John Brampston - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sir John Bramston the elder (1577 – 1654) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...

Early life and career

Bramston, eldest son of Roger Bramston by Priscilla, daughter of Francis Clovile of West Hanningfield

West Hanningfield

West Hanningfield is a small village and civil parish in south Essex, England. It is located approximately south-southeast of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford and in the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh....

Hall, Essex, was born at Maldon

Maldon, Essex

Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...

, in the same county, 18 May 1577, and educated at the free school at Maldon and Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College, Cambridge

Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...

. On leaving the university he went into residence at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

, and applied himself diligently to the study of the law. His ability was recognised early by his university, which made him one of its counsel in 1607, with an annual fee of forty shillings. In Lent 1623 he was appointed reader at his inn, the subject of his lecture being the statute 32 Henry VIII (on limitations

Statute of limitations

A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...

), and he was reappointed in the autumn of the same year, this time discoursing on the statute of Elizabeth relating to fraudulent conveyances (13 Eliz. c. 5). Shortly after his reading was concluded he was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law

Serjeant-at-law

The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...

(22 September 1623). His son (Sir John Bramston, the younger

John Bramston, the younger

Sir John Bramston, the younger , was an English lawyer. The son of Sir John Bramston, the elder, he was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and called to bar at Middle Temple in 1635. In 1660 he was elected to the Convention Parliament for the county of Essex and again in the Cavalier Parliament of...

) remarks that this was an expensive year for him, the costs entailed by the office of reader being considerable, besides the fee of £500 to the exchequer payable on admittance to the order of Serjeants. His practice now became extensive, and during the next few years he was engaged in many cases of the highest importance, not only in the courts of common law, but in chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

and in the courts of Wards

Court of Wards and Liveries

The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and livery issues....

and Star Chamber

Star Chamber

The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...

. In 1626 he defended the Earl of Bristol

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol

John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol , was an English diplomat and a moderate royalist during the English Civil War.- Early career :...

on his impeachment. A dissolution of parliament, however, soon relieved Bramston from this duty, by putting an end to the proceedings. Next year he represented Sir Thomas Darnel and Sir John Heveningham, who had been committed to the Fleet

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

for refusing to contribute to a loan then being raised by the king without the consent of parliament, applying unsuccessfully for a Habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

on behalf of the one, and bail on behalf of the other. In the following year he was chosen one of the counsel for the city of London on the motion of Sir Heneage Finch

Heneage Finch

Heneage Finch may refer to:*Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford , English statesman and lawyer*Heneage Finch, 2nd Earl of Aylesford , British peer and member of the House of Lords...

, then recorder, who was a close friend and connection by marriage. In 1629 he was one of the counsel for seven of the nine members of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

(including Sir John Eliot

John Eliot (statesman)

Sir John Eliot was an English statesman who was serially imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he eventually died, by King Charles I for advocating the rights and privileges of Parliament.-Family and early life:...

and Denzil Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC was an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642.-Early life:...

) who were then indicted for making seditious speeches in parliament. Next year the Bishop of Ely

Bishop of Ely

The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...

(John Buckeridge

John Buckeridge

John Buckeridge was an English churchman.He was a son of William Buckeridge of Basildon, Berkshire, but was born in Wiltshire. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and at St John's College, Oxford, his maternal grandfather being cousin to the founder, Sir Thomas White...

) appointed him chief justice of his diocese, a position he held until his elevation to the king's bench. In 1632 (26 March) he was made queen's Serjeant, and two years later (8 July 1634) King's Serjeant, being knighted 24 November in the same year.

Lord Chief Justice

In 1635 (14 April) he was created Chief Justice of the King's Bench

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

. In this position his first official act of historical importance was, in concert with the rest of the bench, to advise the king

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

(13 February 1636-7) that he might lawfully levy Ship money

Ship money

Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...

, and that it belonged to the crown to decide when such levy ought to be made. Sir John's son informs us that his father was in favour of modifying this opinion in at least one essential particular: that he would have allowed the levy "during necessity only", and that he was only induced to subscribe the opinion as it stood by the representation made "by the ancient judges that it was ever the use for all to subscribe to what was agreed by the majority". In July of the same year Bramston was a member of the Star Chamber

Star Chamber

tribunal which tried the Bishop of Lincoln on the charge of tampering with witnesses, and committing other misdemeanors. The bishop was found guilty by a unanimous verdict, and sentenced to be deprived of his office, to pay a fine of £10,000, and to be imprisoned during the king's pleasure. A similar sentence was passed on him at a later date, Bramston being again a member of the court, on a charge of libelling the Archbishop of Canterbury

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

and the late lord treasurer

Lord High Treasurer

The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...

Weston

Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland

Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, KG , was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I, being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Charles I's Personal Rule and the architect of many of the policies that enabled him to rule...

. In the celebrated Ship money

Ship money

case (Rex v. Hampden

John Hampden

John Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...

), decided in the following year (12 June), Bramston gave his judgment against the king

Charles I of England

, though on a purely technical ground, viz. that by the record it did not appear to whom the money assessed was due, in that respect agreeing with the lord chief baron, Sir Henry Davenport, who, with Brooke, Hutton, and Denham, also gave judgment in Hampden

John Hampden

's favour ; but taking care at the same time to signify his concurrence with the majority of the court upon the main question. On 16 April 1640, during the indisposition of the lord keeper

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This evolved into one of the Great Officers of State....

