Francis was the eldest surviving son and heir of Thomas Bryan, Knt., by Margaret, daughter of Humphrey Bourgchier, Knt.[2] He was born before 1492.[3]
He married
Philippa Spice before March 1522. She was the widow of John Fortescue, Knt., and the daughter of Humphrey Spice, Esq.,[2] of Black Notley, Essex[1] (grandson of Sir John Montgomery and Elizabeth Boteler).[2]
Joan FitzGerald before August 28, 1548, widow of James Butler, Earl of Ormand. She was the daughter and heiress of James FitzMaurice, 10th Earl of Desmond, by Amy, daughter of "Turlogh Mac-I-Brien-Ara."[2]
Francis died at Clonmel on February 2, 1549/50.[2]
Full Biography
Francis Bryan, born in 1490 at his parents estate in Buckinghamshire, England, was the fourth great grandson of King Edward III. He was educated at Oxford and received his first official appointment in 1513 as Captain of the Margaret Bonaventure, a ship in the retinue of Sir Thomas Howard.[citation needed]
Sir Francis Bryan was an English courtier and diplomat during the reign of Henry VIII. He was Chief Gentleman of the Privy chamber and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bryan always retained Henry's favour, achieving this by altering his opinions to conform to the king's. His lack of principle at the time of his cousin Anne Boleyn's downfall led to his earning the nickname "the Vicar of Hell" coined by Thomas Cromwell. [4]
Sir Francis Bryan "knight Banneret; Chevallier; Baronet; Lord of Tor Bryan; poet and translator; chief gentleman of the privy chamber (appointed 1536) and close friend of Henry VIII; he was a sometime commander of the English Army in Ireland, admiral of the fleet, and in 1548 was knighted for bravery in Brittany (Briaiana). On Shrove Tuesday 1526, he lost an eye in a jousting tournament (Starkey, David, HENRY VIII, A EUROPEAN COURT IN ENGLAND, 1991, PG. 47)."[5]
He was "appointed Governor General of Ireland and in 1549, Lord Chief Justice."[6] He wrote many books, and performed important missions and personal services for Henry VIII. He was a soldier, diplomat, and poet.[7]
"By the standards of his time Sir Francis Bryan was considered the ideal courtier and poet. He remained loyal to King Henry VIII until his untimely demise, at which time he was poisoned by his wife. By our standards, if Cromwell is to be judged as American due to his ability to seize opportunities, I believe Sir Francis Bryan is the first rock star."[8]
Sir Francis Bryan, the "Vicar from Hell," has complete documentation in various sites on the Internet or in a research library. See, for example, Luminarium's Sir Francis Bryan.
Disputed Descendants
Sir Francis Bryan had at least one illegitimate son "who is mentioned as carrying a despatch to London in 1548 from the French admiral"[1] - by Abigail Elwell?[9] He had no known legitimate children who had issue, although online trees give him a son by Philippa as well as Francis by Joan. Tudor Place gives him three children: Edmund by Philippa, Francis and Elizabeth by Joan.
This online tree (unsourced) says that Philippa's granddaughter, Anne Butler Bryan, married Gen. Spottswood. However, "Colonel Spotswood married, in 1724, Ann Butler Brain, daughter of Mr. Richard Brain, of London".[10]Wikipedia has his wife's name as Anne Butler Brayne.
Richardson does not show that Sir Francis had any children by either of his wives (but also does not note "no issue" by either).
At his death, Sir Francis and his wife, Lady Joan Fitzgerald, had a son, Francis, [source needed] but historians do not have evidence he lived beyond early childhood.
Nevertheless, many people (including me in years past) have claimed Sir Francis as an ancestor. See this site: Tudor History blog.
I use the Rootsweb free Medieval genealogy list for the latest research, done by others, since I have no access to original records, on any connection back to English history. I also own the book The Spear and the Spindle about the ancestry of Francis Bryan, son of Sir Francis and Lady Joan (see below).
The Name and Family of Bryan or Brian by Thomas R. Bryan (p. ix) states that Sir Francis Bryan had issue of a son named Francis by his second wife.... The young Francis Bryan held lands in the County of Clare, Ireland; married an Ann Smith, and had a son William or William Smith Bryan who was deported in 1650 by Cromwell. "
Where is documentary evidence for this?
I do not know if anyone at this time is actively searching for the parents of Morgan Bryan of North Carolina. I do know that the frequently copied and never documented line through Denmark, a family named Smith and attaching to an infant born ca 1549 is not probable.
For a good review of information/mis-information, see the profile of Morgan Bryan (abt. 1671-1763), married Martha Strode, died in North Carolina.
Research Notes
Birth location datafield needs to pick one:
Childington, Bucks, England of the Blackfriars, London, and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds.
Merged profile (Bryan-3548) had birth as Chidington, Buckinghamshire, England and information (unsourced) says he was"born in 1490 at his parents estate in Buckinghamshire, England, was the fourth great grandson of King Edward III."
June 1, 1490, Chidington, Buckinghamshire, England (from ?)
Death location, seems to have too little: Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland
Clonmel, County Tipperary, Munster, Ireland (in a merged profile)
Auto-fill suggestions from FamilySearch were different, but neither mentioned Munster:
Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland (1715-)
Clonmel, County of the Cross of Tipperary, Ireland (1328-1715)
↑ "Sir Francis Bryan and wife Joan FitzGerald (long)", Gen-Medieval post by Beth Sloan, 5 Dec 1998. Apparently from T.A. Fuller's The Spear and the Spindle Bowie MD : Heritage Books, 1993. See also this comment. One reader of the book notes that the book does not connect the ancestors for Sir Francis Bryan with American Bryan families. It hints and leaves conclusions up to the reader.
