A Christmas cracker

George Brewes was the cousin of Thomas, whose tomb at Horsham has featured in some of my earlier postings. George seemed to live a rather profligate life as most of the records of him concern his debts. National Archives document C 131/226/26 is about a debt he owed in 1406 to Walter Cokesey. What’s the Christmas connection?

The huge debt of £3000 was recorded in court before Richard Whittington, Mayor of the Staple of Westminster – the well known pantomime character! We don’t know whether George Brewes met Dick’s famous cat.

Walter Cokesey was George’s sister’s grandson. When George died in 1418, he was buried in the Priory church of St Mary Overie, Southwark, later to become St Saviour’s, and now Southwark Cathedral. His heir was Walter Cokesey’s son, Hugh.

Merry Christmas!

Articles hosted by the Braose Web

The Braose Web site hosts a group of articles which relate to the Braose or Brewes family. I have made access available via a new page of links.

The death of Joan Brewes  by Paul Mackenzie 

A debt of Peter de Brewes by Paul Mackenzie

The Maternity of John and Beatrix de Brewes by Paul Mackenzie

A note on the maternity of John and Beatrix de Brewes by Doug Thompson

A Review of the Ancestry of Richard de Brewes, husband of Alice le Rus  by Paul Mackenzie

Feet of Fine between Richard and William de Braose (1271)  by Paul Mackenzie

The Career of William III de Briouze in the Reign of King John: Land, Power and Social Ties

by Matthew Boulter

The Inquisition Post Mortem of John de Brewes by Doug Thompson & Paul Mackenzie

Steyning Museum Website

I see that Steyning Museum have published a short history of the Braose lords of Bramber on their website.

http://steyningmuseum.org.uk/braose.htm

They have a Braose exhibit too.

http://steyningmuseum.org.uk/exhibits/exhibits8.htm

The website is worth a visit - and the museum itself if you live near Steyning! You could visit Bramber castle as well. (pictured right).

A 1403 case in court

In 1403 there was a case at the Court of King's Bench between Margaret, the widow of Thomas de Brewes (d1395) and her new husband, William Burcestre on one side, and John Brewes (of Wiston), George Brewes and some associates on the other side. Margaret claimed that she had been disseised of her manors of Chesworth and Sedgwick, a life grant of which had been made to her by her husband. George Brewes was the cousin and heir of Thomas who claimed that Thomas had been "non compos mentis" when he made the life grant.

Eventually, (the case had been dragging on for years), John and George lost their case and had to pay Margaret the proceeds of the manors which they had appropriated.

Paul Mackenzie has transcribed and translated the original court records of the case and has made this available for all to see at the Your Archives site. The records confirm many relationships in the Brewes family.

The wife of Peter de Brewes of Wiston

Paul Mackenzie has discovered some new information about the death of the wife of Peter de Brewes. It confirms that her name was Joan and, despite some inconsistencies, suggests a date for her death and burial at Missenden Abbey.


Paul has kindly agreed to make his work available for others to read via this page on the Braose website.

It is now looking even more likely that the arms in the window at Wiston, shown right, refer to this wife of Peter.

Peter de Brewes placed in Suffolk

Paul Mackenzie of QLD, Australia, has sent me his latest finding on the Peter de Brewes of Wiston question. He has transcribed and translated a document of 1353 concerning a debt of Peter de Brewes connected with his purchase of Chesham Bois manor. The document describes Peter as "knight of Suffolk". We had previously been unsure whether the Suffolk had been a misreading of Sussex but Paul has found a useful comparison with another document which confirms the reading as Suffolk. The lower picture shows the words "de Brewoes miles de com' Suff† " from the document in question. The upper picture shows the words "Robert de Ufford comes Suff†" from another roll. Robert de Ufford is known to be Earl of Suffolk, (comes Suff†) and the similarity of the formation is clear. Hence, we are now sure that, in 1353, Peter de Brewes was resident in Suffolk. The full story from Paul, including the transcriptions and translations, can be seen on this page at the BraoseWeb site.

Another John de Braose identified.

It was recently brought to my notice by a friend (That's you John.) that the list of priests for the church of St Nicolas at Old Shoreham, Sussex includes a name which looks like some form of John de Braose. This John was recorded as priest in 1294 and I was asked if I knew of him.

I had to say that I had no knowledge of any John de Braose who could be matched with the priest.

But I was looking up some references on Bidlington hospital this week and came across a connection. There is a court case (Coram Rege Roll, Hilary 2 Edw III, ro. 102) between Thomas de Braose and his kinsman, the baron, William de Braose. One of the arguments is whether Bidlington is a manor or a spiritual hospital. In this case the jurors say that William de Braose  presented John de Braose, his brother, as chaplain of the hospital. Most of the arguments seem quite confused but the confirmation that William had a brother John who was a priest seems to fit well with the person who was incumbent at Old Shoreham in 1294.

William de Braose's father, another William, had three wives, so the question left now is – which wife was John's mother?

The picture shows Old Shoreham church, depicted by S H Grimm in 1782. (Click on picture to see large version.)

Addition: The Bishop of Chichester's Register shows that Bishop Gilbert (1288 - 1305) admitted John de Brous to the chantry of the hospital of the Blessed Mary at Bidlington.

Further Addition: (extract from "The Story of Shoreham" by Henry Cheal pp195/6)
Circa 1295-6, John de Brewose, who was doubtless of the family of the Lord of Bramber. He is described in an Assize Roll 23 and 24 Edward I., as "parson of the Church of Old Shoreham," and as making complaint that Edmund Earl of Cornwall, Gilbert de Mulsham and eight other persons had unjustly deprived him of a plot of ground containing 60ft in length and 31 ft in width. The jurors said that " Gilbert and all the others except the Earl, unjustly disseised John de Brewose of the tenement he claims, therefore it is agreed that John recover possession thereof and his damages. Gilbert and the others in mercy, and. John de Brewose in mercy, for a false claim against the Earl, pardoned."

The Haxey Hood

Alina de Braose may have been responsible for the origin of an annual sporting event in Lincolnshire!

See Hambo Central - Mon 4 Jan 2010.