William Brandon (1448 - 1485)

Born 1448 in Bishops Lynn, Norfolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Bruyn) Mallory — married 4 Nov 1475 in Bishops Lynn, Norfolk, England

Descendants

Died 22 Aug 1485 at about age 37 in Battle Of Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, England

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Biography

The Ballad of Bosworth, Stanzas 155 & 156

amongst all other Knights, remember

which were hardy, & therto wight;

Sir william Brandon was one of those,

King Heneryes Standard he kept on height,

& vanted itt with manhood & might

vntill with dints hee was dr(i)uen downe,

& dyed like an ancyent Knight,

with HENERY of England that ware the crowne.

—Bosworth Ffeilde, anonymous author

William Brandon was the son of William Brandon, Knt., and Elizabeth Wingfield.^[1] He born in 1456 at Bishops Lynn, Norfolk, England. His father was of Wangford, Suffolk, and Soham, Cambridgeshire, Knight Marshal of Marshalsea (1425 - 4 March 1491), married his mother in 1462, and she died 28 April 1496/1497. Sir Brandon was the Standard-bearer for King Henry Tudor VII during the War of the Roses, at the battle of Bosworth, and was there killed by King Richard III. His brother Sir Thomas Brandon also fought at Bosworth, and was later a leading courtier and Master of the Horse of Henry VII.

William married Elizabeth Bruyn, the widow of Thomas Tyrrell of Heron, Essex (they married before 17 February 1462, and he died after 3 July 1471) with two sons, before 4 Nov 1475. She was the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Bruyn of South Ockendon, Essex, himself the son of Sir Maurice Bruyn. After William Brandon's death at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, she married William Mallory, whom she survived. She died 7 March 1494.

Despite being known as "Sir" William Brandon, this William had in fact never been knighted.

From the biography of son Charles (Duke Of Suffolk) in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography^[2]: ... William Brandon, who was Henry VII's standard-bearer at Bosworth Field, and was on that account singled out by Richard III, and killed by him in personal encounter. This William, who with his brother Thomas had come with Henry out of Brittany, does not appear to have been a knight, though called Sir William by Hall the chronicler, and thus some confusion has arisen between [William] and his father, Sir William Brandon, who survived him.

William and Elizabeth Brandon had three sons^[3] and a daughter (the actual order of birth is not known):

Thomas Brandon (B 1470, Windsor, Berkshire, England, D 27 Jan 1509) Knight of the Garter.

William Brandon (d. before 1500).

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (ca. 1484 - 24 August 1545).

Anne Brandon, married firstly Sir John Shilston, and secondly Sir Gawain Carew.

• Brandon also had two illegitimate daughters named Elizabeth and Katherine.

Sources

1. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013), vol. I, pages 506-511, BRANDON 16, Elizabeth Wingfield.
2. ↑ Oxford University, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 6 (Beal - Browell), Oxford University Press, © 2004
3. ↑ http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BRANDON.htm#William%20BRANDON%20%28Sir%292

• Wikipedia
• A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland
• Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales
• Peerage.com - Sir William Brandon
• Our Kingdom Come BY Eileen McKinnon-Suggs