John Bruen Esq.
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John Bruen Esq. (bef. 1560 - 1626)

John Bruen Esq.
Born before in Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , , , , , , , , , and
Husband of — married about 1580 in Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, Englandmap [uncertain]
Husband of — married after 18 Jan 1597 in Rhodes, Lancashire, Englandmap [uncertain]
Husband of — married after 13 May 1612 in Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, Englandmap [uncertain]
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and
Died after age 66 in Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 13 Oct 2011
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Note: John Bruen, Esq. was featured in the February 2021 Magna Carta Project Newsletter.

Contents

Biography

Birth and Parents

John Bruen, Esq. was the son of John Bruen and Dorothy Holford. He was born at Bruen Stapleford, Tarvin, Cheshire in 1560.[1][2][3] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives his birth date as before 18 January 1560 and states that he was baptised in 1560.[3] (Marlyn Lewis gives his baptism date as 19 September 1567 with no source:[4] the year is unlikely for someone born in 1560.)

John was his father's main heir, and inherited his father's property at Bruen Stapleford.[1][2]

University

John matriculated at St Alban Hall, Oxford University on 20 December 1577, aged 18 years.[5]

Puritanism

After his father's death in 1587, John adopted zealously Puritan ways, which he imposed on his household, with prayers seven times a day. He suppressed gaming and hunting on his property and also what he regarded as profane festivities. His zeal brought him into trouble with the law. In 1603 he was summoned before the Bishop of Chester after his servants were said to have smashed stained glass in the parish church of Tarvin, Cheshire. Some years later he and members of his household were prosecuted for destroying "popish" crosses at various churches and other places in Cheshire: Sir Francis Bacon, then Attorney-General, was involved in the prosecution, and fines of £500 were imposed on six household members.[3]

A little before his death, John wrote to the Secretary of State to expostulate about the assaults and mockery religious-minded magistrates faced when they tried to tackle drunkenness, profanities and gambling.[3]

John's reputation as a Puritan was secured in 1641 by the publication of a pious adulatory biography by his brother-in-law William Hinde.[3][6]

First Marriage

John Bruen married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth Hardware, daughter of Henry Hardware and widow of John Cowper, a Chester Alderman.[1][2] They married in 1580.[3] Her father was a Puritan who had helped to end the performance of the Mystery Plays at Chester.[3][7] They had 6 sons and 3 daughters:

  1. Gilbert Bruen,[1][2] baptised 28 April 1581, buried 16 June 1581[7]
  2. John Bruen,[1][2] born 1583, married Judith Amyas, daughter of John Amyas, died June 1647[7]
  3. Anne Bruen,[1][2] baptised 7 November 1585, at Tarvin, Cheshire[8]; married Edward Puliston 26 September 1611 at Tarvin, Cheshire, England[9]; married (second) Robert Sandy or Santhy;[1][2][7] died 13 July 1633.[7]
  4. James Bruen,[1][2] baptised 11 June 1587 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[10] buried at Tarvin, Cheshire on 25 August 1587[11]
  5. Henry Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 26 November 1588 at Tarvin, Cheshire[12] and died young[7]
  6. Elizabeth Bruen,[1][2] baptised 28 May 1590 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[13] married George Mainwaring[1][2] by a licence dated 27 September 1609[7]
  7. Calvin Bruen,[1][2] baptised 7 January 1591/92 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[14] married Elizabeth Fittler, daughter of Ralph Fittler,[7] died in 1655[7]
  8. Beza Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 24 February 1593/94 (1594 in modern reckoning) and probably died young[7]
  9. Priscilla Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 25 January 1595/96 (1596 in modern reckoning),[7] buried 8 February 1595/96 at Tarvin, Cheshire[15]

Elizabeth was buried on 18 January 1596/7 at Tarvin, Cheshire.[1][2][16]

