Sir William Brabazon (died 1552) was an English-born Irish soldier and statesman. He held office as

Vice-Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, and chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

and

Lord Justice of Ireland The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...

. His descendants still hold the title

Earl of Meath Earl of Meath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1627 and is held by the head of the Brabazon family. History The Brabazon family descends from Sir Edward Brabazon, who represented County Wicklow in the Irish House of Com ...

. Brabazon was descended from the family of Roger le Brabazon, and was the son of John Brabazon of Eastwell, Leicestershire; his mother was a Miss Chaworth. His grandfather, John Brabazon the elder, had been killed at the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...

Life

After succeeding to his father's estates, he came to Court. He was present at the

Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was a ...

in 1520, where he gained royal favour through his skill in

jousting Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

on 20 August 1534, and appointed Vice-Treasurer and General Receiver of Ireland. He sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

in the Parliament of 1536–7. In a letter from the

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

Gerald Aylmer Gerald Edward Aylmer, (30 April 1926, Greete, Shropshire – 17 December 2000, Oxford) was an English people, English historian of 17th century England. Gerald Aylmer was the only child of Edward Aylmer (cricketer), Edward Arthur Aylmer, fro ...

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

in August 1535 he was described as "the man that prevented the total ruin and desolation of the Kingdom". In 1536, he and

John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimlestown John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimleston (1470-25 July 1538), was an Irish nobleman, judge and politician. He was the eldest son of Christopher Barnewall, 2nd Baron Trimlestown and his wife Elizabeth Plunket, daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher ...

beat back an assault by the O'Connor clan on Carbury by burning several villages in

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

and carrying away great spoil. The next year he made so effective a speech in support of establishing the King's authority in opposition to that of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

that he persuaded the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

to pass the two requisite Acts, the ''Act of Appeals 1537'' and the ''Act Authorising the King, his Heirs and Successors to be Supreme Head of the Church of Ireland 1537''. As a result of this, many religious houses were in 1539 surrendered to King

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

. Brabazon himself was granted the lands of the Abbey of St Thomas, between present-day Thomas Street in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

: here he built his townhouse Thomas Court. The Abbey's lands included Kilruddery, which later became, and remains, the family's principal seat.

For his good services to the Crown he was, on 1 October 1543, constituted Lord Justice of Ireland, and he was again appointed to the same office on 1 April 1546. In the same year, he drove Patrick O'More and Brian O'Connor from Kildare. In April 1547 he was elected a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. In the spring of 1548 he assisted the

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

in subduing a rebellion raised in

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

by the sons of Thomas Eustace, 1st Viscount Baltinglass. He was for the third time made Lord Justice on 2 February 1549. In August 1550, he subdued Cahir mac Art Kavanagh, head of the powerful MacMurrough-Kavanagh dynasty and the dominant Gaelic magnate in

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

. Cahir, after making submission and renouncing his Irish title ''The MacMurrough'', received a

royal pardon In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prerog ...

, and the new title Baron of Ballyann.

Death

Brabazon died, while on military service, on 9 July 1552 (as is proved by the inquisitions taken in the year of his death), not in 1548 as recorded on his tombstone. His heart was buried with his ancestors at Eastwell, and his body in the chancel of St. Catherine's Church, Dublin.

Family

By his wife Elizabeth Clifford, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Nicholas Clifford of Holme,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and his wife Mary Harper, sister of Sir George Harper, he left two sons and two daughters, Anne, who married Andrew Wise, and Elizabeth, who married Sir Henry Duke of Castlejordan and had two daughters. His eldest son,

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

, was made a

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

in 1616, while his paternal grandson was

William Brabazon, 1st Earl of Meath William Brabazon, 1st Earl of Meath (158018 December 1651) was an Anglo-Irish peer. Brabazon was descended from an English family that was seated in Leicestershire from the reign of Henry III, and came to Ireland in the 1530s. He was the secon ...

. His younger son, Anthony, founded another branch of the family whose main seat was at

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

Castle,

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. Elizabeth, despite her apparent lack of Irish connections, chose to remain in Ireland after his death. She outlived William by many years (dying in 1581), and remarried no less than three times. Her children by her later marriages included the distinguished soldier Sir William Warren, and

Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore PC (I) (1564 – 9 November 1627) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Birth and origins Garret was a son of Sir Edward Moore of Mellifont and his wife Elizabeth Clifford. His father was a knight and owner of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brabazon, William 1552 deaths Year of birth unknown People from the Borough of Melton 16th-century English knights 16th-century English soldiers English people of Norman descent

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...