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

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 Wiston Question

One of the biggest problems in the genealogy of the Braose/Brewes family concerns the Wiston branch. Just how do they relate to the rest of the family?

There were just two generations at Wiston. Peter de Brewes bought the manor along with four other Sussex manors in 1357. His son John inherited the estate but died without issue in 1426. His heir was his sister Beatrix, married to Hugh Shirley, and so the house and manor became the home of the Shirleys.

Peter was knighted after the battle of Crécy, and became a chamber knight to Edward III. He served the king for at least 20 years, dying soon after Edward in 1378. Peter held some estates in Buckinghamshire and he was granted fraternity at Missenden Abbey in April 1378, so he probably died there and was buried nearby.

His son John, however, seems to have made his base at Wiston in Sussex. When he died in 1426 he was commemorated by a magnificent brass in the church adjacent to Wiston House.

John is depicted here in an image derived from that brass.

Two Braose marriages are also commemorated in the windows of this church.

But just where did Peter and John fit into the Braose family? Who was Peter's father? You can read in some respected genealogical works that he was a son of Peter de Braose of Tetbury, making him a nephew of William de Braose, Lord of Bramber and Gower, who died in 1326. But there is no evidence to support this position.

Paul Mackenzie in Australia and I, in England, have been sharing our detailed research on this question for many years now but we have as yet been unable to come to any firm conclusions. Does anyone out there think they can help?