Work on this page is ongoing. Everyone welcome to add comments and sources or add more people to the list.
This is a page to add all the information available about the sources for the possible fabrication of connections between persons called Bryan in England, Ireland and Virginia.
Have removed all comments about The family of Sir Guy de Bryan 1309-1390 as that group of profiles no longer appears to need help. The info was cluttering up the page.
Alice de Bures 1358-1394 wife of Sir Guy de Bryan 1350-1386 Real person. The peerage.com Cites G.E. Cokayne; The Complete Peerage page 362
Questionable group
Lots of discussion in G2G with sources and comments from countless members has led to the conclusion that for Bowsey we should read Bourchier and for Barnes we should read Berners. Part of the problem here was caused by Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes which introduced the name Bowsey. It also has Humphrey Bourchier as brother, not father of Margaret, John and Anne Bourchier, a definate error. That the name Bowsey equates to Bourchier is demonstrated in the same book at Visitation of Essex Page 21: Barnes which identifies Margaret Barnes as wife of John Boucher. Scrutiny of the pedigree at Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes leads to the identification of Barnes with Berners.
Sir Thomas Bryan 1378-1444 husband of Margaret Echyngham 1358-1428 Found no evidence for a Thomas Bryan at this date.
Margaret Echyngham 1358-1428 daughter of Sir William Echingham 1333-1388 and Elizabeth Criol 1334-1391 wife of Sir Thomas Bryan 1378-1444 Suspicious person Birth 1 June 1358 Benningborough, Yorkshire. I June is too often used on these profiles. Birth in Yorkshire is extremely unlikely. Specific date for females unlikely. Death 1 June 1428 Cheddington. 1st of June again. Earliest mention of Bryans in Cheddington occurs for Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 Suggest this was originally Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 because her place of birth is given as Benningborough, a Bourchier hangout.
Sir Edmund Bryan 1412-169 son of Sir Thomas Bryan 1378-1444 and Margaret Echyngham 1358-1428 married Alice Bures 1416-. https://books.google.com/books?id=CBwIAAAAQAAJ. So not an internet invention, but could be just another mistake.
Alice Bures 1416- daughter of Robert de Bures 1390- wife of Sir Edmund Bryan 1412-169
Robert de Bures 1390- father of Alice Bures 1416-
Sir Thomas Bryan 1438-1500 husband of Margaret Bowsey 1442-1502 Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes As husband of Margaret Bowsey (Bourchier) this profile represents the same person as Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517. His parents were not Sir Edmund Bryan 1412-169 and Alice Bures 1416-. They have been disconnected.
Margaret Bowsey 1442-1502 daughter of John Bowsey 1416- and Margaret Barnes 1418 wife of Sir Thomas Bryan Named by Wikipedia as wife of the Justice Sir Thomas Bryan 1420-1500 Wikipedia 2 Feb 2019: Thomas Bryan (Chief Justice) However Wikipedia cites ODNB and ODNB says no such thing. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Thomas (d1500) Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes Identified as Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551
John Bowsey 1416- husband of Margaret Barnes 1418 father of Margaret Barnes 1418 Sir John Bowsey Barnes of Writtle died 1 June 1465 Unsourced, no image.Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes There is a brief note of a Sir John Bowsey of Essex in Visitation of Essex Identified as Sir John Bourchier, Baron Berners
Margaret Barnes 1418 daughter of Sir Richard Barnes 1390- married John Bowsey 1416- Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes Identified as Margaret Berners
John Bowsey c1440- No profile on Wikitree. Son of John Bowsey 1416- and Margaret Barnes 1418. Married Kateren Howard daughter of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes However the Duke's daughter Katherine Howard married John Bourchier. Identified as John Bourchier
Sir Richard Barnes 1390- (estimated DOB by C Mackinnon to help context) father of Margaret Barnes 1418 Visitation of Essex 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, 1634 Page 3: Barnes Then there is Visitation of Essex 1558 Page 21:Barnes] This source seems to make him the same person as Sir Richard Berners with a daughter Margaret Berners who married John Bourchier. They were the parents of Humphrey Bourchier the father of Margaret Bourchier who married Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 Identified as Sir Richard Berners.
Family of Sir Thomas Bryan the Justice
Sir Thomas Bryan 1420-1500 married Isabel, widow of Sir Thomas Blount 1390-1456 father of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 Real person Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Thomas (d1500) Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, in 5 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), Vol. I, page 486. Testamenta Vetusta (Nichols & Son, London, 1826) Vol. 2, Page 449-50 KB 1475 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Thomas (d1500) Wikipedia, as of 9 February 2019 makes him son of William John Bryan and husband of Margaret Bowsey 1442-1502 Wikipedia 2 Feb 2019: Thomas Bryan (Chief Justice). However the article only cites ODNB as a source. ODNB says his parents are unknown but he was a Londoner and could have been descended from John Bryan 1340-1395 fishmonger of London. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Thomas (d1500) ODNB adds may have married as his second wife Isabella, widow of William Bowes.
William John Bryan bc 1390 Wikipedia as of 9 Feb 2019: Thomas Bryan (Chief Justice). Wikipedia claims him as father of Sir Thomas Bryan 1420-1500. Suspect as two given names were very unusual, if ever heard, at this time. No source offered by Wikipedia.
