Sir George Browne (1440 – 4 December 1483) was an English politician. He was the eldest surviving son and heir of

Sir Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne ( "brown"; 19 October 160519 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a d ...

, beheaded 20 July 1460. He took part in Buckingham's rebellion, and was beheaded on

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

on 4 December 1483.

Family

George Browne was the second but eldest surviving son of

Betchworth Castle Betchworth Castle is a mostly crumbled ruin of a fortified medieval stone house with some tall, two-storey corners strengthened in the 18th century, in the north of the semi-rural parish of Brockham. It is built on a sandstone spur overlookin ...

, Surrey, and Eleanor FitzAlan, the daughter of Thomas Fitzalan. By his mother's first marriage, he had six brothers, including Sir Anthony Browne, and two sisters. After his father's death, his mother married Sir Thomas Vaughan who was executed at

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

on 25 June 1483 (along with

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers (c. 144025 June 1483), was an English nobleman, courtier, bibliophile and writer. He was the brother of Queen Elizabeth Woodville who married King Edward IV. He was one of the leading members of the Woodvi ...

and Sir Richard Grey).

Career

On 30 September 1460, two months after his father's execution, Browne was granted a pardon by the

Yorkists The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

, and in 1470 was arrested with

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He p ...

, and

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury (22 November 1428 – 14 April 1471), known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, landowner of the House of Neville fortune and military c ...

. He fought at the

Battle of Tewkesbury The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England. King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival Hou ...

on 4 May 1471, and was knighted after the battle by the Duke of Clarence. He was elected a member of parliament for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in 1472 and for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in 1483. In 1478 he was

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

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and in 1480

Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instru ...

. In 1472, he surrendered his title and the Manor of Tong to

Cecily Neville, Duchess of York Cecily Neville (3 May 1415 – 31 May 1495) was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two Kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", because ...

. An undated letter in Browne's hand to John Paston, esquire, containing the cryptic message 'It shall never come out for me', survives among the

Paston Letters The ''Paston Letters'' are a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impo ...

. By 1483 he had switched his allegiance to the future Henry VII, and with a force in Kent took part in the rebellion by

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483), was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales against ...

, against

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. According to Speed:

Another commotion at the same time was in Kent, where George Browne and John Guildford, knights, Fogge, Scot, Clifford and Bonting, with five thousand men attempted great matters at
Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...
, but hearing of the Duke of Buckingham's surprise, dispersed themselves for that time....whereupon those that lately fled England were indicted of treason, and other of Henry's factions beheaded, whereof Sir George Browne and Sir Roger Clifford, knights, with four others were beheaded at London, and at Exeter for the like cause died Sir Thomas Sentleger, who had married Lady Anne, Duchess of Exeter, King Richard's own sister, with others, so jealous was the king of his usurped crown.

Browne was beheaded on

on 4 December 1483, and buried at the Blackfriars, London. His widow left a will, proved 26 June 1488, in which she asked to be buried at the Blackfriars with her husband.

Marriage and issue

In 1471 Browne married Elizabeth Paston (1 July 1429 – 1 February 1488), widow of Sir Robert Poynings (slain at the

Second Battle of St Albans The Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461 during the Wars of the Roses in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England (the First Battle of St Albans had been fought in 1455). The army of the Yorkist faction, under the Earl of War ...

on 17 February 1461), and daughter of

William Paston William Paston may refer to: *William Paston (died 1444) (1378–1444), Justice of the Common Pleas *William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth (1654–1732), British peer and politician *Sir William Paston, 1st Baronet (1528–1610), English benefactor ...

Justice of the Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas (England), Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court o ...

, and Agnes Berry. By her first marriage she had an only son,

Sir Edward Poynings Sir Edward Poynings KG (1459 – 22 October 1521) was an English soldier, administrator and diplomat, and Lord Deputy of Ireland under King Henry VII of England. Early life Edward Poynings was the only son of Sir Robert Poynings (c.1419–14 ...

.Poynings, Sir Edward (1459–1521), of Westenhanger, Kent, History of Parliament
Retrieved 21 September 2013. By Elizabeth Paston, Browne had two sons and a daughter: *Sir Matthew Browne (d. 6 August 1557), who married Frideswide Guildford, daughter of

Richard Guildford Sir Richard Guildford (about 1450 – 1506) was an English courtier, administrator, politician and military leader who held important positions under King Henry VII. Origins Guildford was the son of John Guildford (died 1493) and his first wif ...

, by whom he had eight sons and six daughters. *George Browne. *Mary Browne, who married a husband surnamed Bradbridge (or Benbridge).

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

David Nash Ford’s Royal Berkshire History: Buckingham’s Insurrection at Newbury
Retrieved 21 September 2013

Retrieved 21 September 2013
Will of Dame Elisabeth Browne, Widow of Blackfriars, City of London, proved 26 June 1488, PROB 11/8/210, National Archives
Retrieved 21 September 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, George 1440 births 1483 deaths

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

English MPs 1472 People executed under the Yorkists English politicians convicted of crimes People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation English MPs 1478 English MPs 1483