Margaret Bryan

Margaret Bryan, Baroness Bryan (c. 1468 – c. 1551/52) was lady governess to the children of King Henry VIII of England, the future monarchs Mary I, Elizabeth I, and Edward VI, as well as the illegitimate Henry FitzRoy. The position of lady governess in her day resembled less that of the popular modern idea of a governess, more that of a nanny. She was born Margaret Bourchier in about 1468 in Beningbrough, Yorkshire, England. Her mother was Elizabeth Tilney and her father was Sir Humphrey Bourchier, who was killed at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471 during the series of dynastic civil wars now known as the Wars of the Roses. Humphrey Bourchier was heir to the title Baron Berners but having predeceased his father John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, Margaret's brother John instead succeeded to the title as second Baron Berners. Humphrey Bourchier and Elizabeth Tilney had one further daughter who survived to adulthood. Margaret's younger sister was Anne Bourchier (1470–1530) who married Thomas Fiennes, 8th Lord Dacre in 1492. Their son, also Thomas, was the 9th Lord Dacre who was executed for murder in 1541. Marriages Margaret Bourchier was married three times. Her first husband, with whom there may only have been a marriage agreement (a 'pre-contract'), was Sir John Sandys, son of Sir William Sandys of the Vyne. The marriage agreement was signed when Margaret was 10 or 11 years old on 11 November 1478. They had one child. She married Sir Thomas Bryan before 1495. Margaret was a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon and was present at Catherine's wedding to Henry VIII in 1509. Margaret Bryan claimed to have been made Baroness Bryan suo jure on 18 February 1516, upon the birth of Henry and Catherine's daughter Mary, when she was appointed the infant's lady governess.