He liked soft beds, hard harlots and beautiful clothes.
(The photo is Alan Van Sprang, who played Bryan brilliantly in the Tudors series. Enjoy the series but note that casting and timing constraints forced them to distort facts.)
As a soldier, diplomat and poet it’s easy to understand that Sir Francis Bryan had everything in common with our Sir Thomas Wyatt. Henry VIII liked both men and yes, they were friends. (Wyatt’s writings to/of Bryan survive to this day, but Bryan’s writings have been lost in time.)
Most important, they were business associates; the king’s business. I think the difference between Wyatt and Bryan was that doing the king’s business was a heavy burden to Wyatt’s conscience whereas … well, Sir Bryan didn’t seem to have one.
This story tells us how Bryan got his nickname. “N. Sander, Rise and Growth of the Anglican Schism ( 1877), p. 24, records that Sir Francis Bryan ‘was once asked by the king to tell him what sort of sin it was to ruin the mother and then the child’. Bryan replied ‘that it was a sin like that of eating a hen first and its chicken afterwards’. The king burst forth into loud laughter and said to Bryan, ‘Well, you certainly are my vicar of hell’.”
Bryan was also a cousin of Anne Boleyn – who he betrayed. Note that our Lady Elizabeth Brooke was also a cousin of Anne Boleyn. I haven’t been able to establish whether our lines attach to Sir Francis Bryan in any way, but this morning I received this FASCINATING comment from Bryan descendant William Jones and wanted to share it with everyone.
“It’s so that great grandfather loved to do contests and hone his skills with the sword but he endeared himself in his works of poetry. He indeed wore a patch but something you may not know is this. In the writings of the Three Musketeers, the villain that challenged them was developed from the character and looks of grandfather Sir Francis Bryan. The evil and eye patch wearing character was developed from the image of ‘The Vicar of Hell.’
None the less in later generations of his lineage the town of Smithfield North Carolina was founded and layed out by his grandchildren of which two were by grandparents and the other a great uncle….Needham Bryan 1 and sons William ( my lineage) and Needham Bryan II ( a great uncle) were founders of that town. Grandfather William Bryan and his brother Needham Bryan married daughters of Joseph Smith who by so marrying them proved Joseph Smith to be an indirect great grandfather that gave the land for the town of Smithfield.
Also it must be noted that another great grandson of Sir Francis Bryan, namely Morgan Bryan had two daughters and a son that married two children of Squire Boone. Rebecca Bryan married the great frontiersman of America, Daniel Boone.”
(Please note a descendant’s comment/correction to this quote below.)
I share this because – besides being FASCINATING – it may help some of you develop your trees. It may help me flesh out my line also because they also lived in this area and talked about a relationship with the Boones.
How wonderful it would be to learn – all these generations – that the descendants of old friends had connected again.
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet 
William Jones wrote back and added:” In my last comment I said three children of Morgan Bryan married two children of Squire Boone. Morgans two daughters married Daniel and his brother while Daniels sister married Rebecca and Martha Bryans brother. As to my understanding Rebecca and Martha’s brother was a better frontiersman than Daniel and often escorted Daniel on many of his daring adventures into the mountains of Tennesse, Kentucky,and North Carolina. The Bryan family as the Lee family were indeed
prominent in the history and developement of America and I am so proud of those who lived then and those who live today… not many today can make the claim I make and prove it by documentation……yet I do not boast beyond that which I had not a hand in causing, but yet, am a part of….
Mickisuzanne–
I am confused about whether I descend from Francis Bryan. A Morgan Bryan married a Mary Boone, but I also find documentation for a Morgan Bryan and Elizabeth Smith (my ancestors). Your article seems to indicate they could be two different men…two different great grandsons of Francis Bryan. Am I correct in my thinking?
Thanks!
