William Bracher (? - 1485)
NEW 28 December 2018
One of the earliest recorded use of the actual surname BRACHER seems to be William Bracher and his eldest son Robert who were captured and hanged immediately after the Battle of Bosworth on 25 August 1485. Various historians have wondered why William has singly out for execution – only three people were executed, 2 of them being Bracher! . One historian is now suggesting that the reason was because Bracher betrayed Henry Tudor’s attempt to land in England in 1483 in support of Buckingham’s revolt. Another (Hugh Bicheno) suggests William Bracher betrayed various other yeoman of the crown and royal household servants as being part of Buckingham's revolt and revealed that uprisings were planned in the South-West and West Country to coincide with Henry Tudor's arrival on 18 October 1483.
According to a Richardian researcher, the Bracher banner at the Battle of Boswroth had a four-legged dog-like animal on it – see Bob Pritchard’s Sept 2015 embroidery catalogue for the War of the Roses https://issuu.com/bpembroidery/docs/catalogueseptember2015
(Please note that a banner’s emblem is not the same as a coat of arms or baronial arms.)
So who was William Bracher? Where did he come from? What happened to his family?
Where did William Bracher come from?
At the Battle of Bosworth, William is described simply as “yeoman of the crown” and “yeoman of the West Country”.
He had been at the court of Edward IV (1461- 1483) where his rewards had been unexceptional. Indeed I can only find him once – 15 December 1472 “grant for life to William Brecher of the office of one of the king’s foresters of the forest of Purbik Dorset … receviig the accustomed fees from the customs and subsidies in the port of Poole and ports and places adjacent.”
He transferred smoothly into Richard III’s court (1483 – 1485) but now he received favours more appropriate for a person of higher-standing (eg esquire or knight) with income-earning opportunities from various Somerset and Dorset estates
What happened to his family?
Bundle 110 of the early Chancery proceedings written 1486-1493 to John, archbishop of Canterbury, mentions a Susan, wife of Reynold Spirying, previously the wife of William Brecher, regarding the debt of the said William Brecher for a loan and for cloth supplied to Nicholas Taillour. I have acquired a copy from The National Archives but sadly I can’t decipher a location for Susan Bracher’s home or Reynold Spiryng.
I have also tried to track down William Bracher’s will. There does not appear to be any will under the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Knowing that he owned land in Somerset, I then approached the Somerset archives for access to diocesean wills (the next level down of probate courts) – unfortunately they do not have any wills of that period as they were destroyed in a bombing raid on Exeter during WWII.
My last hope is tracking down the Spiryng family … There is certainly a Spiryng family in and around Wiltshire and Dorset from the fourteenth century. In 1490 a John Spiryng is sub-warden of the hospital of the holy trinity Salisbury, and there are various wills in the mid-1500s for Spiryngs in Bishopstone South Wiltshire and Donhead St Mary Wilts. So, whilst I currently have no absolute evidence that the Bracher family moved to the Salisbury area when Susan Bracher married Reynold Spiryng, there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory. However, Spiryng’s do exist in other parts of the country!
This research should be considered as ongoing
He had been at the court of Edward IV (1461- 1483) where his rewards had been unexceptional. Indeed I can only find him once – 15 December 1472 “grant for life to William Brecher of the office of one of the king’s foresters of the forest of Purbik Dorset … receviig the accustomed fees from the customs and subsidies in the port of Poole and ports and places adjacent.”
He transferred smoothly into Richard III’s court (1483 – 1485) but now he received favours more appropriate for a person of higher-standing (eg esquire or knight) with income-earning opportunities from various Somerset and Dorset estates
- 17 July 1483: appointed keepers of the subsidy and alnage of cloths in Devon and Cornwall for 10 years;
- 21 Aug 1483: granted custody of the king’s park of Okehampton Devon;eg Barington, South Petherington and Oakhampton in 1483! The Calendar of the Patent Rolls states that on 8 December 1484 William Bracher was granted a “commission of array” in the county of Dorset;
- 19 December 1483: granted bailiff and parker of king’s lordship and park of Barington Somerset seemingly as an interim measure;
- 30 March 1484: granted manors and lordships of Cheddar, Barowe Gurney and Tykenham of Somerset for him and his heirs;
- 8 December 1484: given commission of array for Somerset;
- 10 December 1484: made escheator of Somerset and Dorset
What happened to his family?
Bundle 110 of the early Chancery proceedings written 1486-1493 to John, archbishop of Canterbury, mentions a Susan, wife of Reynold Spirying, previously the wife of William Brecher, regarding the debt of the said William Brecher for a loan and for cloth supplied to Nicholas Taillour. I have acquired a copy from The National Archives but sadly I can’t decipher a location for Susan Bracher’s home or Reynold Spiryng.
I have also tried to track down William Bracher’s will. There does not appear to be any will under the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Knowing that he owned land in Somerset, I then approached the Somerset archives for access to diocesean wills (the next level down of probate courts) – unfortunately they do not have any wills of that period as they were destroyed in a bombing raid on Exeter during WWII.
My last hope is tracking down the Spiryng family … There is certainly a Spiryng family in and around Wiltshire and Dorset from the fourteenth century. In 1490 a John Spiryng is sub-warden of the hospital of the holy trinity Salisbury, and there are various wills in the mid-1500s for Spiryngs in Bishopstone South Wiltshire and Donhead St Mary Wilts. So, whilst I currently have no absolute evidence that the Bracher family moved to the Salisbury area when Susan Bracher married Reynold Spiryng, there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory. However, Spiryng’s do exist in other parts of the country!
This research should be considered as ongoing