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The name Brind is found in several parishes of the north eastern corner of Wiltshire and in north west Berkshire. It appears under a variety of definite variants, Brend(e), Brind(e), Brynd(e) but Brynn(e), Bryne and Breemd have been found too. It is not always a simple task to determine whether certain spellings are variants of a particular name or a completely different family name, especially in entries containing contractions; for example, Bryn could be Brynn (a possible variant) or Bryan (almost certainly a different name). Similarly the names Brant, Brent and, more especially, Bren(n) give cause for concern. Most difficulty arises where the 'd' ending of Bryn is omitted.
P.H. Reaney in The Origin of English Surnames (1967) places Brind in the chapter on Oath-Names, Favourite Expressions and Phrase-Names [p. 287]: "Medieval punishments - Some of these phrase-names obviously refer to men who inflicted one or other of the cruel penalties imposed by medieval law: Brend, Brent and Brind are ME terms meaning 'burnt, branded''.
The "South Marston" lines have been traced back to one John Brynd who died c. 1514, although an element of uncertainty surrounds the penultimate link for the main ancestral line under study. An entry in the manorial court roll for Staunton Fitzherberd [P.R.O. SC2/208/28 pp. 41r-42r: View of Frankpledge I-27 held 26th September 6 Hen VIII (1514)] records that Edmund /22 Brynd came to the court and took from the lord one meadow called the Brodehey with the Hele late in the tenure of John Brynd his father, to be held for the lives of Edmund, Joan, his wife, and John their son. Unfortunately, no will or inquisition post-mortem has been found for John Brynd who died c. 1514.
It is possible that this John Brynd is the man named in two quitclaims located at the Wiltshire Record Office. However, it is also possible that these documents relate to one, or perhaps two, other John Brinds. W.R.O. 1337/6 is dated 28th October 1482 and refers to John Bren Senior and land in Hanyndon, Hyworth and Estrop, co. Wilts. However, W.R..O. 1337/7 is dated 24, 31 May 1497 and refers to John Bryn e of Southmerston, co. Wilts., husbandman, and relates to a cottage in Hanyngdon (in part, next to a property already held by John Brynde). As these documents were written fifteen years apart it is possible that they refer to two different men, especially as the name John was so commonly found in earlier generations. The use of the term senior in 1482 and not in 1497 need not prove that these are two different men nor that John senior would have had a son John (as its use may denote the fact that there were two John Brinds in the same area of differing ages: perhaps uncle and nephew, as much as father and son).
The evidence suggests that John Brynd [d.c.1514] had at least two sons and both are found in South Marston by the middle of the sixteenth century.
The Edmund Brynd, first mentioned in the Staunton Fitzherberd court roll of 1512 [P.R.O. SC/2/208/28 p. 23r-v], married Joan, and died in 1543. He first appears at South Marston in a lay subsidy roll of 1522/3 [P.R.O. E179/197/151] valued at £70 and paying £3 10s tax. He left a will [P.R.O. PROB11/29] which named his wife, two sons [William and John] and two daughters [Elizabeth and Jane]. His widow died in 1555 and she too had made a will P.R.O. PROB11/39].
However, in her will she refers to five daughters not named in Edmund's will, plus her two sons, but no reference to the daughters whom Edmund had named. She also named nine grandchildren [seven children of her daughter Rykerrts, Edmund son of her daughter Coxe and Edmund son of her son John] but she appears to have had other grandchildren too.
There is a slight possibility that the daughters only mentioned in Joan's will were her children by a former husband. However, it is more likely that Edmund did not name these daughters as he has already provided for them at the time of their respective marriages: the only evidence for this is that her daughter Coxe's son was named Edmund.
However, it should be noted that after Edmund's death in 1543, the lay subsidy roll lists Joan Brynde widow, William Brynde, Elizabeth Brynde and Jane Brynde having taxable goods in South Marston [P.R.O. E179/197/215 and 197/230] (presumably the result of bequests made by their father). There are no entries for Elizabeth and Jane by 1547/8 [Elizabeth married William Bryante in February 1545/6 and Jane married John Holeman in May 1547].
