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Margaret Bryan, Baroness Bryan (c. 1468 – c. 1551/52) was lady governess to the children of King Henry VIII of England, the future monarchs Mary I, Elizabeth I, and Edward VI, as well as the illegitimate Henry FitzRoy.She was also Lady Governess to Henry's illegitimate but acknowledged son Henry FitzRoy, assuming her words of " When my lady Mary was born it pleased the King’s grace to me lady mistress, and made me a baroness, and so I have been a m other children his grace have had since" are correct and her grammar is not incorrect as Henry VIII had no children between Mary and Elizabeth. If she had responsibility also for Henry FitzRoy that would have made her tenure as Mary's Lady Governess fairly short. Henry was born 15 June 1519, less than two and a half years after Mary. She was Lady Governess to Elizabeth for four years. The position of lady governess in her day resembled less that of the popular modern idea of a governess, more that of a Nursemaid.
She was born Margaret Bourchier in about 1468 in Beningbrough, Yorkshire, England. Her mother was Elizabeth Tilney and her father was Sir Humphrey Bourchier, who was killed at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471 during the series of dynastic civil wars now known as the Wars of the Roses. Humphrey Bourchier was heir to the title Baron Berners but having predeceased his father John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, Margaret's brother John instead succeeded to the title as second Baron Berners. Humphrey Bourchier and Elizabeth Tilney had one further daughter who survived to adulthood. Margaret's younger sister was Anne Bourchier (1470–1530) who married Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre in 1492. Their son, also Thomas, was the 9th Lord Dacre who was executed for murder in 1541.
She married Sir Thomas Bryan before 1495. Margaret was a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon and was present at Catherine's wedding to Henry VIII in 1509.'Henry VIII: June 1509, 16–30 ', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 1: 1509–1514 (1920), pp. 36–55. "Lady Bryan" Date accessed: 31 March 2009 Margaret Bryan claimed to have been made Baroness Bryan suo jure on 18 February 1516, upon the birth of Henry and Catherine's daughter Mary, when she was appointed the infant's lady governess." When my lady Mary was born it pleased the King’s grace to me lady mistress, and made me a baroness, and so I have been a m other children his grace have had since"
Sir Thomas Bryan died around 1517, and his widow married her final husband, David Zouche before 1523. He was a younger son of John Zouche, Esq and his wife, Eleanor St. John. On 7 July 1519, there is a record in the archives of Henry VIII's court that notes the payment of an annuity of 25 pounds to Margaret. "MARGARET BRYAN, widow of Sir Thomas Bryan, and now wife of David Soche." The annuity paid "for services to the King and queen Katharine" included "one tun of Gascon wine yearly, out of the wine received for the King's use."Henry VIII: July 1519, 1–15', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 3: 1519–1523 (1867), pp. 121–136. "margaret bryan" Date accessed: 31 March 2009. David Zouche may have died in 1536."Margaret, lady Brian, was the widow of Sir Thomas Brian, and having been made, as here stated, a baroness (though the fact is not noticed by our Peerage Historians), she was still called lady Brian after she had taken as her second husband David Soche. See Vol. III., No. 361. Apparently, this letter was written on David Soche's death." Footnote 1 to: 'Henry VIII: August 1536, 1–5', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 11: July–December 1536 (1888), pp. 90–103. "Lady Bryan". Accessed 31 March 2009.
Now, as my lady Elizabeth is put from that degree she was in, and what degree she is at now I know not but by hearsay, I know not how to order her or myself, or her women or grooms. I beg you to be good lord to her and hers, and that she may have raiment, for she has neither gown nor kirtle nor petticoat, nor linen for smocks, nor kerchiefs, sleeves, rails, bodystychets, handkerchiefs, mufflers, nor "begens."'Henry VIII: August 1536, 1–5', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 11: July–December 1536 (1888), pp. 90–103. "Lady Bryan" Date accessed: 31 March 2009.She also reports that: "My lady has great pain with her teeth, which come very slowly." (Elizabeth was to have serious difficulties with her teeth on and off for much of her life.)
(The more obscure items in this list are identified by the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edn) as: rails = nightdresses; bodystychets = corsets; begens = nightcaps.)
Margaret Bryan passed over responsibility for Elizabeth to Kat Ashley in October 1537 following the birth of Prince Edward, who became her new charge. A second letter to Cromwell, dated 11 March 1539, describes the Prince.
My lord Prince is in good health and merry. Would to God the King and your Lordship had seen him last night. The minstrels played, and his Grace danced and played so wantonly that he could not stand still ...'Appendix', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 14 Part 2: August–December 1539 (1895), pp. 359–372. "Lady Bryan" Date accessed: 31 March 2009
Margaret Bryan continued to receive payment from a 20-pound annuity until her death.'Henry VIII: January 1545, 26–31', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 20 Part 1: January–July 1545 (1905), pp. 38–59. "Margaret Bryane" Date accessed: 1 April 2009.W. C. Richardson, The Report of the royal commission of 1552 (Morgantown, 1974), p. 28.
She died in Leyton, now a suburb of London but at the time a village in Essex.'Leyton: Introduction', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 174–184. "margaret bryan" Date accessed: 31 March 2009.
In the TV series The Tudors, the role of "Lady Margaret Bryan" is played by Jane Brennan. Like many of the characters in the show, she is a composite of the woman on whom she was based and also of Anne Shelton, who was in overall charge of Princess Elizabeth's household. Unlike Margaret Bryan, Anne Shelton had a very difficult relationship with Mary Tudor when she was living in Elizabeth's household. See the Internet Movie Database
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