Edmund Bray (abt. 1484 - 1539)

Born about 1484 in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 18 Oct 1539 at about age 55 in London, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Sir Edmund Bray was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Edmund Braye (or Bray), 1st Baron Braye (ca. 1484-18 October 1539), was an English peer.

Edmund Braye was the son of John Braye of Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire and the older brother of Sir Edward Braye.

He served as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire for 1514 and of Sussex and Surrey in 1522. He was knighted in 1513 and in 1529 he was summoned to the House of Lords as Baron Braye, of Eaton Bray in the County of Bedford.

Lord Braye married Jane (died on 24 Oct 1558), daughter of Sir Richard Halliwell or Hallighwell or Halywell of Holwell by Jane Norbury. He died in October 1539 and was succeeded in the barony by his son John. Lady Braye died in 1558. His eldest daughter Anne married George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham (c1497 - 29 Sept 1558) before 1526.

b: 1484, Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, England d:18 Oct 1539 Buried- Chelsea Church Father: John Braye Married: Jane Hallighwell (b. ABT 1480 - d. 24 Oct 1558) (dau. of Richard Halywell of Harberton, Esq., and Anne Norbury) (m.2 Sir Urian Brereton, ABT 1499, Holwell, Bedfordshire, England) Burial:All Saints Churchyard, Chelsea, Greater London, England

From Edmund Bray's will: Edmund Bray, Knight, Lord Bray, 18th October 1539. My body to be buried at Chelsea, beside the sepulture of John Bray, Esq., my father ; and I constitute the Lady Jane, now my wife, my executrix. Proved 12th May 1540. ^[1]

Children: 1. Anne Braye(Cobham) 2. Elizabeth Braye m: Sir Ralph Verney 3. John Braye 4. Dorothy Braye (Chandos of Sudeley) 5. Mary Braye 6. Frideswide Braye (b. ABT 1516) 7. Frances Braye (b. 1522 - d. 27 May 1592) + 4 others

Jane and Edmund and left several daughters (all of whom are shown with her on the memorial brass in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire) and a son, John Bray, who married a daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury. He left no male heir.

Sir Edmund inherited a large portion of his uncle Sir Reginald Bray's property, which was confirmed under a deed of settlement, made between himself and Sir William Sandys and his wife Dame Margery Sandys, in adjustment of a dispute between the parties regarding the lands of the deceased. This Edmund was about the age of eighteen at the death of Sir Reginald, who had acted as his guardian and took care of his education.

Sir Edmund Braye was summoned to Parliament as Lord Braye 3 Nov 1529 -18 Oct 1539

Sir Reginald Bray purchased the wardship of Jane, dau. and heiress of Richard Halywell of Harberton, Esq. (b. 1462 - d. 24 Jul 1506) and Anne Norbury, that she might become the wife of his nephew, as appears by deed dated 12 Feb 1497, made between the said Sir Reginald and Sir John Norbury, her grandfather, in contemplation of "a marriage to be had between Edmund Bray, son of John Bray, brother of the same Sir Reginald, and Jane Halywell, daughter and heir presumptive of Richard Halywell, esq. cousin and heir apparent of Sir John Norbury, (that is to say), daughter of Anne, who was the daughter of the said Sir John Norbury". In consideration of three hundred marks paid by Sir Reginald, Sir John settled immense estates upon his said heir, in the counties of Warwick, Worcester, Surrey, and Hants. In the 6th of Henry VIII. (1515) he was sheriff of the county of Bedford, and was summoned to parliament as Baron Bray, of Eaton-Bray, in that county, on the 3 Nov, 21st of the same monarch. (See BURKE'S Extinct and Dormant Peerage.)

By 1545, Lady Bray had remarried, taking as her second husband Sir Urian Brereton (b. 1510 - d. 19 Mar 1578) of Handforth, Cheshire. From 1553-1557, various members of Jane's immediate family, including several grandchildren, were in and out of prison on charges of treason for their participation in the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary Tudor, and in Wyatt's Rebellion, and in the Dudley Conspiracy.

Coat of Arms

The Bray coat of arms, with a total of nine quarterings (Longvale, Haleiwell, Norbury, Botteler, Sudley, Mountfort, Crosyer and Dabernon) are recorded as "Argent, a chevron between three eagles' legs erased a la quize sable, per "The Visitation of Bedfordshire" (additional pedigrees), p. 163.

These arms, impaling those of Hallywell (the wife of Edmond, 1st Baron Bray), are found in the Stoke d'Abernon Church, per Surrey Archaeological Collections, vol. 20, p. 53.

In the Stoke d'Abernon Church is the tomb of Edmund Lord Bray's daughter Frances, with the following inscription: "HERE LIETH BURIED THE BODY OF FRAUNCES THE WIFE OF THOMAS LYFIELD ESQRE OWNERS OF THIS MANOR OF STOKE DAUBORNE IN THE COUNTY OF SURREY THE WHICHE FRAUNCES WAS THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF SIR EDMOND BRAY KNIGHT LORD BRAY & OF THE LADY JANE HIS WIFE WCH JANE WAS SOLE DAUGHTER & HEYRE OF RICHARD HALEGHWELL ESQRE AND ANNE HIS WIFE THE WCH RICHARD WAS SONNE & HEYRE TO SIR JOHN HALEGHWELL KNIGHT & THE SAID ANNE WAS DAUGHTER & HEYRE OF SIR JOHN NORBURY KNIGHT & ANNE HIS WIFE THE WHICH ANNE WAS DAUGHTER & HEYER OF WILLIAM CROSYER ESQUIRE THE WHICH WILLIAM WAS SON & HEYER TO SIR WILLIAM CROSYER & HIS WIFE THE WHICH ELIZABETH WAS DAUGHTER & HEYER TO SIR WILLIAM DAWBURNON KNIGHT WHO DISCENDED OF THE DAWBERNON THE NORMAND WHICH CAM INTO ENGLAND WITH WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR & FROM WHOM THIS MANOR DID DISCEND LINIALLY TO THE SAME SIR WILLIAM & THE AFORESAID SIR HENRY NORBURY WAS SONNE & HEYER TO SR RAFFE BUTLER LORD SUDELEY, & LORD STEWARDE OF THE HOUSEHOLDE OF KINGE HENRY VI, THE WHICH SIR RAFFE WAS SONNE & HEYER OF JOHN LORD SUDELEY LINIALLY DESCENDED OF HAROLD WHOM WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR SLEW IN THE FIELD."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Testamenta vetusta. [Place of publication not identified], Vol. II, 1826, p.687 Internet Archive.
2. ↑ Quoted in "Stoke d'Aubernon Church," by Philip Mainwaring Johnston, in Surrey Archaeological Collections," vol. 20 (1907).

"The Visitation of Bedfordshire" (additional pedigrees), p. 163

• Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011
• Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye (wikipedia article)
• G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, p.401,volume II, page 287-8.
• Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, pp. 109, 492.

See also:

• Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p 20.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Stephen Bridges for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Stephen and others.