Renee
Hi Renee
You’re referring to the added detail from William Jones, which I worked into my blog because I figure any public space needs to share credible clues. I don’t know the Boone line but – in case you missed it – Jones later wrote back ” In my last comment I said three children of Morgan Bryan married two children of Squire Boone. Morgans two daughters married Daniel and his brother while Daniels sister married Rebecca and Martha Bryans brother. As to my understanding Rebecca and Martha’s brother was a better frontiersman than Daniel and often escorted Daniel on many of his daring adventures into the mountains of Tennesse, Kentucky,and North Carolina. The Bryan family as the Lee family were indeed prominent in the history and developement of America and I am so proud of those who lived then and those who live today… not many today can make the claim I make and prove it by documentation……yet I do not boast beyond that which I had not a hand in causing, but yet, am a part of….
Is that the Lee family descended of Margaret Wyatt Lee, then, I suppose? Do you have anything about Margaret’s husband?
I have no clue, I put it out there hoping the info might help someone with roots in that area. Micki
Rebecca Bryan, wife of Daniel Boone, was not the daughter of Morgan Bryan, but rather his granddaughter. She was the daughter of Joseph Bryan. Sir Francis Bryan was my 8th great-grandfather. My 2d great-grandmother, Susannah Bryan Boren, was first cousin to Rebecca Bryan Boone.
Thanks Kerry. Rather than change the quote (which is not kosher), I noted your comment/correction.
Interesting that Bryan’s line followed a path to North Carolina. I have Wyatt ancesters who show up in the Albermarle/Perquimans region of that state, but no one I know of has been able to verify the connections between my line and the Wyatt notables who were prominent in Tudor England. Any chance you have relevant information?
I have been chasing the Boone connection in my family tree (Martha Marshall family tree in Ancestry.com.) I am relying on records documented by the LDS Family History Center in Salt Lake. I am tracing the Bryan line whose link is Mary Boone, sister of Daniel, and daughter of Sarah Morgan Boone and Squire Boone. Mary Boone married Captain William Bryan and this is the line that goes back to Sir Francis Bryan. By the way the Bryan line is traceable all the way back to 961 in Flanders, France. I am in the process of putting this information into my tree in Ancestry.com. I would be happy to share any info that I have.
Martha, I’m following my Bryan connection via Mary Boone Bryan as well. Would love to speak with you directly. Please email me ladee_bug02 at yahoo.com.
i am a desendant of francis bryan , my great grandparents were alice and christopher bryan and lived in s. mo. my mother was clara baron and her mother was ila bryan, also living in a very small town there. i knew one of grnandmother’s cousins was daniel boones wife. an earlier gen. of course. wish i could talk with some of you, i never knew so many bryans there were.
I’m a descendant of Sir Francis Bryan as well. He’s my 12th great grandfather. Here’s how I’ve researched the lineage: Sir Francis married Lady Joan Fitzgerald and they had a son named Francis who had a son named William Smith Bryan who had a son named Thomas and his son was Thomas who’s daughter was Margaret Bryan who married Caron Brannan. They had a son named Thomas, his son was James, his son was Harris, his son was Joseph, then his son was Matthew N. Brannon, Matthew’s son was Mathew, and his son was Shelby, then lastly Shelby is the father of Edward, my father. Families often used names repeatedly. It would be nice to connect with relatives.
I am probably a tenth great grandson of Sir Francis. My father Charles Thomas Bryan only knew of his father Samuel Thomas, both of Missouri. I started recording my family tree in January with just that much on my father’s side in January. Census data made it easy to find John W and John Bryan were my first and second great grandfathers. I was stuck for a while but Ezekiel and Joseph followed eventually. The hard part was finding Morgan Bryan, Jr had a son Joseph who matched my fourth GGF Joseph. This completed the connection to Captain Morgan Bryan and through him to Sir Francis.
Since the connection is patrilineal, I took the Y-chromosome DNA test. I don’t get any result back until late July. Then I should have a clearer idea of how good my detective work has been.
I have two sons so that would be sixteen generations of Bryan men going back to the first Sir Thomas Bryan. I also have one daughter though there have been several generations without any female siblings.