Second Marriage

After Elizabeth's death, John moved to Rhodes near Manchester, Lancashire. There he met his second wife at a prayer meeting.[3] She was Anne Fox, daughter of William Fox. and Margaret Orrell.[1][2] The date of their marriage is uncertain. In 1601 John moved back with his wife to Bruen Stapleford, where many members of local gentry families stayed in their home.[3]

John and Anne had 4 sons and 3 daughters:

  1. Nathaniel Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 23 July 1598 at Tarvin, Cheshire[17] and buried on 13 August 1598[7]
  2. Samuel Bruen,[1][2] baptised in March 1600/1[7]
  3. Katherine Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 7 March 1601/2 at Tarvin, Cheshire, England[18]
  4. Abigail Bruen,[1][2] baptised at Tarvin, Cheshire on 3 April 1603,[7][19] and buried there on 21 April 1603[7][20]
  5. Deborah Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 15 December 1695 at Tarvin, Cheshire[7][21] and buried at Holy Trinity, Chester, Cheshire on 19 March 1608[7]
  6. Jonathan Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 6 January 1604/5 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[22] and buried on 13 January 1605/6[7]
  7. Obadiah Bruen, baptised on 25 December 1606 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[23] who married Sarah Seeley and emigrated to New Jersey[1][2]

Anne Fox was buried at Tarvin, Cheshire on 29 December 1606,[24] four days after the baptism of her youngest son Obadiah.[1][2]

Third Marriage

In 1612 John married Margaret Allen, daughter of John, a draper who served as Sheriff of Chester, and widow of John Rutter of Nantwich, Cheshire. Their marriage licence was dated 13 May 1612.[1][2] They had at least 1 son and 1 daughter:

  1. Joseph Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 4 March 1614 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[25], buried 22 October 1698[7]
  2. Margaret Bruen,[1][2] baptised on 8 December 1616 at Tarvin, Cheshire,[26] died young[7]

Some sources name a third child of John and Margaret:[27]

  • Mary, baptised on 14 July 1622 at Tarvin, Cheshire, England.[28]

John's funeral certificate, put together about 12 years after his death, names just a son of the third marriage, Joseph, but refers to other children of this marriage who "dyed yonge".[29] Two children of this marriage are believed to have died of plague in 1610.[7]

Death

John Bruen Esq. died 18 January 1625/26 at Bruen, Stapleford, Cheshire, England. He was buried on 23 January 1625/26 (1626 in modern reckoning) at St Andrew's, Tarvin, Cheshire, England.[1][2] His burial was recorded in the parish register as follows:[30]

Burials 25 Jany 1625
John Bruen of Stapleford Esquire
Nulli pietate secundus
An Israelite in whom no guyle
Or fraud was ever found
A Phoenix rare
Whose virtues fair
Through all our coasts do sound.

A Funeral Certificate for John Bruen was signed by his son John in 1637, some 12 years after his death.[29]

John's third wife survived him and was buried on 29 November 1651.[1][2]

