Margaret Brayne facts for kids

Margaret Brayne (born Stowers; died 1593) was a very important person in the early theatre world. She was especially involved with building and running The Theatre in Shoreditch. This was the playhouse where William Shakespeare began his career as an actor and writer. Margaret is most famous for the long legal battle she fought. She wanted to get back her share of The Theatre after her husband passed away. The documents from this fight give us a lot of information about how playhouses looked and were managed a long time ago. They also tell us about the Shoreditch area and the people who lived there.

Early Life and Family

We don't know much about Margaret's life before she married a grocer named John Brayne. Her maiden name was Margaret Stowers. She married John on January 14, 1565.

Margaret and John had four children: Robert (born 1565), Roger (born 1566), Rebecca (born 1568), and John (born 1573). All four children were baptized at St Stephen Walbrook. Sadly, they all died young, most of them as babies. Margaret had a fifth child, Katherine (who also died in 1593), after her husband passed away in 1586.

Building The Theatre

In 1576, John Brayne teamed up with James Burbage to build a public playhouse. They built it on the land of an old religious building called Holywell Priory in Shoreditch. They didn't have a written agreement. John Brayne agreed to provide most of the money to build it. He understood that the lease for the land would be in both his and Burbage's names.

The building project cost a lot more than they expected. Brayne and Burbage first planned to spend about £200, but they ended up spending around £700. To help save money, Margaret and John even worked as manual laborers themselves during the construction.

Around 1586, about ten years after The Theatre opened, Margaret worked there as a 'gatherer'. This meant she stood at one of the entrances and collected money from people coming to watch the plays.

Legal Challenges and Disputes

Building The Theatre caused John and Margaret Brayne serious money problems. They also made another difficult investment in a place called The George Inn. James Burbage never put John Brayne's name on the playhouse lease. Because of this, the partners argued a lot. John Brayne died in 1586, and their disagreement was still not settled.

The Burbage family continued to share the playhouse profits with Margaret Brayne for a while. But they stopped doing so in 1589.

Margaret believed that Robert Miles, a friend and business partner of John Brayne, was involved in her husband's death. Margaret went to court against Miles regarding her husband's death. She also sued him for a share in The George Inn, where John Brayne and Miles had invested together. Later, Margaret gave birth to Katherine and became close friends with Miles. The Burbages thought that Miles was Katherine Brayne's father. They also believed that he and Margaret had planned to harm John Brayne.

In 1588, with financial help from Miles, Margaret Brayne tried to get back the money she and John Brayne had lost on the playhouse project. Margaret and Miles went to court. They tried to collect money from two agreements Burbage had made with Brayne. Or, they wanted to gain ownership of half of The Theatre and collect half of its profits.

In 1588, Burbage sued Margaret and others to cancel these agreements. He also wanted to stop any claims on The Theatre. Margaret quickly sued him back. These two lawsuits went on for seven years without being solved. By then, Margaret had died, and Miles continued the case alone. The dispute was never fully resolved. Miles did not get the money from the agreements, and James Burbage died in 1597.

Margaret's Death and Lasting Impact

Margaret died from the plague in 1593. She was buried in the churchyard of St Mary Matfelon on April 13, 1593. In her will, Margaret named Miles as the person who would inherit her belongings and her lawsuits. She also asked him to care for her daughter, Katherine Brayne. Sadly, Katherine also died from the plague three months after Margaret. She was buried in the same churchyard on July 23.

Many documents were created during the long legal fight Margaret Brayne and Robert Miles had. Scholars have studied these documents very closely for over 160 years. These papers are now kept at The National Archives in London. They contain a huge amount of information about the early theatre business and the wider culture of that time.