Francis Bryan (abt. 1490 - abt. 1550)

Born about 1490 in Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Philippa (Spice) Bryan — married Mar 1522 in England

Husband of Joan FitzGerald — married 1 Aug 1548 (to about 2 Feb 1550) in Ireland

Died about 2 Feb 1550 at about age 60 in Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bob Fields [send private message]

Biography

In Brief

Sir Francis Bryan of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds.^[1]

Knighted: 2 July 1522^[1]

Banneret: September 1547^[1]

Marshal (1548) and Chief Justice of Ireland^[2]

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

1. 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]
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)

Francis was born before 1500.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} History of Parliament Online: Sir Francis Bryan (by 1492-1550), by M. K. Dale
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), NORBURY, Vol III, pages 262-264
3. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd edn (2011), 4 vols, Volume 1, page 286
4. ↑ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-3788?rskey=ZpRMRb&result=9 The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Francis (called the Vicar of Hell) (d. 1550)]
5. ↑ "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.
6. ↑ Ramsburgh, Edith Roberts. A Page in Heraldry, "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" (The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Nov. 1923) Vol. 57, No. 11, Whole No. 375, Page 685
7. ↑ online tree (unsourced)
8. ↑ Sir Francis Bryan, Tudor England's Rock Star. Blog post by Hunter S. Jones, posted April 6, 2015
9. ↑ "Relationship with Abigail Elwell" from a merged profile, source not stated.
10. ↑ Lyon Gardiner Tyler's Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Alexander Spotswood

• Sir Francis' profile in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, author Emmett O'Byrne:
  • https://www.dib.ie/biography/bryan-sir-francis-a1085
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Francis [called the Vicar of Hell (D1550)]
• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. I, page 488
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bryan
• Sir Francis Bryan, Marshal & Chief Justice of Ireland, "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins" (website, compiled by Mr. Marlyn Lewis, Portland, OR; accessed March 3, 2017)
• Sir Leslie Stephen, ed., Dictionary of National Biography (Google Book, starting page 150)
• Tudor Place
• The Anne Boleyn Files
• Knights of England Page 61
• Chronicle of Calais Page 32 Also Page 44, 164, 173, 206, 207,
• The Peerage of Ireland: Page 71