Francis Bromley
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Francis Bromley (ca. 1556–1591) was an English politician. A member of an important legal and landowning dynasty of the
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...
, his career was cut short by an early death. He 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 England, great council of Lords Spi ...
for
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
in 1584.Hasler: ''BROMLEY, Francis (c.1556–91), of Hodnet, Salop.'' – Author: W.J.J.
/ref>


Background

Francis Bromley was the eldest son and heir to the estates ofGrazebrook and Rylands, volume 1, p. 78
/ref> :* Sir George Bromley of Hallon, near
Worfield Worfield is a village and civil parish in Shropshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands, England. It is northwest of London and west of Wolverhampton. It is north of Bridgnorth and southeast of Telford. The parish, which includes th ...
, in
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
. Sir George was an important lawyer, who exercise great power and influence through his posts at with the
Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is an estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancast ...
and the Council in the Marches of Wales and as chief justice of
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
.Hasler: ''BROMLEY, George (c.1526–89), of Hallon in Worfield, Salop and the Inner Temple, London'' – Author: N.M. Fuidge.
/ref> :*Joan Waverton, the daughter and heiress of John Waverton or Wannerton of Worfield.Grazebrook and Rylands, volume 2, p.492
/ref> George Bromley acquired Hallon (also rendered "Hawne") through a strategic marriage and made it his seat and the family home. Other members of Bromley's family besides his father had trained at the
Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
and earned great wealth and power through practice of the Law, including his uncle,
Thomas Bromley Sir Thomas Bromley (153011 April 1587) was a 16th-century lawyer, judge and politician who established himself in the mid-Tudor period and rose to prominence during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was successively Solicitor General for England and ...
, the
Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
, and another earlier
Thomas Bromley Sir Thomas Bromley (153011 April 1587) was a 16th-century lawyer, judge and politician who established himself in the mid-Tudor period and rose to prominence during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was successively Solicitor General for England and ...
who had become Chief Justice. Francis also had a younger brother,
Edward Bromley Sir Edward Bromley (1563–2 June 1626) was an English lawyer, judge, landowner and politician of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. A member of a Shropshire legal and landed gentry dynasty, he was prominent at the Inner Temple and became a ...
, who was to become a
Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was ...
.


Education and training

Bromley was sent to
Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...
in 1565, at a time when it was still new under the headship of Thomas Ashton, and an explicitly
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
institution. He entered
Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...
on 10 January 1575: his stated age of 19 helps determine his date of birth as around 1556. Bromley was admitted to the Inner Temple by special dispensation of its parliament on 28 April 1577. His father, George, and his uncle Thomas were both among the presiding
bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...
s at the parliament and, although the terms are not stated, it is likely he was admitted gratis or at a reduced fee in deference to his father's distinction. His brother Edward was also the subject of a special admission in 1580. While Edward went on to some eminence in the profession, Francis is not mentioned again by name in the records, so it is likely his studies were intended to give him the legal foundation useful to his future position as a significant landowner in Shropshire. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1583.


Member of Parliament

Francis Bromley was elected
knight of the shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...
for
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
in November 1584. The county seats were never contested and almost always taken by members of the local landed gentry, many of them members of or associated with the Council in the Marches, an arm of central government which dominated the West Midlands. As Sir George Bromley was very influential in the council, and his family were among the foremost gentry families in a gentry-dominated county, he would have had little difficulty inserting his son into a county seat. Francis took the second seat, deferring in
order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of importance applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. For individuals, it is most often used for diplomats in attendance at very formal occasions. It can also be used in the context of ...
to Walter Leveson of
Lilleshall Abbey Lilleshall Abbey was an Augustinians, Augustinian abbey in Shropshire, England, today located north of Telford. It was founded between 1145 and 1148 and followed the austere customs and observance of the Arrouaise, Abbey of Arrouaise in northe ...
. The parliament assembled on 23 November and lasted for about ten months. Bromley played only a small part. He was appointed to the subsidy committee, reviewing the queen's main channel of taxation, in February 1585. However, in March he was given leave to return to Shropshire for the
assize The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
s.


Landowner

Sir George Bromley died on 2 March 1589 leaving Francis the Bromley family estates scattered across northern Shropshire, including land at Hawkestone near
Hodnet Hodnet ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town of Market Drayton lies 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north-east of the village. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1534. History Evidence of a ...
, Wistanswick, and Allerton, as well as Hallon. However, Francis Bromley headed the family for only two years. He died in 1591, leaving his young son Thomas to inherit.


