Sir Anthony Browne QS (1509–1567), sometimes referred to as Antony Browne, was a British justice.

Life

He came from a family of lawyers. His father, Sir Wistan Browne, was a barrister of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, and three of his uncles served as benchers there, one of whom was Sir Humphrey Browne, a justice of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

. On his mother, Elizabeth's side were Sir John Mordaunt, chancellor of the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

, and William Mordaunt, chief

Prothonotary The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...

of the Common Pleas. Keeping with family tradition he joined Middle Temple, and became a pupil of John Jenour, at the time the second Prothonotary of the Common Pleas. In 1545, he became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

, and in 1554 a bencher of Middle Temple. He was made a

Serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are w ...

in 1555 under the patronage of the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

, and was then immediately made

Queen's Serjeant A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

, obliged as the junior serjeant of his inn to give a reading, which he did on the subject of the Statute of Jeofails. On 5 October 1558, Browne was appointed

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the othe ...

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

; his appointment was reconfirmed in November by her successor,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. He was removed by Elizabeth in the following January by means of appointing him a

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Queen's Bench, most likely due to his religious disagreements with the new queen; while it was not serious enough to demand removal from the court, it would be unthinkable to have the head of a major court in religious disagreement with the monarch. In 1563, it was rumoured he would replace Nicholas Bacon as

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of S ...

; if so he rejected it on grounds of religion. In 1565, he wrote an essay supporting the claim to the throne of

Mary Stuart Mary Stuart or Mary Stewart may refer to: People *Mary Stewart, Countess of Buchan (before 1428–1465), fifth daughter of James I of Scotland, 1st Countess of Buchan *Mary of Guelders (c. 1434–1463), queen to James II of Scotland * Mary Stewart, ...

, which was later included in

John Lesley John Lesley (or Leslie) (29 September 1527 – 31 May 1596) was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch. Early career He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...

's ''A Treatise concerning the Defence of the Honour of Marie, Queene of Scotland, made by Morgan Philippes, Bachelar of Divinitie, Piae afflicts animi consoleiones, ad Mariam Scot. Reg.'' in 1571, and also encouraged

Edmund Plowden Sir Edmund Plowden (1519/20 – 6 February 1585) was a distinguished English lawyer, legal scholar and theorist during the late Tudor period. Early life Plowden was born at Plowden Hall, Lydbury North, Shropshire. He was the son of Humphre ...

to write ''A Treatise on Succession'', which attempted to prove that Mary was not debarred from the English throne under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

's will. It is likely Elizabeth was aware of these anti-Protestant efforts as she knighted him in February 1567. Browne remained a justice of the Common Pleas until his death on 16 May 1567 at

Weald Hall Weald Country Park is a 700-year-old, 500 acre (2 km²) country park in South Weald in the borough of Brentwood in the English county of Essex. It is on the north-east fringe of Greater London. Weald manor, parts of which dated to the 16 ...

in Essex. Plowden described him at his death as a judge 'de profound ingeny et graund eloquence' (of profound ingenuity and grand eloquence), and the Spanish ambassador called his death a great loss to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

faction in England. His funeral was performed, per his request, with the traditional Catholic ceremonies, and at his funeral various friends were given gold

mourning ring Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

s in the style of those of Serjeants-at-Law with 'Wee dye' engraved on the outside and 'Forgett nott' on the inside. He was buried in St Peter's Church in

South Weald South Weald is a mainly farmland and park settlement in the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. The civil parish of South Weald was absorbed by Brentwood Urban District in 1934. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 6370. South Weald co ...

, but his tomb was badly damaged in the 1868 church restoration, leaving only a headless figure in judicial robes and part of an inscription, which gives his age at death as fifty seven.

Family

Browne married Jane, the daughter of William Farrington at an undetermined point, but, as the marriage was childless, most of his estate was left to his brother George and various friends. His most lasting creation is Brentwood School, created as 'The Grammar School of Anthony Browne, Serjeant at the Law, in Brentwood'.

Parliament

Browne was a Member (MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

for

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 ...

1545,

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton li ...

1547,

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

March 1553 and October 1553, Scarborough April 1554 and

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced i ...

November 1554.

References

;Attribution * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Anthony 1509 births 1567 deaths Chief Justices of the Common Pleas Knights Bachelor Members of the Middle Temple Serjeants-at-law (England) Justices of the Common Pleas

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

People from the Borough of Brentwood Members of the Parliament of England for Lostwithiel English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554 English MPs 1554–1555 16th-century English judges 16th-century English lawyers Members of Parliament for Maldon Members of Parliament for Great Bedwyn