William Brewer (aliasBriwere, Brigwer, etc.) (died 1226) ofTor Brewer[2] in Devon, was a prominent administrator and judge in England during the reigns of kingsRichard I, his brotherKing John, and John's sonHenry III. He was a major landholder and the founder of several religious institutions. In 1204, he acquired thefeudal barony ofHorsley in Derbyshire.[3]
Brewer's ancestry is unclear, but he was probably the son of Henry Brewer and the grandson of William Brewer, RoyalForester of Bere, Hampshire,[4] who founded the nunnery of Polsloe inExeter.William Brewer, Bishop of Exeter, was one of his nephews.
He began his career as Forester of Bere, a hereditary title,[4] and by 1179 had been appointedSheriff of Devon.[5] Under KingRichard I (1189–1199) he was one of thejusticiars appointed to administer the kingdom while the king was on theThird Crusade. He was present atWorms, Germany, in 1193 to aid in the negotiations for the ransom of King Richard. In about 1193 he began his career as aBaron of the Exchequer, an office that he exercised until the reign of KingHenry III (1216–1273).[6]
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.[10]
Richard (died 1213/5),[12] who predeceased his father.
William (died 1232), eldest surviving son and heir. He married Joan de Redvers, a daughter ofWilliam de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon, but died childless, when his five sisters became his co-heiresses.[13]
Isabel, married Baldwin Wake (died 1213), feudal baron of Bourne, Cambridgeshire.[3]
Joan, marriedWilliam de Percy, 6th Baron Percy (1197–1245), feudal baron ofTopcliffe, 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),[14] had been acquired by her father.[15]
Margaret (or Margery), married three times: firstly to William de la Ferté (died 1216), secondly toEudo de Dammartin (died 1225), and thirdly toGeoffrey de Saye (died 1230) feudal baron of West Greenwich, Kent.[3] Hermoiety of the inheritance from her brother was subsequently annexed to theDuchy of Lancaster.[13]
Brewer was adept at acquiring lands, and obtained a substantialfeudal barony from relatively humble beginnings. By 1219 he was assessed forscutage on over sixtyknight's fees scattered over several shires.[17]
According toRisdon, the lands of William Brewer in Devon formed afeudal barony,[18] but this does not appear on the list of baronies given byPole (died 1635),[19] nor is it recognised by Sanders (1960).[20] Risdon stated that Brewer held close to thirtyknight's fees (usually synonymous withmanors) in Devon, and that his barony ("honour") was "incorporated to the crown" together with theDukedom of Lancaster, by King Henry IV.[18] His Devonshire landholdings included:
William Brewer is a possible original for the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Robin Hood legends. He was portrayed as one of King John's enforcers in the television seriesRobin of Sherwood (Episode: The Time Of The Wolf, written byRichard Carpenter, 1985), played by John Harding. He also appeared as a minor character inRichard Kluger's 1992 novelThe Sheriff of Nottingham, and he is mentioned in Wilson Harp's 2013 novelThe 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.
Risdon, Tristram (1811).Survey of Devon, with considerable additions. London.
Sanders, I. J. (1960).English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Seymour, D. (1977).Torre Abbey. Exeter. pp. 47–52.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Turner, Ralph V. (1988).Men Raised from the Dust: Administrative Service and Upward Mobility in Angevin England. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylviania P.ISBN978-0812281293.
Watkin, H. R. (1918). "A Great Devonian: William Briwer".Devonshire Association Report and Transactions.50:69–169.
