| William Bryan resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies |
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No reliable sources have been found to confirm this person's existence. Further productive research is always welcome, but please coordinate any proposed changes with the US Southern Colonies Project and other members interested in this profile.
According to disputed family legends, which vary in the details from version to version, William Smith Bryan was an Irish rebel, possibly the son of a English lord named Sir Francis Bryan, who was reputedly a large landholder in County Clare, Ireland. The legends claim he married Catherine Morgan in Denmark, and later was deported with his family and extensive property to Virginia.
There are no known reliable sources to support these claims, and it is uncertain whether any such person ever existed.
A William Bryan was transported by Abraham Moone to Virginia in 1654.[1] However, based on this record alone, it is impossible to determine what his origins were, or what became of him.
There is no known documentary evidence from Ireland, Denmark, or Virginia which proves that this man ever lived. While his legend is repeated in many unsourced family trees and poorly-documented books, all of the claimed support for his legend identified to date are repeated family stories.
Many aspects of the legend are implausible. The story of William Smith Bryan (WSB) is one of a brave Irish rebel who was along with his family, his household belongings and horses, deported to Virginia by Cromwell c. 1650. Why he was singled out for this rather gentle deportation when 50,000 of his fellow countrymen were deported as indentured labourers to the Caribbean and other English settlements in America[2] is not made clear. The 'sources' given for him are all authored books which contain family stories and family trees on the internet. Examples of these are The Colonial Families of the United States and its word-for-word duplicate, Lineage of Colonial Families, both given here as sources.
His father is said to be Sir Francis Bryan, a large landholder in County Clare, Ireland. Records exists for everyone who was knighted from the 1300 until today but his name is not included. His mother was supposed to be Ann Smith. There is no evidence that either of these people existed; they remain attached to represent an entire disputed family.
WSB then supposedly married in Denmark of all places a young Welsh girl by the name of Catherine Morgan. Why? What document supports this claim? WSB fights against Cromwell during his invasion. He is called 'The Prince of Ireland' by his supporters. No mention of this can be found in any record.
There are searchable records for County Clare landholders in 1641, WSB in not on any record. There are lists of claims submitted for the reclamation of lands after the restoration of the monarchy. Francis Bryan, son of WSB, supposedly died in Ireland trying to reclaim family land, but his name is not on any list. For unknown reasons Francis travels to Denmark and marries, again no explanation or documentation, Sarah Brinker. They died in Belfast far from County Clare, why?
His existence in Virginia is also disputed, and there does not appear to be any Virginia records supporting the claims about his legend either.[3]
William Smith Bryan[4] was born circa 1599 in Clare, County Clare, Ireland. He married Catherine Morgan. He was the father of eleven sons and three daughters.
He was deported from Ireland because of his support for the Irish cause during the Puritan Revolution {citation needed} Also note that the invasion of Ireland by Cromwell in 1649 was not a "Puritan Revolution." Cromwell and his New Model Army blazed through Ireland in order to rout Royalists and their Irish supporters.
Lineage from Colonial families of the United States of America. . ., p. 104.
In another text, this quote is pivotal in the level of detail provided, despite the level of disorganization and apparent typesetter's holiday:
Excerpt from Colonial Families of the United States of America[6]
Note: The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (derived from the Irish language name Cogadh na hAon Bhliana Déag), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653.
Society of Friends, also called Friends Church, byname Quakers, Christian group that arose in mid-17th-century England, dedicated to living in accordance with the “Inward Light,” or direct inward apprehension of God, without creeds, clergy, or other ecclesiastical forms. As most powerfully expressed by George Fox (1624–91), Friends felt that their “experimental” discovery of God would lead to the purification of all of Christendom. It did not; but Friends founded one American colony and were dominant for a time in several others, and though their numbers are now comparatively small, they continue to make disproportionate contributions to science, industry....
