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Birth:          ABT 1145 of Stoke, Devonshire, England
Death:          1226 Devonshire, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewer,_1st_Baron_Brewer
William Brewer, 1st Baron Brewer (alias Briwere, Brigwer, etc.) (died 1226) of Tor 
Brewer[2] in Devon, was a prominent administrator and judge in England during the 
reigns of kings Richard I, his brother King John, and John's son Henry III. He was a 
major landholder and the founder of several religious institutions. In 1204, he acquired 
the feudal barony of Horsley in Derbyshire.[3]
Biography[edit]

Brewer's ancestry is unclear, but he was probably[citation needed] the son of Henry 
Brewer and the grandson of William Brewer, Royal Forester of Bere, Hampshire, who 
founded the nunnery of Polsloe in Exeter. William Brewer, Bishop of Exeter, was one 
of his nephews.

He began his career as Forester of Bere, which appears to have been a hereditary 
title,[citation needed] and by 1179 had been appointed Sheriff of Devon.[4] Under 
King Richard I (1189–1199) he was one of the justiciars appointed to administer the 
kingdom while the king was on the Third Crusade. He was present at Worms, 
Germany, in 1193 to aid in the negotiations for the ransom of King Richard. In about 
1193 he began his career as a Baron of the Exchequer, an office that he exercised 
until the reign of King Henry III (1216–1273).[5]

Under King John (1199–1216) Brewer was one of the most active figures in 
government, in terms of the number of royal charters he witnessed,[6] together with 
Henry Marshal, Bishop of Exeter and Geoffrey FitzPeter, 1st Earl of Essex. During this 
period he was appointed Sheriff of Berkshire, Sheriff of Cornwall, Sheriff of Devon, 
Sheriff of Hampshire, Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 
Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset and Sheriff of Sussex and Sheriff of Wiltshire. He was 
often unpopular with the inhabitants of his counties, and the men of Cornwall, 
Somerset, and Dorset paid money to the king for his removal.[7]

He founded and endowed three monasteries: Torre Abbey, which was sited within his 
manor of Tor Brewer in Devon, in 1196; Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire in 1201; and 
Dunkeswell Abbey in Devon in 1201.[8]

In 1224, he retired from the world to live as a Cistercian monk at Dunkeswell Abbey, 
where he died in 1226 and was buried with his wife before the high altar.[9]

Marriage and children[edit]

Brewer married Beatrice de Vaux (died before 1220), (Latinised to de Vallibus, "from 
the valleys"[citation needed]) who had been the mistress of Reginald de Dunstanville, 
1st Earl of Cornwall (died 1175) and mother of Henry FitzCount (died 1221). Their 
children included:
Richard (died 1213/5),[10] who predeceased his father.
William (died 1232), eldest surviving son and heir. He married Joan de Redvers, a 
daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon, but died childless, when his five 
sisters became his co-heiresses.[11]
Graecia, married Reginald de Braose (died 1227/8).[3]
Isabel, married Baldwin Wake (died 1213), feudal baron of Bourne, Cambridgeshire.[3]
Joan, married William de Percy, 6th Baron Percy (1197–1245), feudal baron of 
Topcliffe, Yorkshire.[3] The wardship and marriage of William de Percy, who attained 
his majority of 21 in 1218, son of Henry de Percy (died 1198),[12] had been acquired 
by her father.[13]
Alice, his fourth daughter, married twice. Her first marriage was to Reginald de Mohun 
(1185–1213)[14][3] feudal baron of Dunster, of Dunster Castle in Somerset, and her 
second to William Paynel (died 1228), feudal baron of Bampton, Devon.[3]
Margaret (or Margery), married three times: firstly to William de la Ferté (died 1216), 
secondly to Eudo de Dammartin (died 1225), and thirdly to Geoffrey de Saye (died 
1230) feudal baron of West Greenwich, Kent.[3] Her moiety of the inheritance from her 
brother was subsequently annexed to the Duchy of Lancaster.[11]

Landholdings[edit]

Brewer was adept at acquiring lands, and obtained a substantial feudal barony from 
relatively humble beginnings. By 1219 he was assessed for scutage on over sixty 
knight's fees scattered over several shires.[15]

According to Risdon, the lands of William Brewer in Devon formed a feudal barony,
[16] but this does not appear on the list of baronies given by Pole (died 1635),[17] nor 
is it recognised by Sanders (1960).[18] Risdon stated that Brewer held close to thirty 
knight's fees (usually synonymous with manors) in Devon, and that his barony 
("honour") was "incorporated to the crown" together with the Dukedom of Lancaster, 
by King Henry IV.[16] His Devonshire landholdings included:
Buckland Brewer[11]
Tor Brewer, later called Tor Mohun,[19] the inheritance of his daughter Alice, wife of 
Reginald de Mohun (1185–1213), and their descendants.
Holsworthy,[20] which descended to his daughter Margaret, wife of William de la Ferté 
(died 1216), and their descendants.[21]
Ugborough[22] the inheritance of his daughter Alice, wife of Reginald de Mohun 
(1185–1213), and their descendants.[23]
Bradworthy[24] He gave part of this manor to his foundation of Torre Abbey. The 
remainder was the inheritance of his daughter Alice.[25]
Wolborough, which he gave to his foundation of Torre Abbey.[26]

In popular culture[edit]

William Brewer was portrayed as one of King John's enforcers in the television series 
Robin of Sherwood (Episode: The Time Of The Wolf, written by Richard Carpenter, 
1985), played by John Harding. He also appeared as a minor character in Richard 
Kluger's 1992 novel The Sheriff of Nottingham, and he is mentioned in Wilson Harp's 
2013 novel The Ghost of Sherwood as the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire 
and the Royal Forests, but the acting sheriff in his name in the story is a fictional 
brother named Robert Brewer.

Parents
DE BRIWERE Henry (ABT 1114 - )
WALTON ----- (ABT 1120 - )

Siblings
DE BRIWERE [BREWER] William (ABT 1145 - 1226)

Marriage To DE VAUX Beatrice (ABT 1160 - 24 Mar 1217)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE VAUX Herbert (ABT 1142 - 1165)
____ Grace (ABT 1143 - )

Children by DE VAUX Beatrice ABT 1160 - 24 Mar 1217
DE BRIWERE Grecia (Alice) (ABT 1176 - 1223)
DE BRIWERE Isabel (ABT 1180 - ABT 1228)
DE BRIWERE Hawise (ABT 1182 - )
DE BRIWERE Marjorie (Margaret) (ABT 1183 - BEF 1237)
DE BRIWERE Joan (1190 - BEF 12 Jun 1233)

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