Christopher Browne (abt. 1457 - abt. 1516)

Born about 1457 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Grace (Pinchbeck) Browne — married about 1477 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England

Husband of Agnes (Unknown) Browne — married about 1483 in England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Browne — married about 1500 in England

Descendants

Died about 1516 at about age 59 in Swan Hall, Hawkedon, Suffolk, England

Notes

NOTE: Many contradictions occur in this lineage as it is currently presented. A cursory search suggests that the main source of information for Christopher Browne is a will dated circa 1516 which references wife Agnes, son Christopher.

If anyone has access to this will or a transcription of, please let a profile manager know or add the details to this profile.

Add: the most likely will is Reference: PROB 11/19/195 at the National Archives UK for Will of Christopher Browne or Brown of Stanford, Lincolnshire date 08 February 1518/19 . This will needs to be sighted to confirm it is the relevant one.

Any (supported) information to verify or refute the details presented here is most welcome.

Any unsupported clues or leads also appreciated.

Marriage

He married Agnes Bedingfield, daughter of Sir Edmund Bedingfield and Margaret Scott, circa 1494.^[1]

This is not true. The maiden name of his wife is unknown. The original misconception came from a book published in 1908 by William Richard Cutter, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs, Vol. 4.

You can find the book on Google Books: [3].

On page 2116 William Cutter wrote the following about Christopher Browne: "He married first, Grace Pinchbeck; second, Agnes -------, of Bedingfield, Norfolk; third, Elizabeth -------."

Note that he says Agnes is FROM Bedingfield (which is actually located in Suffolk), not that she is of the Bedingfield family. We do not know the family names for Agnes or Elizabeth.

Biography

Christopher was Sheriff of Rutland 1492, 1500, 1509. He supported Edward IV against Warwick, and in 1480 was granted arms by that monarch, and later assisted Henry VII, fighting with him at Bosworth Field in 1485. Henry VII. granted to Christopher, the son of John and Agnes Brown, for his having assisted him against Richard III., the hundred of Little Casterton, containing eight villages, viz. Little Casterton, Ryhall, Belmesthorpe, Essendine, Tinwell, Inthorpe, Tickencote, and Tolethorpe. On 6 July, 1527 for these services, Henry VIII issued a patent to his eldest son Francis, authoring him to appear with his head covered in the presence of the King.

According to the article on Wikipedia for Tolethorpe Hall, the Browne family acquired it from the Burton Family in 1503.

From The History of Stamford:^[2]

Henry VII granted to Christopher, the son of John and Agnes Brown, for his having assisted him against Richard III, the hundred of Little Casterton, containing eight villages, viz. Little Casterton, Ryhall, Belmesthorpe, Essendine, Tinwell, Inthorpe, Tickencote, and Tolethorpe. For some similar reason, Henry VIII, as an especial mark of favour granted to Francis, the son of Christopher, the privilege of being covered in the presence of himself, his heirs, and of all the nobility in the kingdom.

Christopher Browne, by his will, dated and proved in the praerog. court of the Abp. of Canterbury, directed his body to be buried in the chapel of St. Thomas, in the church of All Hallows, in Stanford; gave legacies to his sons, Edmund and Robert; to his daughters, Ann and Kateryn; to Thomas Haryngton, and John Cook, and Richard, his brother; to a priest, to sing in the chapel of St. Thomas, for himself and his wives, Grace, Agnes, and Elizabeth; to Nicholas and William, the two youngest sons of his son, Gomley, which he had by his (testator's) daughter Margaret; to his son, Francis; and to his cousin, John Hall; and appoints John Caldecott, Francis Browne, and John Hall, the executors, and William Radclyffe, of Stanford, the overseer of his will.'