I just want to take a moment to recommend “Graven with Diamonds – The many lives of Thomas Wyatt” to both Wyatt and Bryan descendants. Nicola Shulman talks about Sir Francis Bryan about 17 times; it’s an interesting book and the author has done a lot of research.
(I’m the author of this blog and the Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet presence on Facebook.)
I have stumbled upon your post a few years after-the-fact, but, yes, I believe Sir Francis is ancestor to the Bryans who married Boones. Assuming my data are valid, your source is correct that Morgan Bryan was Sir Francis’s great-grandson.
I will tell you what I have been able to find so far. Sir Francis’s mother appears to have descended from King Edward III, and since that will likely be interesting to your readers, I will begin with HRH and work down from there to Morgan Bryan, numbering each generation. We see the name Bryan appear in line #6.
1. His Royal Highness King Edward III + Queen Consort Philippa d’Avesnes of Hainault
2. Their 13th and youngest child, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Essex and Buckingham + Eleanor de Bohun, heiress to the 7th Earl of Hereford
3. Their daughter Anne Plantagenet of Woodstock + her 3rd husband, William Bourchier
4. Their son Sir John Bourchier, 1st Lord Berners + Lady Margery Berners
5. Their son Sir Humphrey Bouchier + Elizabeth Tilney
6. Their daughter Margaret Bouchier + Sir Thomas Bryan II, son of Sir Thomas Bryan I
7. Our central subject, their son Sir Francis Bryan I “The Vicar of Hell”, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland + Lady Joan Fitzgerald, widow of the poisoned James Butler the 9th Earl of Ormonde
8. Their son Francis Bryan II + Ann Smith, daughter of Sir William Smith
9. Their son Francis Bryan III + Sarah Brinker. One account says this Francis returned to Ireland to attempt to reclaim his mother’s lands in County Clare, but was driven out and had to flee to Denmark. They had a son William born in Ireland, and then…
10. Their son Morgan Bryan, born in Maribo, and the one most of us are familiar with + Martha Strode, daughter of Sir William Strode
From here, there are several marriages between the Bryan family and the Boones and Linvilles and other American pioneer families. I will add minuscule letters in generation 11 to distinguish between siblings, and also majuscule letters to generation 12 to distinguish cousins.
11a. Their (Morgan and Martha) son Joseph Bryan Sr. married 2nd Alee Linville.
12aA. Their (Joseph and Alee) daughter Rebecca Bryan married the famous Daniel Boone.
12aB. Their (Joseph and Alee) daughter Martha Bryan married Daniel’s brother Edward Boone.
12aC?. It appears their (Joseph and Alee) daughter Eleanor Bryan married second a Josiah Boone after the death of her first husband, Ephraim Adams. This Josiah Boone appears to be the grandson of George Boone IV, who was the uncle of Daniel and Edward and brother of their father Squire Boone.
11b. Their (Morgan and Martha) son Captain William Bryan married Mary Boone, sister of Daniel and Edward.
11c. Their (Morgan and Martha) daughter Elinor Bryan married William Linville, who appears to be the brother of Alee Linville who married Elinor’s brother Joseph Bryan (11a).
12cA. Their (William and Elinor) daughter Ann (Nancy) Linville married George W Boone, brother to Daniel, Edward and Mary. These two (George and Nancy) are my 5th-great grandparents.
Subsequent generations prove the families remained close and continued to marry one another. There are too many for me to enumerate here. I hope this will be a helpful starting point for anyone who would like to dig deeper.
I have traced my ancestry to Elisha Oglesby Sr. who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain and Mary “Polly” Bryan who were apparently married in the home of Daniel Boone. Mary’s father was James Bryan, one of the frontiersmen who traveled with Daniel Boone. According to a document cited below in a letter from Jennie C. Morton, James’ wife died shortly after giving birth to their 6th child and the children were then raised in the Boone household by James’ sister and brother in law Rebecca and Daniel. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23366227.pdf
btw Boone brothers married sisters, they are Shakespeare sisters 2nd great grand daughters