Sir Richard Browne, 1st

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

(c. 1605 – 12 February 1682/83) was English

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the court of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

from 1641 to 1660.

Life

Browne was the son of Christopher Browne and Thomazine Gonson. His grandfather was Sir Richard Browne, Kt.

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 ...

from 1594 until his death in 1604. A tablet in the church at Deptford mentions that the family was a younger branch of the ancient Browne family of Hitchin,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

and

Horsley, Essex Horsley Cross is a hamlet in the English county of Essex. Horsley Cross lies on the B1035 road just to the north of the main A120 that connects London and Harwich and to the south of Horsleycross Street. The population of the hamlet is included ...

. Browne played the part of Diana in Robert White's 'Masque of Cupid's Banishment' performed for

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and En ...

at Deptford on 4 May 1617. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 26 June 1623, aged eighteen, and gained the degree of BA as a member of St Alban Hall the same year. He became a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Merton in 1624, and proceeded to MA on 28 July 1628, having become a student of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1627 and esquire of the bedchamber to King Charles I. Browne was sworn clerk-in-ordinary of the privy council on 27 January 1641. He was the resident English ambassador to the court of France at Paris from 1641 to 1660. He was at this post when the young

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or ...

met him in the autumn of 1646. By June 1647, Evelyn had secured permission to marry Richard's 12-year-old daughter Mary Browne. He was created a Baronet by Charles II in 1649. Being a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

he could not easily return to England to his family estate

Sayes Court Sayes Court was a manor house and garden in Deptford, in the London Borough of Lewisham on the Thames Path and in the former parish of St Nicholas. Sayes Court once attracted throngs to visit its celebrated garden'' Diary and Correspondence ...

, in Deptford, opposite the Naval Dockyard.

eventually purchased the Sayes Court estate in 1653. Browne died at Charlton, Kent.Charlton
British-history.ac.uk. Accessed 26 December 2022.

Notes

References

*George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume III, page 10. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage. * 1600s births 1680s deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Cavaliers Ambassadors of England to France 17th-century English diplomats Clerks of the Privy Council Alumni of St Alban Hall, Oxford Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Date of birth unknown {{England-baronet-stub