Family:Bray, John (s1525-1615)
John Bray, born say 1520s, parentage unknown; died before 6 Dec 1615, probably St. Margaret, Westminster, Middlesex, England when his will was proved (Dean & Chapter of Westminster, 3:267).[1]
He married 13 Aug 1553, St. Margaret's, Westminster, Margaret Haslonde,[2] parentage unproven. She was buried 28 Mar 1588, St. Margaret's.[3]
He may be the John Bray who was mentioned in the will of Edward Dudley, of St. Margaret's, Westminster, gent., 1 Jul 1542.[4]
He was a churchwarden of St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1554-1556.[5]
In 1555 he served as a witness in the case against William Flower who had assaulted a priest at St. Margaret's. Mr. Flower had his hand cut off and was then martyred by being burned alive.
- "John Bray, one of the churchwardens of the parish church of St. Margaret's in Westminster, sworn and examined upon the said answers, saith and deposeth, that he did hear and see the said Flower acknowledge and recognise the said answers, and also subscribe unto the same. And further deposeth of Flower's striking the priest, in effect, as the rest of the examinates do, and that this said jurate was present there at the deed-doing."
- Fox's Book of martyrs: the acts and monuments of the Church, Volume 3 By John Foxe, John Cumming
He was probably the "John Bray" listed in the 1576 London Subsidy Return with a value of £3.[6]
He was probably the "John Braye" listed in the 1582 London Subsidy Return with a value of £4.[7]
He was one of the Assistant Burgesses of the City of Westminster in 1585.[8]
He was probably the John Braye who renovated a tenement on Kings Street.[9]
He may have been, if indeed he was a member of the Merchant Taylors Company as the description of "tailor" in his will suggests, the Mr. Bray mentioned as spending or being owed money for wine used during a dinner the Merchant Taylors Company held for King James I of England and his family 16 July 1607.[10]
John Bray, tailor, wrote a will which was proved 6 Dec 1615 (Dean & Chapter of Westminster, 3:267). While the Act Book reveals that John's only surviving child Mary, and her husband Thomas Whitney of St. Margaret, were executors, the will itself does not survive.[11]
Children of John and Margaret (Haslonde) Bray:
i. John Bray, baptized 30 Dec 1554. St. Margaret, Westminster; buried 28 Apr 1555, St. Margaret. ii. Margaret Bray, baptized St. Margaret, Westminster 17 Feb 1556/7, buried 2 Mar 1556/7, St. Margaret. iii. Laurence Bray, baptized St. Margaret, Westminster 11 Oct 1558, buried 24 Mar 1569/70, St. Margaret. iv. Joan Bray, a chrisom child (unbaptized), buried 27 June 1560, St. Margaret, Westminster. v. Thomas Bray, baptized 29 Nov 1562, St. Margaret, Westminster, buried 22 Mar 1569/70, St. Margaret. vi. Mary Bray, baptized 24 Dec 1564, St. Margaret, Westminster; buried St Margaret, Westminster 25 Sep 1629; married St Margaret, Westminster 10 May 1583 Thomas Whitney, born say 1560 or earlier, buried St Margaret, Westminster 15 Apr 1637. vii. Henry Bray, baptized 6 Oct 1566, St. Margaret, Westminster, apparently died soon. viii. Henry Bray, baptized 4 Feb 1567/8, St. Margaret, Westminster, no further record.
Notes
Was he perhaps related to the John Bray who was door-keeper of the King's Exchequer in the 14th century?[12]
References
1. ^ Dean Crawford Smith and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908. Part I: The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton, 1817-1879 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996), p. 551. For the identification of John Bray, Tailor, see: Allegations for Marriage Licenses Issued by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster 1558 to 1669. By Joseph Lemuel Chester. London, England, citing page 8: May 10 Thomas Whitney, of Lambeth Marsh, Gent., & Mary Bray, daughter of John Bray, of Westminster, Taylor.
2. ^ Ibid.; Margaret Haslonde may have been a daughter of Robert and Agnes (---) Haslande, see: The Reiester Booke of Saynte De'nis, Backchurch Parishe (City of London) by Joseph Lemuel Chester, on page 183, "Burials: 1549 April 22 Robarte Hasland St Dionis Backchurch"; and on page 196, "Burials: 1579 July 7 Agnes Haslande, wife of Robart Hasland, otherwysse called Mother Nyce." available on google books. There are only two court cases mentioning members of this family: STAC 5/R30/4 Rodes v. Hasland, White and others 41 Eliz, and STAC 5/R37/23 Rodes v. Hasland, Webster alias Morris 38 Eliz.
4. ^ George Allard, The Sutton-Dudleys of England and the Dudleys of Massachusetts in New England: from the Norman... (1862), p. 135: "Item, I bequeth to John Bray, my horsse, brydell and saddell, and my new colloryd cloke," as found on Google Books.
5. ^ Walcott, Mackenzie Edward Charles, The Memorials of Westminster, The City, Royal Palaces, Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, St. Peter's College, The Parish Churches, Worthies, Streets, Modern Buildings, and Ancient Institutions (Elibron Classics), p. 125.
6.^ London Subsidy Returns 1576 Normalized Index, as found on Lay Subsidy Returns for London, Middlesex, Surrey (north) 1593-1600.
7.^ London Subsidy Returns 1582 Normalized Index, as found on Lay Subsidy Returns for London, Middlesex, Surrey (north) 1593-1600.
8.^ William Henry Manchée, The Westminster City Fathers (the Burgess Court of Westminster) 1585-1901: Being some account of ... (John Lane, 1924), p. 212, as found on Google Books.
9.^ Westminster Abbey, & Knighton, C.S. (1997). Acts of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, 1543-1609. Westminster Abbey record series, v. 1. Woodbridge, Bovdell Press.pp. 147 "7.John Braye, a renovation of a tenement in Kinges street, for twentye fyve years to comme. Footnote 815". See also, Footnote 815: "Braye, tailor; for 40 years from previous Lady Day [25 March] at 6s 8d rent: ibid., ff. 153-153v.[WAM Reg. VII]"
10.^ 'Memorial XXXII: The Banquet given to James I, 1607', Memorials of the Guild of Merchant Taylors: Of the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist in the City of London (1875), pp. 147-181; available at History Online.
11.^ Smith and Sanborn, loc. cit.
12.^ The history of the ancient palace and late Houses of Parliament at Westminster
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