The father of Peter Brewes of Wiston

Paul Mackenzie is a keen researcher of the Brewes family. He has provided his observations concerning the possible father of Peter de Brewes of Wiston - one of the long-time questions for Brewes researchers.

Peter de Brewes of Wiston - Redux

It appears that there are only six possible candidates for the father of Peter de Brewes of Wiston.  All the evidence suggests he was a younger son, in that he did not inherit any lands as an elder would have done, but rather he acquired them by way of marriage or purchase.  However there does not appear to be any primary evidence concerning his father.

(I) Peter de Brewes of Tetbury b1272 d1312

The only strong evidence is circumstantial in that, in the grant of Wiston to Peter de Brewes there is a remainder to Peter de Brewes, son of Thomas.  This is assumed to be Thomas de Brewes son of said Peter de Brewes of Tetbury.  This candidate is favoured by some genealogists as being the father of Peter de Brewes of Wiston.  However, there are two major problems.   Firstly, Peter of Tetbury died in 1312 and this would mean Peter of Wiston was born before that date, which seems too early. Secondly, there is a letters patent made by the king in 1500 concerning a one Thomas Cokesey. A consequence of which is that according to law, Peter de Brewes of Wiston was not the son of Peter de Brewes of Tetbury. Substantial evidence would be required to overcome this "legal fact".

(II) Giles de Brewes of Buckingham d1305

The only circumstantial evidence is that both held lands in Buckinghamshire.  This would mean Peter was born before 1305 which seems unlikely

(III) Sir Giles de Brewes of Norfolk b1272 d1310

This would mean Peter would had been born before 1310, and again seems unlikely

(IV) William de Brewes Junior b1280-86 liv 1323

William has been the traditional candidate for Peter’s father, though he has fallen out of favour in recent years.  It is believed he entered the clergy.  There is no circumstantial evidence at all.

(V) Sir Richard de Breuse of Stradbroke Suffolk b1276  d c1320

It is possible Peter may have been a younger son of Sir Richard. In the 1350s a Peter de Breuse knight had associations in the same area of Suffolk. A Sir Peter was acting as a trustee on behalf of the abbot and convent of Bury in 1350 and 1353. Again this Sir Peter was acting in 1358 as a trustee for lands in Fornham St. Martin, Fornham St. Genevieive and Great Barton, Suffolk. In 1353 Peter de Brewoes a knight of Suffolk acknowledged that he owed William Hampstead two hundred and eighty pounds. We can identify who is this Peter de Brewoes from the transaction itself. A Peter de Brewes purchased the manor of Chesham Bois in Buckinghamshire from William de Hampstead who had acquired it in 1350 from Sir John de Moleyns [See VCH Bucks]. Presumably, this debt owed by Peter de Brewoes to William de Hampstead was for the part or full payment due to the purchase of Chesham Bois Manor. It is well known that this Peter de Brewes of Chesham Bois, subsequently purchased the manor of Wiston of Sussex.

(VI) An unknown member of the de Brewes family.

Paul Mackenzie

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

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.

Peter de Brewes of Wiston - a new candidate for his father?

Amongst the pleas of the king's army taken at Perth in 1296 is this one :

"John Lovel was attached to answer Alebinus de Whelton on a plea of trespass. Whereon he complains that when on Friday in Easter Week [30 March] in the said year he came with the king's army to Berwick, took lodgings and spent the night there and found some money there, on the following Wednesday John came and took the money, namely £29 13s 4d, and carried it off by means of his groom Thomas de Breuse. Later he took Alebinus and imprisoned him until the latter should agree to appear before the king's justices to declare his indebtedness to John for 20 marks, and to repay the money within a certain term. Furthermore, John kept Alebinus in this state until he agreed to make out for Sir Thomas Lovel, the brother of John, a note of discharge for 26 marks in which Thomas was indebted to him, whereby Alebinus has been wronged and has suffered damage."

I wondered who was this Thomas de Breuse, groom of John Lovel? He does not seem to be recorded elsewhere.

Perhaps a consideration of John Lovel will help. John seems likely to be Sir John Lovel of Titchmarsh. He was married to Joan de Ros, sister of Mary de Ros, mother of Peter de Brewes of Tetbury. That makes John Lovel the uncle of Peter de Brewes of Tetbury and all his siblings. Could it be that Thomas is a younger brother of Peter, as yet unrecorded?

If so he is likely to be younger than the last recorded brother, William, who seems to be born between 1274 and 1280. That is likely to make him under 16 years old in 1296, a good age for a groom.

The name Thomas is an indication too. Peter's oldest son was named Thomas - after his brother?

If Thomas had a son named Peter in a similar act of respect we have a good candidate for Peter de Brewes of Wiston!

The chronology for Peter of Wiston could never sit happily with his being a son of Peter of Tetbury who died in 1312 but it would work much better for a Peter who was the son of a younger brother.

Just another speculation to add in to the ongoing investigations!

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?