tration of that country, the necessity of taking steps to curb the insolence of the Lollards, who had nailed the principal articles of their creed to the door of St. Paul's. Braybroke was so far successful that Richard, on his return to England, compelled the principal offenders, Thomas Latimer and Richard Story, under pain of death, to take an oath of recantation. In the following year he was appointed, with the archbishop of York, to levy a contribution of 4d. per pound upon the value of all benefices in the kingdom, imposed by the pope for the benefit of the archbishop of Canterbury. The death of the archbishop (Courtney) soon relieved him from this unpopular duty. The bishop's last important public act was the reform of the chapter of St. Paul's. The canons residentiary had for some time past steadily refused to fill up any vacancies in their body unless the candidate for election would give security that he would expend in the first year after his election, in eatables and drinkables and other creature comforts, at least seven hundred marcs, a sum many times exceeding the annual value of the richest prebend. As a result the number of canons in residence had dwindled down from thirty, the full complement, to two, who divided between themselves the whole revenue of the church, and, not content with that, engrossed even the bread and ale, which from time immemorial had been the due of the non-resident canons. To put an end to this fraud the bishop obtained from the king a writ, dated 26 April 1398, addressed to himself and the dean and chapter, commanding them upon their allegiance, and under pain of a fine of 4,000l., to make by Michaelmas, at the latest, statutes regulating the mode of election modelled on those in force at Salisbury, and to observe them faithfully for the future. Braybroke was a trier of petitions in most of Richard II's parliaments; he celebrated high mass in the lady chapel at St. Paul's, on occasion of a convocation of the clergy there in 1399, and was a member of Henry IV's privy council for the first three years of his reign. As to the precise date of his death there was formerly much doubt, five several dates being assigned by different writers, viz. 8 Dec. 1401, 17 Aug. 1404, 27 Aug. 1404, 28 Aug. 1404, and 27 Aug. 1405. That the first date is erroneous is proved by a deed of grant of the manor of Crendon in Bedfordshire, preserved in the archives of All Souls' College, Oxford to which he was party, and which bears date 16 Feb. 1403-4. He was buried in the lady chapel at St. Paul's, and a fine brass above his tomb remained intact as late as 1641, when Dugdale, who gives an engraving of it, saw it. The inscription on the plate assigns 27 Aug 1404 as the date of death, and with this Godwin (De Præsul. 186) agrees. Braybroke was hroughout his life a close friend of William of Wykeham. The brass was destroyed during the civil war. Dugdale relates that on the burning of the church in 1666 Braybroke's coffin was shattered by the fall of a portion of the ruins, and the body was taken out in a state of perfect preservation, 'the flesh, sinews, and skin cleaving fast to the bones,' so 'that being set upon the feet it stood as stiff as a plank, the skin being tough like leather, and not at all inclined to putrefaction, which some attributed to the sanctity of the person, offering much money for it.'
[Le Neve's Fasti, i. 398, 591, ii. 99, 293, 615, iii. 184, 186; Hardy's Cat. Lord Chancs. 43, 44; Walsingham (Rolls Series), ii. 49, 65, 70, 162; Dugdale's Hist, of St. Paul's (ed. Ellis), 16, 27, 33, 57, 124, 219, 358; Chronicon a Mon. St. Albani, 1328-88 (Rolls Series), 383; Holinshed anno 1387; Wilkins's Concilia, iii. 194, 196, 218; Wharton's Hist, de Episc. Londin.; Cat. of Archives of All Souls' Coll. 27; Foss's Lives of the Judges. E. W. Brabrook, Esq., F.S.A., M.R.S.L., contributed an elaborate paper on Braybroke to the Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, vol. iii. pt. x. in 1869.]
BRAYBROOKE, Lords. [See NEVILLE.]
BRAYLEY, EDWARD WEDLAKE, the elder (1773–1854), topographer and archæologist, born in the parish of Lambeth, Surrey, in 1773, was apprenticed to one of the most eminent practitioners of the art of enamelling in the metropolis. Before the term of his indentures had expired he became acquainted with John Britton, 1771-1857 [q.v.], whom he used to meet at the shop of Mr. Essex in Clerkenwell. Both the young men had literary and artistic tastes and aspirations, and longed to emancipate themselves from the mechanical pursuits in which they were engaged. They formed a close friendship, which was maintained for the long period of sixty-five years, and they produced together many beautifully illustrated volumes on topographical subjects. They began their literary partnership in a very humble way. Their first joint speculation was a song called 'The Powder Tax, or a Puff at the Guinea Pigs,' written by Brayley and sung by Britton publicly at a discussion club meeting at the Jacob's Well, Barbican. The ditty was very popular, and seventy or eighty thousand copies of it were sold. Soon afterwards Brayley wrote 'A History of the White Elephant' for Mr. Fairburn in the Minories. In 1801 Brayley assisted Britton in producing the 'Beauties of Wiltshire.'