Research Notes

The profile for John's third wife, Margaret Allen, suggests, as at 5 January 2021, that she was born in the early 1560s and baptised in London in 1562. Given the birth dates of John and Margaret's children, this information is likely to be incorrect, and the 1562 baptism record almost certainly relates to someone different. Cayley-55 16:11, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 344-345, Google Books, BRUEN 17
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, p. 587, BRUEN 17
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Bruen, John', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
  4. ↑ Marlyn Lewis. 'Our Royal, Titled, Noble and Commoner Ancestors', entry for John Bruen b.1560
  5. ↑ Joseph Foster. Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886 and Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714. Oxford: Parker and Co., 1888-1892, Ancestry.co.uk
  6. ↑ William Hinde (John Bruen's brother-in-law). The Very Singular Life of John Bruen, Esquire, of Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, originally published 1641, re-published by Edward O Jenkins, New York, 1857, Internet Archive
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 Donald Lines Jacobus. Ancestry of Obadiah and Mary Bruen, The American Genealogist (1950) Vol. 26, pp. 15-16. Online with subscription at AmericanAncestors.org.
  8. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-K3R : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Anne Bruen, 1585
  9. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-92N : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Edward Pilston and Anne Bruen, 1611
  10. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-2MK : accessed 08 Feb 2014), James Bruen, 1587.
  11. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YB-1MC : accessed 08 Feb 2014), James Bruen, 1587
  12. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-2XP : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Henrie Bruen, 1588
  13. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-LJ8 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Elizabeth Bruen, 1590.
  14. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-PM3 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Calvyn Bruen, 1591.
  15. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7Y1-Q5X : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Prisella Bruen, 1595
  16. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7Y1-7TR : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Bruen in entry for Elizabethe, 1596
  17. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YT-BX3 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Nathaniell Bruen, 1598
  18. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-9Q4 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Katheren Bruen, 1601
  19. ↑ "England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1598-1900," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NC45-NX6 : 10 December 2017), Abigaell Bruen, Apr 1603, Burial; citing item 1, Tarvin, Cheshire, England, Record Office, Chester; FHL microfilm 1,850,101
  20. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7Y1-CTG : 7 December 2017), Abigaill Bruen, 21 Apr 1603, Burial; citing 149, Tarvin, Cheshire, England, Record Office, Chester; FHL microfilm 1,999,731
  21. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-ZM1 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Debora Bruen, 1605
  22. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-C6P : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Jonathon Bruen, 1604.
  23. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-ZLF : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Obadia Bruen, 1606
  24. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7Y1-ZYT : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Bruen in entry for Anne, 1606.
  25. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-F8F : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Joseph Bruen, 1614
  26. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-N56 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Margaret Bruen, 1616
  27. ↑ Genealogies of Connecticut Families, Vol. 1, Genealogical Publishing Company, Vol. I, 1983, p. 79, Google Books
  28. ↑ "England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7YY-2J4 : accessed 08 Feb 2014), Mary Bruen, 1622.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 John Paul Rylands (ed.). Cheshire and Lancashire Funeral Certificates: A 1600 to 1678, The Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, 1882, pp. 50-51, Internet Archive
  30. ↑ Hinde. The Very Singular Life of John Bruen, Esquire, of Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, Preface, p. iii, Internet Archive
  • Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for "Magna Carta Ancestry".
  • Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Bruen, John', print and online 2004, revised online 2008, available online on subscription and via some libraries
  • Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'Bruen, John', Wikisource
  • Hinde, William (John Bruen's brother-in-law). The Very Singular Life of John Bruen, Esquire, of Bruen Stapleford, Cheshire, originally published 1641, re-published by Edward O Jenkins, New York, 1857, Internet Archive
  • Raines, F R (ed.). The Journal of Nicholas Assheton of Downham in the County of Lancaster, Esq for part of the year 1617 and part of the following year. Interspersed with notes from the Life of his Contemporary John Bruen of Bruen Stapelford, in the County of Chester, Esq., Chatham Society, 1848, Internet Archive
  • Wikipedia: John Bruen

See also:

  • McCormick, George Chalmers. John Kitchel and Esther Peck: their ancestors, descendants and some kindred families, Fort Collins Express, Colorado, 1913, p. 87, Ancestry.co.uk
  • Visitation of Cheshire 1580 etc, Harleian Society, Vol. 18, 1882, p. 53 (Bruyn of Stapleford pedigree), Internet Archive
  • Genealogies of Connecticut Families, Vol. 1, Genealogical Publishing Company, Vol. I, 1983, p. 79, Google Books
  • Jacobus, Donald Lines. Ancestry of Obadiah and Mary Bruen, The American Genealogist (1950) Vol. 26, Page 15

Acknowledgements

Click the Changes tab for details of edits to this profile. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Magna Carta Project

This profile was revised for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley, finishing on 10 January 2021 and was reviewed and approved by Thiessen-117 10 January 2021.
John Bruen Esq. is descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy in a Richardson-documented trail to Gateway Ancestor Obadiah Bruen (Magna Carta Ancestry, vol. I, pages 331-333) that was badged by the Magna Carta project on 27 February 2021. This profile also appears in a trail from Gateway Obadiah Bruen to surety baron Robert Fitz Walter that was badged on 10 March 2021. See the Magna Carta Trails, below, to view the profiles in those trails.
See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".

