Anne Browne facts for kids
Anne Browne (born around 1495 – died March 10, 1582) was an important noblewoman during the Tudor period in England. She lived a long life and was known for her family connections and her quiet support of her religious beliefs.
Anne Browne's Life
Anne Browne was the daughter of Sir William Browne, who was once the Lord Mayor of the City of London. This meant her father was a very important leader in London.
Anne married three times. Her first marriage was in 1515 to Richard Fermor. They had one son named Sir John Fermor.
Later, she married John Tyrrell, who lived at Heron Hall in Essex. With John, she had two daughters, Katherine and Anne.
By 1542, Anne married for the third time to William Petre of Ingatestone Hall, also in Essex. This was William Petre's second marriage. Anne brought a "marriage portion" to this marriage, which was like a special gift of money and land. This included money from land near Dunton and from other estates in Cambridgeshire and Hampshire.
Anne and William Petre had five children together:
- John Petre, 1st Baron Petre (1549–1613), who married Mary Waldegrave in 1570.
- Two sons who sadly died when they were very young.
- Katherine Petre, who married John Talbot of Grafton.
- Thomasine Petre, who married Lodovick Greville. They had a son named Sir Edward Greville.
Life at Ingatestone Hall
Anne lived many years longer than her husband, William Petre. Like him in his later years, she quietly followed the Catholic faith. During this time, Queen Elizabeth I's laws made it very difficult and even dangerous to be Catholic in England.
Anne continued to live at Ingatestone Hall. She secretly welcomed and protected many Catholic priests who had come from a place called Douai in France. These priests were often missionaries, trying to help Catholics in England. Their presence was strictly against the law.
One of these priests was John Payne. He stayed at Ingatestone Hall under Anne's protection for some time. In 1577, he was arrested there and put in prison for three weeks before being released. He went back to France but soon returned to England and to Ingatestone Hall. There, he pretended to be Lady Petre's steward (a manager of her household) and acted as her confessor, hearing her religious confessions.
In 1581, information was given to the authorities about John Payne. He was arrested in Warwick and put on trial. He was accused not only of saying Mass, which was against the law, but also of plotting against Queen Elizabeth I. After a long investigation and trial, he was executed in 1582 in Chelmsford.
Anne's Final Years
Anne herself was on a list of "recusants" in 1582. Recusants were people who refused to attend the official Church of England services. John Payne's trial and execution seemed to affect Anne deeply. She died in April of the same year.
Anne was buried with her second husband in a special vault at St Edmund and St Mary's Church, Ingatestone. Her statue lies next to his on their tomb.
Lady Anne made her last will in February 1582, shortly before she passed away. Her will showed many of her personal belongings, like jewelry and silver. These items give us a glimpse into what a noblewoman in Elizabethan times owned.
See Also
