Margaret, Baroness Bryan[1] (ca. 1468 - 1551/52) was Lady Governess of all Henry VIII's children: Princess Mary; Henry FitzRoy; Princess Elizabeth; and Prince Edward.
Margaret Bryan was born Margaret Bourchier around 1468 in Benningborough, Yorkshire, England. She was the first child of Sir Humphrey Bourchier (1440 / 1444 - 14 April 1471) and Elizabeth Tilney (d. 4 April 1497). As the firstborn son of John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, her father was heir to the barony; however, Sir Humphrey preceded his father in death, being killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. Instead, his son and Margaret's younger brother John succeeded his grandfather in the barony Berners. Margaret's great-grandmother, i.e. father's father's mother, was Anne Plantagenet, therefore Margaret could boast royal Plantagenet bloodlines for herself; a fact which may have helped secure her posts with King Henry VIII, a distant cousin. Margaret's mother married for the second time Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfok, and was the half-sister of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of Queen Anne.
Margaret's mother, Elizabeth, married Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk after the death of her first husband, and became the Duchess of Norfolk. She and Howard had nine children, including Lady Elizabeth Howard, mother of Anne Boleyn, the future queen of England. Consequently, Margaret's mother was the great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth I, making Margaret a somewhat distant cousin.
Margaret was appointed Mary governess and made suo jure Baroness Bryan in February 1516, upon the birth of Princess Mary[1]. Margaret served as governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, and then was elevated to serve as governess to Princess Elizabeth after the birth of the princess to Queen Anne Boleyn. Margaret is noted as having claimed to have been created a Baroness by King Henry VIII, and styled herself as 'Baroness Bryant'.
She was married thrice, first to Sir Thomas Bryan in about 1487. Her three surviving children from that marriage were: Margaret Bryan Elizabeth Bryan, wife of Sir Nicholas Carew; and Francis Bryan, Sir Knight Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Her second and third husbands were David Zouche and John Sands, respectively. These marriages were childless.
Margaret's children were leading lights at the court. Sir Francis Bryan was a known womanizer who lost an eye in a joust in 1526. He was nicknamed 'the Vicar of Hell' and managed to play the game of factions successfully. Margaret Bryan was the aunt of Anne Boleyn and the second cousin of Jane Seymour, which increased her standing at court. Her daughter, Elizabeth Carew, was the wife of Henry VIII's close friend Sir Nicholas Carew, who helped him organize Henry's liaisons with women, and whose house was used to keep Jane Seymour over the period of Anne Boleyn's execution. In 1514, Elizabeth Carew herself was rumoured to have been involved with Henry VIII, although it may be his brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, 1st duke of Suffolk who was the object of her affection. The King made huge presents to her over the years, including royal jewels.
Nicknamed "Muggie" by the four-year-old Princess Elizabeth, Margaret was young Elizabeth's first governess.
References
- ^ a b Susan Brigden, ‘Bryan, Sir Francis (d. 1550)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008) [1], accessed 28 Aug 2008]
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