Magna Carta Trails

Badged Richardson-documented trail to Quincy (MCA I:343-345 BRUEN):
Gateway Ancestor Obadiah Bruen (badged/100% 5-star)
1. Obadiah is the son of John Bruen (badged Feb 2021)
2. John is the son of Dorothy Holford (badged Feb 2021)
3. Dorothy is the daughter of Thomas Holford (badged Feb 2021)
4. Thomas is the son of Margery Brereton (badged Feb 2021)
5. Margery is the daughter of Ralph Brereton (badged Feb 2021)
6. Rauff is the son of Randal Brereton (badged Feb 2021)
7. Randal III is the son of Randal Brereton (badged Feb 2021)
8. Randal is the son of Alice Ipstones (badged Feb 2021)
9. Alice is the daughter of Maud Swynnerton (badged Apr 2020)
10. Maud is the daughter of Robert de Swynnerton (badged Apr 2020)
11. Robert is the son of Maud de Holland (badged/100% 5-star)
12. Maud is the daughter of Maud la Zouche (badged/100% 5-Star)
13. Maud is the daughter of Alan la Zouche (badged/100% 5-Star)
14. Alan is the son of Roger la Zouche (badged/100% 5-Star)
15. Roger is the son of Ellen de Quincy (badged/100% 5-Star)
16. Ellen is the daughter of Roger de Quincy (badged/100% 5-Star)
17. Roger is the son of Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy
Badged trail to FitzWalter:
3. Dorothy Holford is the daughter of Jane Booth (badged March 2021)
4. Jane is the daughter of William Booth (badged/100% 5-star)
5. William is the son of Katharine Montfort (badged/100% 5-star)
6. Katharine is the daughter of Robert Montfort (badged/100% 5-star)
7. Robert is the son of Baldwin Montfort (badged/100% 5-star)
8. Baldwin is the son of William de Montfort (badged)
9. William is the son of Margaret de Clinton (badged)
10. Margaret is the daughter of John de Clinton (badged/100% 5-star)
11. John is the son of John de Clinton (badged/100% 5-star)
12. John is the son of Ida de Odingsells (badged/100% 5-star)
13. Ida is the daughter of Ela FitzWalter (badged/100% 5-star)
14. Ela is the daughter of Walter Fitz Robert (badged/100% 5-star)
15. Walter is the son of Magna Carta Surety Baron Robert Fitz Walter




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Davis-74099 James Davis
The "Bruen Family Tree" I have in my possession which begins with William le Brun of Stapleford ca 1200, was, I believe, largely taken from George Ormerod's "History of the County Palatine and city of Chester", which is available on-line. In looking at your sources for John Bruen, the raving Puritan, I am surprised that the Ormerod source is not listed. I have visited the site of the Bruen manor in Stapleford, and have a pencil sketch of what the Bruen manor house looked like before it burned (ca 1625?). James Jay Davis-74099 P.S. When we took my mother, Harriette Scott Bruen Davis there in 1985, we were warned NOT to mention our descent from John Bruen if we visited the Tarvin church, from which he removed the "heathen" stained-glass windows.
posted by James Davis
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
Thanks, James. I am afraid Ormerod, though doubtless working from what was available to him at the time, is not always accurate, and it is better to look for more reliable sources where possible. Thank you for sharing the recollection of your visit to the church.
posted by Michael Cayley
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
I plan to review and edit this profile for the Magna Carta Project, using the project checklist.
posted by Michael Cayley
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
I have now finished the main work I currently intend on this profile. If anyone spots any typos etc, please either correct them or message me. Thanks!

There are obvious duplicate profiles for one daughter, Elizabeth, and I have proposed a merge.

posted by Michael Cayley
edited by Michael Cayley

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