Marriage and family

Bromley married in 1581 Joyce Leighton, Latinised as ''Jocosa'' in the
Heraldic Visitation Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as the kings' deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulat ...
Grazebrook and Rylands, volume 2, p.325
/ref> and elsewhere, although this is a misunderstanding of the name. Joyce Leighton was the daughter of: :* Edward Leighton of Wattlesborough. :*Anne Darrell, daughter of Paul Darrell of Lillingstone Dayrell, Buckinghamshire. This was a marriage of equals, with both partners coming from the dominant group of county gentry families. Edward Leighton was a powerful force politically in Shropshire during the 1580s. He was a member of the Council in the Marches and became custos rotulorum of his county in 1587. Francis Bromley and Joyce Leighton had two children: :*Thomas Bromley, the heir, who married Eleanor Jenks but died without issue in 1610, leaving the Bromley estates to
Edward Bromley Sir Edward Bromley (1563–2 June 1626) was an English lawyer, judge, landowner and politician of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. A member of a Shropshire legal and landed gentry dynasty, he was prominent at the Inner Temple and became a ...
, Francis's younger brother. Edward died in 1626, also without issue, leaving them to Sir George's third son, also called George.Thrush and Ferris: ''BROMLEY, Edward (1563–1626), of the Inner Temple, London and Hallon, Worfield, Salop'' – Author: Simon Healy
/ref> :*Jane Bromley, who married William Davenport.Grazebrook and Rylands, volume 2, p.493
/ref> Hallon became the focus of a bitter legal wrangle, lasting over several decades, the origin of which is recounted by Randall, the historian of Worfield, with some apologies for straying into the "region of tradition, but tradition fortified by facts."Randall, p.88
/ref> Joyce Leighton remarried after the death of Francis Bromley, becoming the second wife of Walter Wrottesley of Wrottesley Park, near
Tettenhall Tettenhall is a historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton district in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and ...
: a remarriage mentioned by the Visitation of Shropshire and Burke's Peerage.Burke, p.1208
/ref> William Davenport and Jane Bromley allegedly eloped after a secret and forbidden courtship in the grounds of Wrottesley. Subsequently, they put forward a claim to Hallon, which Edward Bromley had assumed was his. The family dispute was ultimately to be resolved in the Davenports' favour, with Hallon becoming Davenport House.


Family tree


Notes


References

*Sir
Bernard Burke Sir John Bernard Burke, (5 January 1814 – 12 December 1892) was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms, who helped publish ''Burke's Peerage''. Personal life Burke, of Irish descent, was born at London and was educated in London an ...
(1869)
''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire''
31st edition, Harrison. Accessed 22 May 2014 at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. *Joseph Foster (editor) (1891)
''Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714''
Institute of Historical Research. Accessed 22 May 2014 at
British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...
. *George Grazebrook and
John Paul Rylands John Paul Rylands, FSA (1846 – 22 March 1923, Birkenhead), was an English barrister, genealogist and topographer. John Paul Rylands was the son of Thomas G. Rylands of Highfields, Thelwall in Cheshire who died in 1900. He was admitted to t ...
(editors) (1889)
''The Visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623: Part I''
by Robert Tresswell,
Somerset Herald Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an Officer of Arms, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of Henr ...
, and
Augustine Vincent Augustine Vincent (c. 1584–1626) was an English herald and antiquary. He became involved in an antiquarian dispute between his friend William Camden and Ralph Brooke. Life Augustine Vincent was born, presumably in Northamptonshire, in about 158 ...
,
Rouge Croix Pursuivant Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. He is said to be the oldest of the four pursuivants in ordinary. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since th ...
of arms; marshals and deputies to
William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland that relates la ...
,
Clarenceux king of arms Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an Officer of Arms, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial King of Arms, kings of arms and his juri ...
. With additions from the pedigrees of Shropshire gentry taken by the heralds in the years 1569 and 1584, and other sources,
Harleian Society The Harleian Society is a text publication society and registered charity founded in 1869 for the publication of manuscripts of the heraldic visitations of the counties of England and Wales, and other unpublished manuscripts relating to genealo ...
. Accessed 22 May 2014 at Internet Archive. *George Grazebrook and
John Paul Rylands John Paul Rylands, FSA (1846 – 22 March 1923, Birkenhead), was an English barrister, genealogist and topographer. John Paul Rylands was the son of Thomas G. Rylands of Highfields, Thelwall in Cheshire who died in 1900. He was admitted to t ...
(editors) (1889)
''The Visitation of Shropshire, taken in the year 1623: Part II''
Harleian Society The Harleian Society is a text publication society and registered charity founded in 1869 for the publication of manuscripts of the heraldic visitations of the counties of England and Wales, and other unpublished manuscripts relating to genealo ...
. Accessed 22 May 2014 at Internet Archive. * *
Frederick Andrew Inderwick Frederick Andrew Inderwick King's Counsel, KC (23 April 1836 – 16 August 1904) was an English lawyer, antiquarian, and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons from 18 ...
(editor) (1896)
''The Inner Temple: its early history, as illustrated by its records, 1505–1603''
Masters of the Inner Temple and H. Sotheran. Accessed 19 May 2014 at the
Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet ...
. *John Randall (1887)
''Worfield and its Townships''
published by the author at
Madeley, Shropshire Madeley is a historic market town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The parish had a population of 18,774 at the 2021 census. Madeley is recorded in the Domesday Book, having been founded before the 8t ...
. Accessed 22 May 2014 at the
Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Hargrave Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet ...
. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bromley, Francis 1550s births 1591 deaths English MPs 1584–1585 Members of the Inner Temple Politicians from Shropshire 16th-century English landowners People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford