Family and Education

b. by 1487.2

Offices Held

Commr. subsidy, Plymouth 1523, 1524.3

Biography

Little has come to light about John Bryan, who presumably came from a branch of the family settled in Devon and Cornwall. He is unlikely to have been the supplier of provender to Henry VII’s stables as the career of the avener cannot be traced after 1495. Unlike his fellow-Member Henry Strete he was no stranger to Plymouth where during 1507-8 he was paid with the mayor and another townsman for consulting the prior of Plympton about the hiring of a master for the school. After the dissolution of the Parliament of 1510 he received £10 towards his own and Strete’s wages and for ‘gifts and rewards given to make divers lords friendly towards the town’, presumably for the confirmation of its charter made later in the year. He was not returned to the following Parliament but he could have replaced Robert Bowring in 1515 and also perhaps have sat again in 1523, as only the name of one of the town’s Members for those Parliaments is known; his inclusion in the commission to collect the subsidy of 1523 could mean that he sat in that Parliament or merely reflect his local position. If he made a will it has not been found, and there is no other indication of the date of his death.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Roger Virgoe

Notes

• 1. Plymouth receivers’ acct. bk. 1509-10.
• 2. Date of birth estimated from first reference.
• 3. LP Hen. VIII, iii, iv..
• 4. CPR, 1485-94 passim; 1494-1509, p. 50; Plymouth receivers’ acct. bk. 1507-8, 1509-10.