John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos

For other people with the same name, see John Brydges (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable John Brydges 1st Baron Chandos of Sudeley
Lieutenant of the Tower of London
In office 1554–1554
Monarch	Mary I
Preceded by	Sir Edward Warner
Succeeded by	Sir Thomas Brydges
Groom of the Chamber
In office 1539–1539
Monarch	Henry VIII
Constable of Sudeley Castle
In office 1538–1557
Succeeded by	Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos
High Sheriff of Wiltshire
In office 1537–1537
Preceded by	Sir Henry Long
Succeeded by	Sir Anthony Hungerford
Personal details
Born	9 March 1492 Old Coberley Hall, Coberley, Gloucestershire
Died	12 April 1557 Sudeley Castle
Spouse	Elizabeth Gray
Children	Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos Katherine Brydges Elizabeth Brydges Frances Brydges Henry Brydges Charles Brydges
Parents	Sir Giles Brydges Isabel Baynham
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of England
Battles/wars	War of the League of Cambrai Siege of Thérouanne Siege of Tournai Battle of the Spurs Italian War of 1542-46 Sieges of Boulogne Pilgrimage of Grace 1536 Wyatt's Rebellion 1554

John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos (9 March 1492 – 12 April 1557) was an English courtier, Member of Parliament and later peer. His last name is also sometimes spelt Brugge or Bruges. He was a prominent figure at the English court during the reigns of Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI and of Queen Mary I.

Biography

He was born at Coberley, Gloucestershire, the son of Sir Giles Brydges of Coberley (c. 1462 – 1511) and Isabel Baynham. His father was a knight of the body to Henry VII and his brother Thomas Brydges of Cornbury, Oxfordshire also held public office and served as an MP. Bridges inherited his father's Oxfordshire and Wiltshire estates as a minor in 1511, and was for two years the ward of Sir Edward Darrell.

He was knighted in 1513 after serving in France with Charles Brandon at Terouenne and Tournai. He attended Henry VIII on all subsequent state occasions in England and France (presumably including the famous meeting with Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Gloucestershire was represented by, amongst others, a Sir John Brydges).

His election in 1529 as junior knight of the shire for Gloucestershire was a tribute to his standing both locally and at court, but it was doubtless assisted by his influential connections, through his mother with the Baynhams and through his wife with the noble house of Grey of Wilton.

Brydges was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1537, and took part in suppressing the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt in 1554. As Lieutenant of the Tower of London during the earlier part of Queen Mary's reign, he had the custody not only of Lady Jane Grey and of Thomas Wyatt, but for a short time, of the Queen's half-sister as well, the Princess Elizabeth Tudor (who would later become Queen Elizabeth I of England).

In 1554, Queen Mary I gave Sudeley Castle to John Brydges and created him Baron Chandos of Sudeley on 8 April 1554. The castle remained his property throughout her reign and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as well and then passed down to his descendants. It was at Sudeley Castle that Queen Elizabeth was entertained three times. Also, later on in 1592, a spectacular three-day feast was held there to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Family

It was around 1512 when Brydges married Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Edmund Grey, 9th Baron Grey de Wilton (died 1511), and Florence Hastings, eldest daughter of Sir Ralph Hastings. They had eleven children.

Their son Edmund succeeded to the Chandos barony on his father's death. Their son Charles married Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Carne. Their daughter Katherine became a gentlewoman to Mary I, and married Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley.

Death

Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire

He died at Sudeley Castle on 12 April 1557 and was buried with heraldic ceremony on 3 May in Sudeley Church. His will, dated 2 March 1556, was proved on 28 May 1557. In his will, he styles himself as Sir John Bruges, Knight, Lord Chandos of Sudeley.

Church at Sudeley Castle

Lady Chandos died on 29 December 1559 and was buried on 6 January 1560.

References

• Cokayne, G. E., ed. (1902). Complete Baronetage. Vol. II:1625–1649. Exeter: Pollard & Co.
• Cokayne, G. E. (1913). Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, H. Arthur (eds.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. Vol. III. London: St. Catherine Press.
• Cokayne, G. E. (1916). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. Vol. IV. London: St. Catherine Press.
• Kirk, L. M.; Dale, M. K. (1982). "Brydges, Sir John (1492–1557), of Coberley, Glos.". In Bindoff, S. T. (ed.). Members. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509–1558. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
• Lee, Sidney (1886). "Brydges, John" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 7. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 163–164.
• Machyn, Henry (1848). Nichols, John Gough (ed.). The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, from A. D. 1550 to A. D. 1563. Vol. XLII. London: Camden Society.
• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1460992708. Retrieved 8 October 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chandos, Barons and Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 838.

External links

• Bydges, Sir John (1492–1557), of Coberley, Glos. A biography
• Sir John Brydges, 1st Lord Chandos Family tree