Finch, Bramston presided in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. On 21 December of the same year proceedings were commenced in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

to impeach the lord keeper

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

Finch, Bramston, and five other of the judges who had subscribed the opinion on Ship money

Ship money

. Next day it was resolved that the message usual in such cases should be sent to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. The message was communicated to the peers the same day, and the judges being present (except the lord keeper

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

) were forthwith severally bound in recognisances of £10,000 to attend parliament from day to day until such time as trial might be had. The lord keeper was bound to the same effect the following day. Bramston was thus unable to attend the king

Charles I of England

when required without rendering himself liable to immediate committal, and as no progress was made towards his trial, the king terminated so anomalous a condition of affairs by revoking his patent (10 October 1642), sending him shortly afterwards (10 February 1642-3) a patent constituting him serjeant-at-law

Serjeant-at-law

by way of assuance of his unbroken regard. Meanwhile so far was the parliament from desiring to proceed to extremities with Bramston that in the terms of peace offered the king at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

(1 Feb. 1642-3) his reappointment as lord chief justice of the king's bench

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

, not as formerly during the king's pleasure, but during good behaviour (quamdiu se bene gesserit), was included.

Subsequent career

From this time forward until Bramston's death persistent attempts were made to induce him to declare definitely in favour of the parliament, but without success. In 1644 he was consulted by the leaders of the party as to the evidence necessary for the prosecution of Connor Maguire and Hugh Og MacMahon, two prisoners who had made their escape from the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

and been retaken. In 1647 it was proposed to make him one of the commissioners of the great seal

Great Seal of the Realm

The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...

, and it was voted that he should sit as an assistant in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

, "which", says his son, "he did not absolutely deny, but avoided attending by the help of friends". In the same year a resolution was come to that he should be appointed one of the judges of the Common Pleas

Court of Common Pleas (England)

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...

. Even in the last year of his life Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, then protector, sent for him privately, and was very urgent that he should again accept office as chief justice

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

. Bramston, however, excused himself on the ground of his advanced age. He died, after a short illness, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 22 September 1654, at his manor of Skreens, in the parish of Roxwell

Roxwell

Roxwell is a village and a parish in the Chelmsford District, in the English county of Essex.The parish church is St Michael & All Angels. There is a primary school and a public house...

, Essex, which he had bought in 1635 from Thomas Weston, the second son of Weston the lord treasurer. He was buried in Roxwell church. In person he is described as of middle height, in youth slight and active, in later years stout without being corpulent. Fuller

Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...

characterises him as "one of deep learning, solid judgment, integrity of life, and gravity of behaviour; in a word, accomplished with all the qualities requisite for a person of his place and profession". His son adds that he was "a very patient hearer of cases, free from passion and partiality, very modest in giving his opinion and judgment" (he seems to have shown a little too much of this quality on the occasion of the opinion on Ship money

Ship money

), "which he usually did with such reasons as often convinced those that differed from him and the auditory. Even the learned lawyers learned of him, as I have heard Twisden, Wild, Windham, and the admired Hales

Matthew Hale (jurist)

Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...

, and others acknowledge often".

Private life

Bramston married in 1606 Bridget, daughter of Thomas Moundeford, M.D., son of Sir Edward Moundeford, knight, of Feltwell

Feltwell

Feltwell is a village 10 miles west of Thetford, Norfolk, England, and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.Feltwell is a small village with a thriving community. The village has a small primary school which was originally built as a hospital. The pubs, The Lodge and the West End, are...

, Norfolk, by whom he had a large family, of whom six survived him, viz. three daughters, Dorothy, Mary, and Catherine, and as many sons, John; Moundeford, who was created a master in chancery at the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

; and Francis. Sir John, the son

John Bramston, the younger

, describes his mother as "a beautiful, comely person of middle stature, virtuous and pious, a very observant wife, a careful, tender mother", "very charitable to the poor, kind to her neighbours, and beloved by them", and "much lamented by all that knew her". She died in the thirty-sixth year of her age (whilst John was still at school at Blackmore

Blackmore

Blackmore is a village in Essex, England. It is located approximately 3 miles east of Chipping Ongar and is 4 miles north of Brentwood...

, Essex) in Phillip Lane, Aldermanbury, and was buried in a vault in Milk Street church. Sir John continued a widower for some years, his wife's mother, Mary Moundeford, taking charge of his house.

In 1631 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Brabazon, sister of the Earl of Meath

Earl of Meath

Earl of Meath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1627 and held by the head of the Brabazon family. This family descends from Sir Edward Brabazon, who represented County Wicklow in the Irish House of Commons and served as High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1606. In 1616 he was raised to...

, and relict of Sir John Brereton, king's Serjeant in Ireland. Brereton was her second husband, her first having been George Montgomery

George Montgomery (bishop)

The Rt. Rev. Dr. George Montgomery was a Scottish churchman, promoted by James VI and I to Irish bishoprics.-Life:He was the brother of Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery, who used his influence on George's behalf. After James I had made him Dean of Norwich in 1603, he was appointed the...

, Bishop of Clogher. Bramston's marriage with her was the revival of an old attachment he had formed as a very young man, but which Lord Brabazon had refused to countenance. The ceremony was performed at the seat of the Earl of Meath

Earl of Meath

at Kilruddery, near Dublin. His son John, who accompanied Bramston to Ireland on this occasion, was by no means prepossessed by the appearance of his stepmother. "When I first saw her", he says, "I confess I wondered at my father's love. She was low, fat, red-faced; her dress, too, was a hat and ruff, which though she never changed to her death. But my father, I believe, seeing me change countenance, told me it was not beauty but virtue he courted. I believe she had been handsome in her youth; she had a delicate fine hand, white and plump, and indeed proved a good wife and mother-in-law too." She died in 1647, and was buried in Roxwell

Roxwell

Roxwell is a village and a parish in the Chelmsford District, in the English county of Essex.The parish church is St Michael & All Angels. There is a primary school and a public house...

Church.

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