John Bryan 1340-1395 father of John Bryan MP 1360-1418 fishmonger of London. Real person. History of Parliament online: BRYAN, John (d.1418), of London, his son
John Bryan MP 1360-1418 son of John Bryan 1340-1395 Real person. History of Parliament online: BRYAN, John (d.1418), of London Two sons, the younger being called William, under age at the time of his father's death. History of Parliament online: BRYAN, John (d.1418), of London
William Bryan (no profile on Wikitree) born after 1397 son of John Bryan MP 1360-1418 and his first wife, Joan Hanhampstead. Real person. History of Parliament online: BRYAN, John (d.1418), of London, his father
Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 son of Sir Thomas Bryan 1420-1500 and Isabel widow of Sir Thomas Blount 1390-1456 married Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551, father of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550, Margaret Bryan 1492-1525, Anne Bryan 1493- and Elizabeth Carew 1495-1546 Real person History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, in 5 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), Vol. I, page 486. Foss, Edward: Judges, Vol. V (1857), p. 40 and in 1475 was created a knight of the Bath. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Thomas (d1500) Earliest mention found so far of Chedington in Buckinghamshire in relation to the Bryan family. Complete Peerage Page 363
Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 daughter of Humphrey Bourchier 1436-1471 and Elizabeth Tilney 1445-1497 wife of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 mother of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550, Margaret Bryan 1492-1525, Anne Bryan 1493- and Elizabeth Carew 1495-1546 Real person History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, in 5 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013), Vol. I, page 486. Complete Peerage Page 363
Margaret Bryan 1492-1525 daughter of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 and Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 married Sir Henry Guildford Real person. History of Parliament online: Sir Henry Guildford, her husband Testamenta Vetusta (Nichols & Son, London, 1826) Vol. 2, Page 449-50
Anne Bryan 1493- daughter of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 and Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 Real person. Testamenta Vetusta (Nichols & Son, London, 1826) Vol. 2, Page 449-50
Elizabeth Bryan 1495-1546 daughter of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 and Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 married Sir Nicholas Carew Real person. Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Wikipedia: Elizabeth Carew
Philippa Spice 1484-1548 first wife of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 Real person History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds
Joan FitzGerald 1509-1565 second wife of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 real person History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds
Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 son of Sir Thomas Bryan 1457-1517 and Margaret Bourchier 1468-1551 married Philippa Spice 1484-1548 no children. Married Joan FitzGerald, Son Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 Real person Wikipedia: Francis Bryan Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Bryan, Sir Francis (called the Vicar of Hell) History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds At least 1 son, illegitimate 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</ref>Knighted Knights of England Page 61
Illegitimate un-named son of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 presumably of age in 1548 when he was recorded as carrying a despatch to London from the French Admiral. Therefore born say before 1533. Cannot have been Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 who is said to have died in 1640. Real person History of Parliament online: BRYAN, Sir Francis (by 1492-1550), of the Blackfriars, London and Ampthill and Woburn, Beds
Irish Bryans
Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 son of Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 married Anne Smith 1560-1635. Father of William Smith Bryan 1599-1667 Note that this profile has been disconnected from supposed father Sir Francis Bryan 1490-1550 9 February 2019
Anne Smith 1560-1635 married Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 mother of William Smith Bryan 1599-1667
American Bryans
First do read The Evolution of William Smith Bryan from Irish Rebel to Virginia Planter
William Smith Bryan 1599-1667 son of Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 and Anne Smith 1560-1635 married Catherine Morgan 1604-1680 Colonial Families of the United States of America Says transported in 1650 arriving with a shipload of chattels. The Bryan-Morrison Head Says William Smith? Bryan land holder in Ireland transported in 1650 with 11 sons and shipload of chattels. No attempt to name parents or wife. A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri Page viii Says he arrived in the Americas in 1615.
Catherine Morgan 1604-1680 daughter of Thomas Morgan 1560-1624 and Lady Catherine Herbert 1560-1604 married William Smith Bryan 1599-1667
Thomas Morgan 1560-1624 son of Henry Morgan Esq 1536-1603 and Lady Catherine Kemeys 1540-1567 married Lady Catherine Herbert 1560-1604 father of Catherine Morgan 1604-1680
Lady Catherine Herbert 1560-1604 married Thomas Morgan 1560-1624, mother of Catherine Morgan 1604-1680
Francis Bryan III, son of William Smith Bryan 1599-1667 and Catherine Morgan 1604-1680, claimed father of the immigrant Morgan Bryan 1671-1763The Bryan-Morrison Head Says eldest son, went to Ireland to claim inheritance. Went to Denmark.
Morgan Bryan 1621-1684 son of William Smith Bryan 1599-1667 and Catherine Morgan 1604-1680 The Bryan-Morrison Head says probably son of William Smith Bryan, in Norfolk in 1663.
Whanganoche Bryan 1590-. Born Clare, Ireland. No profile on Wikitree but mentioned as a son of Sir Francis Bryan II 1549-1640 on that page. Geni.com Gayle Hope Suspicious person Has birthdate 1 June 1590. 1 June is a far too common birthdate for supposed members of this family. Naming an Irish born child for a native American in 1590 is bordering on the absurd. Presumably named for the following Wahanganoche who died after 1662. Indian reservations
Wahanganoche, king of the Potowmack Indians acquitted of high treason and murder 1662. Encyclopedia Virginia: The Case of Wahanganoche 1662
Morgan Bryan 1671-1743. "yDNA studies may disprove the claim that Morgan O'Brien is descended paternally from Sir Francis Bryan. The Y chromosome (passed only from male to male) of descendants of Morgan Bryan appears to have "Dalcassian" markers similar to O'Brien descendants from County Clare, Ireland. See lines 168-190: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/bryan/default.aspx?section=yresults" Posted by Keith Shindler 17 Nov 2018 G2G in discussion regarding William Smith Bryan.
All the other alleged children of William Smith Bryan 1599-1667 and Catherine Morgan 1604-1680