(Charles Brandon - source Wikimedia Commons)
There are two wills of Sir William Brandon of Wangford
(Suffolk) recorded in the registers of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The
first was written on 9 June 1475 and originally recorded in the register ‘Milles’
as being granted probate on 13 July 1491 but this grant was subsequently
invalidated (TNA, PROB 11/8/629); the second, recorded in register ‘Dogget’,
was written on 4 March and 9 April 1491 and was granted probate on 17 November
1491 (TNA, PROB 11/9/49).
William Brandon, born before 1430, had been in the service of the Yorkist kings through
his association with the dukes of Norfolk, rising to be a senior member of the
council of John Mowbray, fourth duke of Norfolk. Brandon was knighted at Tewkesbury by a
grateful Edward IV and swore allegiance to young Prince Edward, the future
Edward V, in 1471. In 1475 he was
contracted to travel to France with the royal forces, hence he wrote a will in
June of that year. This document is not
a rushed affair. It is a long and considered listing of his lands and of his
children and their bequests. His sons are
named as William, Robert and Thomas, and his daughters are Mary, Anne, Margaret
the elder, Margaret the younger and Kateryne. His wife, Elizabeth née
Wingfield, is given overall
control and the bequests are fairly standard.
The English army returned safely
and William returned to royal service.
The will was not needed at that time.
The second will, partly written in April 1491, is shorter, not least because
his daughters are now married (or dead) and are not dependent (and indeed are
not mentioned at all). Only his son
Robert receives anything; he is the principal legatee, with reversion to William’s
wife, Elizabeth. In fact three-quarters
of the will is nuncupative (i.e. dictated), with an earlier date of 4 March
1491. This portion has a detailed list
of lands, all bequeathed to his wife.
Their eldest son William
Brandon, had been Henry Tudor’s standard bearer, and had died at Bosworth. If he left a will, it has not been found yet. He is recorded as being buried in the grave
pits at Dadlington. In July 1483 William
senior had been present at the coronation of Richard III, but, despite marks of
royal favour, his loyalty became suspect when two of his sons, William and
Thomas, joined the rebellion of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, in October
that year. When the rising failed, William junior and Thomas fled to Brittany,
where Henry Tudor was. Some of William
senior’s lands were seized on the king’s orders, but he secured a free pardon
in March 1484. By the end of that year
he was out of favour again and sought sanctuary in the city of Gloucester,
where he remained until Tudor became king.
He regained his lands and petitioned for the return of the office of
Knight Marshall of the Marshalsea court, which he passed to his son Thomas, who
was also at Bosworth with his brother but had survived. Thomas became a trusted
and noted diplomat under the Tudors, dying in 1510. He married but had no surviving
children. His brother Robert appears to
have remained in Norfolk, married twice, but had no surviving children; he
requested to be buried with his first wife, whilst his second wife was his
executrix.
William, the standard bearer, had married Elizabeth Bruyn,
widow of Thomas Tyrrell of Heron (grandfather of James Tyrell). William and Elizabeth had four sons and one
daughter: William, Thomas, Robert and Charles, later duke of Suffolk, and Anne,
who married twice. Elizabeth Bruyn
married for a third time, to William Mallory.
The children of the standard bearer were brought up within the Tudor
household, and Charles became the most famous, passing down the Brandon blood
through a Tudor alliance to Lady Jane Grey.