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states that Edward Bryan (abt.1663-1738) of London, son of Josiah Bryan, by his wife, Mary Longlands (and sixth in descent from Sir Francis Bryan, who was cr. a Knight Banneret on the field of Musselburgh, 10 Sep 1547), b. in London 1663; emigrated to American 1685; m. 1688, Christine, dau. of Hodges Council, and d. 1742, having had issue...
So, one wonders: what other means of descent from Sir Francis Bryan would happen? Or are parts of this Burke's volume blowing smoke in the ways that Burke's Peerage has been known to do?
I am in the process of evaluating Edward's lineage as it currently is represented on WikiTree when I happened upon this Burke's lineage representation. Edward's profile could use some sourcing, and his children are in Burke's... what value is in the details (a cursory examination of the vital dates shows some notable differences, especially among Edward's children).
Just looked at the Lineage form Buker's again. After Edward, it mentions his son, William, and the subsequent entries continue with one descendant from that line; so, it's not all of Edward's children, after all.
Source: Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), volume I, page 488 BOURCHIER 13a.
Francis Bryan, born 1492. He married (1st) before March 1522 Philippe Spice, widow of John Fortescue, and daughter of Humphrey Spice. He married (2nd) before 28 August 1548 Joan Fitzgerald, widow of James Butler, and daughter of James FitzMaurice (FitzzGerald), by Amy, daughter of Turlogh Mac-I-Brien-Ara. Sir Francis Bryan died 2 Feb. 1549/50. His widow, Joan, married (3rd) about 1551 Gerald FitzJames (FitzGerald). She died 2 Jan. 1564/5.
Philippa's mother's maiden name was Montgomery. Sir John Montgomery was Philippa's grandfather. There were no children from the one year Henry VIII-arranged marriage of Sir Francis Bryan and Lady Joan which ended with the sudden death of Sir Francis Bryan. We have good data on Edmund Bryan, including a birth date after Sir John Fortescue had passed away, which is also a date before Sir Francis married Philippa (Spice) Fortescue. In that illegitimate window, Edmund Bryan is born. It is not a coincidence that this Edmund Bryan settled at Tor Bryan, the ancient Bryan family seat. Edmund Bryan died in 1541 before his father Sir Francis Bryan in 1549. In 1548 Sir Francis dispatched his son with a message from Ireland. That son could not have been Edmund Bryan, for Edmund had already died. Therefore, Sir Francis Bryan had at least another son. Also, Sir Francis Bryan II could not have been the other son and he was not son of Sir Francis and Joan. Sir Francis, dying in Ireland, could not have dipatched his 2 or 3 year old son Sir Francis with an official letter. So there is a third son. It's not baby Sir Francis Bryan II. It is not Edmund Bryand, because he is already dead. Sir Francis 'the viccar' dispatched a third son, obviously of legal age, with an official letter. That third son was born around 1530, at least 20 years prior to the sudden death of Sir Francis Bryan.
Research Note: Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume II Bryant Family.
Sir Francis Bryan, Knight, born 1490; died 1550. He married (1st) Philippa, daughter of Sir John Montgomery; he married (2nd) 1548, Joan Countess of Ormond.
According to the History of Parliament, Philippa Spice, 1st wife of Sir Francis Bryan, and widow of Sir John Fortescue of Ponsbourne, was the daughter and heir of Sir Humphrey Spice of Black Notley. Montgomery was her mother's (Alice Spice's) maiden name. Philippa was a great grandaughter of Sir John Monthgomery. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/fortescue-henry-1515-76
Citation for Margaret Bonaventure and "Vicar of Hell" Susan Brigden, Bryan, Sir Francis (d. 1550), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 1 Nov 2017
(appears in left column, in the the mention of Sir Francis' wife Joan, daughter of James FitzMaurice, Earl of Desmond)
edited by Z Fanning
states that Edward Bryan (abt.1663-1738) of London, son of Josiah Bryan, by his wife, Mary Longlands (and sixth in descent from Sir Francis Bryan, who was cr. a Knight Banneret on the field of Musselburgh, 10 Sep 1547), b. in London 1663; emigrated to American 1685; m. 1688, Christine, dau. of Hodges Council, and d. 1742, having had issue...
So, one wonders: what other means of descent from Sir Francis Bryan would happen? Or are parts of this Burke's volume blowing smoke in the ways that Burke's Peerage has been known to do?
I am in the process of evaluating Edward's lineage as it currently is represented on WikiTree when I happened upon this Burke's lineage representation. Edward's profile could use some sourcing, and his children are in Burke's... what value is in the details (a cursory examination of the vital dates shows some notable differences, especially among Edward's children).
Francis Bryan, born 1492. He married (1st) before March 1522 Philippe Spice, widow of John Fortescue, and daughter of Humphrey Spice. He married (2nd) before 28 August 1548 Joan Fitzgerald, widow of James Butler, and daughter of James FitzMaurice (FitzzGerald), by Amy, daughter of Turlogh Mac-I-Brien-Ara. Sir Francis Bryan died 2 Feb. 1549/50. His widow, Joan, married (3rd) about 1551 Gerald FitzJames (FitzGerald). She died 2 Jan. 1564/5.
Thank you!
Lisa Brians
Sir Francis Bryan, Knight, born 1490; died 1550. He married (1st) Philippa, daughter of Sir John Montgomery; he married (2nd) 1548, Joan Countess of Ormond.
Thank you!
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/bryan-sir-francis-1492-1550
Pg 318-319 "Bryan, A Pioneer Family"
... Ancestry. Leaving this link as a research note.
... and, Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775 Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume II Bryant Family