Descendants^[3]

To the lordship of Tolethorpe, where Christopher first settled, succeeded Francis, Anthony, and Francis. Robert, the third son of Anthony, was founder of the sect of the Brownists, whose tenets were nearly the same with those of the ancient Donatists. He was presented to the rectory of Achurch, in Northamptonshire, by Lord Burghley, in 1592, before which time he used to say there was no church in England but his, and that was A-church. He was a violent enthusiast and of an overbearing temper, and was accustomed to boast of having been committed to thirty-two prisons, in some of which he could not see his hand at noonday. He lived to upwards of 80 years of age, and died in 1630, in Northampton gaol, to which he had been committed for an assault on the constable who came to demand a parish rate from him. His descendants were living at Uppingham, in Rutland, in the year 1681. Francis, his brother, was succeeded by John, Christopher, and John, who, dying an infant, Edward, the second son of Christopher, inherited the manor, whose successor was Francis, his eldest son, who died in 1751, without issue, and was buried at Gretford, in this county.

From Burke’s Landed Gentry ^[4]

Pages 2585-2586

BROWNE formerly OF TOLETHORPE MANOR and STAMFORD

Lineage – The Brownes were established in the County of Lincoln from early medieval times, and attained great prosperity in the wool trade.

The first of whom definite record has been traced is John Browne, of Stamford, Co. Lincoln, b. ca. 1330, Alderman of Stamford (i.e. Chief Magistrate of the town, which had no Mayor until the time of Charles II), who purchased from Sir Thomas de Burton, Kt., the Manor of Tolethorpe, in the Parish of Little Casterton, Co. Rutland, which subsequently became the chief seat of the family; he had issue, a son,

John Browne, of Stamford, the father of

John Browne, of Stamford, Alderman 1414, 1422 and 1427, erected the Church of All Saints, Stamford, which still stands, one of the principal ornaments of the town, and in which he was buried. He d. 26 July, 1442, having had issue by his wife, Margery,

1. William, of Stamford, Alderman, 1435, 1444, 1449, 1460, 1466, 1470, Sheriff of Co. Rutland 1467, 1475, 1483, 1486, and probably of Co. Lincoln in 1478, built the steeple of All Saints Church an founded Browne’s Hospital in Stamford, and institution which is still flourishing, m. Margaret, dau. of John Stoke, of Warmington, and d. 1489, leaving issue, an only dau.

2. John Browne, of Stamford, Alderman in 1448, 1453, 1462; d. between 1462 and 1470, and was bur. In All Saints Church, having had, by his wife Agnes, with other issue, an elder son,

Christopher Browne, of Stamford, Lincoln, and Tolethorpe, Co. Rutland, Sheriff of Rutland 1492, 1500 and 1509. He supported Edward IV against Warwick, and, in 1480, was granted arms by that monarch, and later assisted Henry VII, fighting with him at Bosworth Field in 1485, for which services Henry VIII issued a patent 6 July, 1527, to his eldest son, Francis, authorizing him to appear with his head covered in the presence of the King. He m. 1st, Grace, dau. and heir of John Pinchbeck, and by her had an only son,

1. Francis, to whom the patent mentioned above was granted, the grandfather of Rev. Robert Browne, known as the “Reformer,” who organized the 1st Separatist Church in England, at Norwich, in 1580. His heirs became extinct in the male line.

He m. 2ndly, Agnes Bedingfield [Transcriber’s note: this is in error. we do not know Agnes’ maiden name.], of Co. Norfolk, and by her had further issue, of whom,

2. Edmund, m. Joan, dau. by his 2nd wife, of David Cecil. Of Stamford, the grandfather of Sir William Cecil (Lord Burleigh), the famous minister of Queen Elizabeth.

3. Christopher

Notes

Note NI0862 Will dated 1516 - Proved in London February 1518/19

Sources

1. ↑ http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p2410.htm#i72435
2. ↑ Drakard, John, History of Stamford, In the County of Lincoln, 1822. Browne ancestry pages 275-285. Found at Google Books. [1]
3. ↑ Drakard, John, History of Stamford, In the County of Lincoln, 1822. Browne ancestry pages 275-285. Found at Google Books. [2]
4. ↑ Burke, Bernard, Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry: including American families with British ancestry, London: Burke's Peerage, 1939. xviii, 3058 p.: ill., coats of arms. Available at: https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/2609793