Edmund's son, William Brynde, married Margaret, the widow of Giles Morris, in 1561. William died c. 1574 and left a will [PROB11/57]. It is this document which helps to tie the South I-4I Marston family groups together. William named two daughters /43 Joan and Elizabeth and two sons in law Richard Spencer (known to be the husband of Joan) and James Poton' (whose precise relationship cannot be confirmed and he does not appear on the chart for this reason).
However, William also mentions his cousin Agnes Harding, her husband William Harding, plus his two cousins John and Henry Brinde. These last two mentioned men were probably the sons of William Brind, described in his burial entry on 14th January 1577/8 as 'the farmer of Marston' (he was the brother of Agnes Harding).
No trace has been found of a descending line (with one exception) other than through John Brind (1551-1606) who is believed to be the son of William Brind, the farmer of Marston (d. 1577/8), who married Ursula and fathered at least nine children: their son John married Katherine Batson at Highworth, Wiltshire, on 16th April 1615, and had eleven known children.
John's brother Henry (named in William's will of 1574) appears to have had a son, Enable Brind, who was baptized at Highworth in 1608/9 but about whom nothing more is known.
The weakest link in the draft pedigree is the parentage of William and Agnes. The chart indicates that they were children of John Brind who was buried at South Marston in 1550. However, this is supposition based on the burial entry, the likelihood of John (d. c.1514) having a son John, and the 'cousin' link suggested by the will of William (proved 1574). As William and Agnes would have been born prior to the parish register era, linkages are dependent on wills, manorial court rolls, inquisitions post mortem (etc.) but in this case no documentary evidence has been found. This is, to say the least, a very tenuous link and their father may have been another, currently unknown, Brind. However, the link to John (d. c.1514) seems highly probable.
Mention of another William Brynd, whose death is recorded in the Stanton Fitzherbert manorial court roll in 1513 [P.R.O. SC2/208/28 pp. 31v-32r] must be made here, although his relationship to the South Marston or Wanborough groups is not known. He appears in the court record as early as 1511 [Ibid. pp. 10v-11r] and his widow or sister [the record is not specific] was named Agnes. Similarly, the parish registers of Highworth contain entries for the family units of Morris Brinde and William Brinde who have yet to be linked to the pedigree, although their relationship to the main line is extremely likely.
Many Brinds are found in the parish of Wanborough, Wilts., a parish which neighbours South Marston. That these groups were blood relations seems extremely likely but the relationship has not been identified during this current research.
Attention may be drawn to the name Anthony, a fairly unusual name, which is found in both the Wanborough and South Marston families in the mid-sixteenth century. A rental of 1567 for South Marston records both "Atony Bryne" and "Willia' Bryne": William may be the man whose will was proved in 1574 or, more likely, the farmer (d. 1577/8) but Anthony is probably the son of Thomas Brynd of Wanborough (murdered 1577) who married Sybill Blount and died 1578. That William Brynd (d. 1577/8) had a son named Anthony (bap. 30 August 1556) helps to suggests a kinship relationship between the two units.
Thomas Brynd (d.1577) and other Brynds of Wanborough held land in several places including South Marston during the sixteenth century which indicates the likelihood of close familial connections.
Furthermore, family ties are suggested by the marriages of the Stitcholds and Spencers in both lines. Also, the will of William Harding, proved in 1590 [PROB11/75], mentions John Brind his brother in law. As no John Brind has been identified as a brother of Agnes (Brind) Harding, it is possible that it was a Harding sister who married the John Brind, father of Edmund (bap. 1550) and Edith Brind (bap. 1550), whose wife's name is unknown. Inter-relationships of this kind were commonplace in farming communities of the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries (and later).
Extensive searches have been made to compile the attached draft descendants chart but it must be noted that further searches are possible.
The pedigree has been produced from the results of my own searches, with the assistance of Miss Hilary Marshall B.A., F.H.G., and from details provided by Lt. Col. David J. Brind. An abbreviated bibliography of the sources used (and defined searches where particularly relevant) accompanies this text.
Stephen W. Taylor B.A. (Hons.) Ph.D.
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