Co. Rutland, which subsequently became the chief seat of the family; he had issue, a son,

John Browne, of Stamford, the father of

John Browne, of Stamford, Alderman 1414, 1422 and 1427, erected the Church of All Saints, Stamford, which still stands, one of the principal ornaments of the town, and in which he was buried. He d. 26 July, 1442, having had issue by his wife, Margery,

1. William, of Stamford, Alderman, 1435, 1444, 1449, 1460, 1466, 1470, Sheriff of Co. Rutland 1467, 1475, 1483, 1486, and probably of Co. Lincoln in 1478, built the steeple of All Saints Church an founded Browne’s Hospital in Stamford, and institution which is still flourishing, m. Margaret, dau. of John Stoke, of Warmington, and d. 1489, leaving issue, an only dau.

2. John Browne, of Stamford, Alderman in 1448, 1453, 1462; d. between 1462 and 1470, and was bur. In All Saints Church, having had, by his wife Agnes, with other issue, an elder son,

Christopher Browne, of Stamford, Lincoln, and Tolethorpe, Co. Rutland, Sheriff of Rutland 1492, 1500 and 1509. He supported Edward IV against Warwick, and, in 1480, was granted arms by that monarch, and later assisted Henry VII, fighting with him at Bosworth Field in 1485, for which services Henry VIII issued a patent 6 July, 1527, to his eldest son, Francis, authorizing him to appear with his head covered in the presence of the King. He m. 1st, Grace, dau. and heir of John Pinchbeck, and by her had an only son,

1. Francis, to whom the patent mentioned above was granted, the grandfather of Rev. Robert Browne, known as the “Reformer,” who organized the 1st Separatist Church in England, at Norwich, in 1580. His heirs became extinct in the male line.

He m. 2ndly, Agnes Bedingfield [Transcriber’s note: this is in error, we do not know Agnes’ maiden name.], of Co. Norfolk, and by her had further issue, of whom,

2. Edmund, m. Joan, dau. by his 2nd wife, of David Cecil. Of Stamford, the grandfather of Sir William Cecil (Lord Burleigh), the famous minister of Queen Elizabeth.

3. Christophe Browne, of Swan Hall, Parish of Hawkedon, Co. Suffolk, which he purchased (will was proved at Bury St. Edmunds, 3 July, 1538), had issue by his wife, Anne, a son, Christopher Browne

Sources

1. ↑ Burke, Bernard, Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry: including American families with British ancestry, London: Burke's Peerage, 1939. xviii, 3058 p.: ill., coats of arms. Available at: https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/2609793