Sir Henry Firebrace (c. 1619 - 1691) was a courtier to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, serving during his conflicts with Parliament throughout the era of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

s. He later served Charles II as a

Clerk of the Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal ...

and was knighted about 1685.

Early life

The Firebrace family are presumed to have been of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

origin, the name being variously argued to mean "strong of arm" (fier-a-bras) or more likely as a term of admiration for some feat of battle. It is unknown when they moved to England but the family eventually lived in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, where Henry was born, the sixth son of Robert Firebrace of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and Susan Jerome of Kegworth,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in 1619 or 1620. He attended Repton School until the age of about 14, shortly after which his family moved to London, and Firebrace was

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

d to a

scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or who wrote letters to court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material. This usually indicated secretarial and admini ...

. In 1643, he was appointed secretary to Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh's council of war.

Service to Charles I

Despite Firebrace's links to Denbigh, who aligned with the Parliamentarians, it appears that his sympathies were

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

; he later claimed to "have been of service to

he king He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

" in 1645. In 1647, when the Scots had delivered the king to the English at Newcastle, and his former servants were dismissed by the Parliamentarians, Firebrace arranged to be appointed by Denbigh to "attend to his majesty as one of the pages of the bedchamber", at the king's request, and was trusted with the task of guarding Charles. At the same time, Firebrace was acting as a double agent, ensuring transit of the king's correspondence and in planning his escape. While ostensibly guarding Charles in November 1647, he allowed the king to escape from

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

. In 1648, when Charles was imprisoned on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, Firebrace (still trusted by the forces of Cromwell) continued to act as a conduit for illicit communications and to develop further escape plans. One attempt, in which the plan was to lower the king to the ground using a rope, failed when Charles, who had ascertained that his head would pass through the window-frame, became lodged and was stuck there; of this, Firebrace would later write However, his attempts proved fruitless and eventually he felt bound to advise the king to "take a boat and commit yourself to the mercy of the seas, where God will preserve you"; Charles did not take this advice. Firebrace was one of the king's attendants at his execution on 30 January 1649, and thereafter he returned to serve Denbigh, who by that time had become a member of the post-civil war government, residing in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. He was to remain there, settling in Stoke Golding, close by, for the next nine years.

Service to Charles II

On the

restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

in 1660, Firebrace sought a court position under Charles II having previously been commended as "a person very faithful and serviceable ... in his greatest extremities" by

. (Requires login or UK library card) He was appointed Third Clerk of the Kitchen of the

Board of Green Cloth The Board of Green Cloth was a board of officials belonging to the Royal Household of England and Great Britain. It took its name from the tablecloth of green baize that covered the table at which its members sat. It audited the accounts of the R ...

, promoted to Second Clerk in 1661 and Chief Clerk in 1667; in 1685 he rose to Clerk Comptroller and in 1688 to Clerk. For this service he was knighted some time before 2 April 1685 and retired c. 1688 at the age of 69.

Death and legacy

Firebrace married three times; in 1645 he married Elizabeth Dowell, of Stoke Golding,

, with whom he had five children, four of whom survived infancy; their second son Basil (b. 1652) later became the first of the

Firebrace baronets The Firebrace Baronetcy, of London, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 28 July 1698 for Basil Firebrace, Member of Parliament for Chippenham from 1690 to 1692. He was the son of Sir Henry Firebrace. The third Baronet sa ...

; his daughter Hester married Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh. Elizabeth died in June 1659 and in 1664 Firebrace married Alice Bagnall, daughter of a

Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants fou ...

of the Court, and in 1685 Mary Sergeant, daughter of the Keeper of the Royal Wine Cellar. His first marriage was the only one to produce known issue. Firebrace died on 27 January 1691 and is buried in Stoke Golding; he had become wealthy and the local church, to which he bequeathed some valuable items of communion plate, contains a marble monument to him. The poet W. H. Auden was a distant descendant of Firebrace.

Early life

Service to Charles I

Service to Charles II

Death and legacy

References

Further reading

See also