(half-brother) Charles Brandon , 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537/8 – 14 July 1551)
Biography
Charles was an illegitimate son of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke Of Suffolk by an unnamed mistress.[1] He married Elizabeth, a younger daughter of Thomas Pigot (Pygot) of Clotherholme, Yorkshire, and the widow of Sir James Strangeways (d.s.p 26 Apr 1541) of Harlsey and Whorlton.[2]
Ralph Pigot, his wife’s uncle died childless in 1503, and his estates were divided among the three daughters of his brother Thomas, Margaret wife of James Metcalfe, Joan, who married first Sir Giles Hussey and afterwards Sir Thomas Folkingham, and Elizabeth, who married successively Sir James Strangways, Sir Charles Brandon, and Francis Nevill.[3]
In March 1546, the Pigot family estates were partitioned six years after the death of her oldest sister, Margaret Metcalfe. Elizabeth and her second husband Charles Brandon, were given one-third of the assets.[4]
Marriage
m. (by 1545) Elizabeth Pigot (b. 1498). No issue.[5]
Occupation
Steward and constable Sheriff Hutton, Jan. 1544.
1547: Knight of the Shire for Westomoreland
Timeline
Nov 1542 Scottish border: commanded garrison of 200 men and took part in raiding: he probably accompanied his father, for the duke was warden of the marches that autumn
Jan 1543 - Feb 1544: lieutenant on the borders. While at Coldstream Charles Brandon lost some plunder which he had gained during the forays.
After being made in January 1544 steward and constable of Sheriff Hutton, the important royal castle and lordship in Yorkshire, whence he was required to furnish 50 men against the Scots, he next saw service in France and was knighted at Boulogne in September 1544.
1545: Unmentioned in father's will which his father made in 1545, Brandon was by then married to Elizabeth Pigot, a coheir in whose right he acquired considerable property in Yorkshire, including the manor and castle of Sigston which he probably made his chief residence:
March 1546: estates of Thomas Pigot partitioned; dau. Eliz. and husband Brandon received one third of them.
following summer: war with France and was noted as one of the men who ‘broke their staves and did very honestly’; he was rewarded with £40 towards his expenses.
year end: on wife’s surrender Greenshaw manor and a pension, he and she acquired former monastic property in Yorkshire, including the manors of Appleton Wiske and Unerby. Brandon seems to have pressed his landed claims with little scruple: in the survey of the commissioners of chantries in Yorkshire he and Lord Dacre were recorded as having seized the lands of the Maison Dieu, an almshouse at Northallerton founded by Sir James Strangways, and as having failed to supply a priest or to pay anything to the poor of the place.
1547 Brandon was chosen senior knight of the shire for Westmorland.
12 August 1551 Alnwick: died
Abbreviated Will of Sir Charles Brandon
Emphasis on profile links
Dated: 22 Jul 1551 Proved : 16 Nov 1551[6]
Sir Walter Bonham, Thomas Laton, Mr Grasham, Raus Evers, Prison of Elvington?, Davy Skymier of Lomby, Thomas Strangmes, Robert Johnson, Christopher Fysher, (My Debts)
John Fysher, Tenants of Shercheton? Cousin Francis Sackforde, Christopher Holdrothe?, John Boctoy, Christopher Clapham, Mr Brackenberry (Debts owed)
His will reflects a Protestant outlook and he died a man of considerable substance in his adopted county of Yorkshire. Apart from his wife, the principal beneficiary was his ‘cousin’ Humphrey Seckford, to whom he left Sigston. His wife was the residuary legatee but to go to to her fellow-executor Francis Seckford, Humphrey’s eldest brother in the event of non-compliance. Another of the Seckford brothers, Anthony, was to receive £10. The Seckfords of Great Bealings, Suffolk, were distantly related to the Brandons but their evident intimacy with this illegitimate member of the family suggests that his mother may have been a Seckford. He gave gold bracelets to his ‘sister Sandon’, probably Frances the wife of William Sandon another of his fathers illegitimate children who later married Andrew Bilsby of Bilsby. [Her mothers’ name was presumably known at the time as William Sandon in his 1559 Will mentioned My wife's mother and my wife's brother.] ‘Young William Naunton’, probably the fourth son of the Member for Boston in the Parliament of 1547 and a ‘Mr. Gyldon’, perhaps William Sandon’s uncle Thomas Gildon. Three members of the Grey family, including the Marquess of Dorset, witnessed the will[7]
↑ Sir James Strangways of Harlsey and Whorlton, d.s.p. Knighted. 30 Sept 1544 by Henry VIII (27 Nov 2011 tudorhistory.org. Weblog).[2]
↑ "Parishes: Kirkby Sigston," in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1914), 405-409. British History Online, accessed November 8, 2023, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp405-409.
↑ estates partitioned - March 1546, (Bindoff, 1892).[3]
↑ As of now, there is no evidence that Charles had children. Disconnecting Thomas Brandon-584 for this reason. McClary-130 15:55, 14 March 2016 (EDT).
↑ National Archives PROB 11/34/462
D952763 Will of Sir Charles Brandon
↑BRANDON, Sir Charles (by 1521-51), of Sigston, Yorks. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982 Available from Boydell and Brewer. Author: M. J. Taylor
See also
Bindoff, S.T. (1982). BRANDON, Sir Charles (by 1521-51), of Sigston, Yorks. HOP. Web.[4]
Is Charles your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.