William Smith Bryan married Catherine Morgan (born 1604). William Smith Bryan and Catherine Morgan were both born in County Claire, Ireland. During the Puritan Rebellion, William Smith Bryan attempted to gain the throne of Ireland and was dubbed, “Prince William of Ireland” by his followers. Sometime about 1650 or 1660, William Smith Bryan and Catherine Morgan were exiled to Virginia by Oliver Cromwell for anti-English insurgent activities. He is said to have been "dropped" at Gloucester Beach, Virginia. He arrived in Virginia with a shipload of personal belongings and his wife, eleven sons, and three daughters. They were among the first English to bring horses to the British colony of Virginia. William Smith Bryan and Catherine Morgan both died in Gloucester, Virginia. Children of William Smith and Catherine (Morgan) Bryan include:
William Smith Bryan (b. 1570, d. 1667) William Smith Bryan (son of Francis Bryan II and Ann Smith) was born 1600 in County Clare, Ireland, and died 1667 in Gloucester, Virginia. He married Catherine Morgan on Abt. 1631.
The Bryan Island cemetery was part of the Eagle Point Plantation in Gloucester County, Virginia. It was built by John Randolph Bryan who was born in Georgia in 1803 and died at his home in 1887. Various family members are also buried on the island. There are no recorded burials earlier than this time. There is no association of this land with any earlier Bryan family and it is in no way connected to William Smith Bryan.
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B > Bryan > William Smith Bryan
Categories: Unknown Location, County Clare | Gloucester County, Virginia Colony | Migrants from County Clare to Colony of Virginia | Uncertain Existence | Virginia Colonists
The current narrative seems unnecessarily polemic; it should be sufficient to state that no reliable sources have been found to confirm the individual's existence; further productive research is of course always welcome, but in a project-managed profile needs to be coordinated with the project. The Biography section should only contain statements that can be supported with reliable sources, and an accounting of the various falsehoods and legends can be provided under Research Notes. There is wisdom in the WikiTree honor code that every statement and fact should be sourced; this not only promotes truth but reduces the heat of personal opinions.
edited by James Binkley
deleted by James Binkley
You are right that we must always keep an open mind, but the skeptical analysis in this profile is not "hysteria" - it is an attempt to dispel extensively published but poorly-sourced genealogical claims to keep those from being repeated on WikiTree. If you are aware of reliable, original sources, which support the claims that a Sir Francis Bryan was a large landholder in County Clare, and that his son William married Catherine Morgan in Denmark before joining the Irish rebellion and then being deported with extensive property to Virginia in 1650, please cite those sources so others can review them.
One of the Bryans listed is plain Francis Bryan - no "Sir" before his name. Bryan was not a rare name in Ireland.
edited by Michael Cayley
There is a lot more information about versions of the William Smith Bryan story, and alleged links to Sir Francis Bryan, here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bryan-102#Undocumented.2C_Improbable_Tradition. There is even a suggestion in at least one version of the tales that WSB attempted to make himself king of Ireland (!)
edited by Michael Cayley
Are any of the attached children real?
Also, given that there is a Y-DNA match on the page, it is my opinion that that section should be removed altogether, and the descendant's research be consulted. It includes reputable sources. We have no primary sources, so unless someone would like to travel to County Clare, I suggest we use what is available to make the profile the best it can be.
The pedigree is merely an elaborate rumor. I could create a pedigree for Joe Schmoe in ten minutes, and it would be published as fact by others for decades. Only, like the stories of William Smith Bryan, it would continue to be changed over time by those citing it.
The Y-DNA match is also meaningless. Does anyone think that someone obtained a Y-DNA sample from the remains of William Smith Bryan? Where would they have found him? No, all it means is that some living person who bought into the rumor that they were a descendant of the apocryphal William Smith Bryan was tested. That person's DNA does not somehow scientifically retroactively bring William Smith Bryan into past existence.
What is at issue here is the fundamental validity of evidence. Whether there are real primary sources for the information, or just impressive-looking "sources" which, when traced back and examined, amount to nothing more than rehashed rumors.
When Wikitree began, it was hoped that the careless excesses of previous genealogy websites would be avoided, and for a while it appeared that it was somewhat successful. Unfortunately, more recently, I've seen more and more instances of completely baseless information being wholesale copied from other websites into Wikitree. If Wikitree doesn't adhere to a higher standard, then, like other websites, it will devolve into just another very large database of misinformation, and what is the point in that? None, to those of us who still believe that truth matters.
1. Middle name "Smith" 2. Parents Francis Bryan-73 and Ann Smith-5430