Sir Francis Bryan, Chevalier Baronet, b. 1490; d. Feb. 2, 1550, Clonmel,
Ireland, was appointed Governor General of Ireland in 1548.  In 1549
he was made Lord Chief Justice.  He wrote many books, and performed
important missions and personal services for Henry VIII.  He was a
soldier, diplomat, and poet.   He married (1) Philippa, daughter, of
Sir John Montgomery.  Their son had a daughter, Anne Butler
Bryan, who married Gen. Spottswood.  She is said to have been the
aunt of the early American poet, Philip Freneau.  He married (2) Joan
Fitzgerald, 1548.  Their son, Sir Francis Bryan II, b. 1549, had large
estates in County Clare, Ireland.  He married Anne Smith, daughter
of Sir William Smith.
 
William Smith Bryan, son of Sir Francis Bryan II,
was born in 1590; d. 1667.  He married
Catherine Morgan and was called "Prince
William" by his followers.  He was the father of eleven sons and three daughters.
He was deported from Ireland because of his support of the Irish cause during the
Puritan Revolution.  He is said to have been "dropped" at Gloucester Beach, Va.

Francis Bryan III, was born in 1630 in Gloucester Co., Va., and died in 1694 in
Belfast, Ireland.  He had married Sarah Brinker in Denmark.  He returned to                               Bryan Family
Ireland in 1667 to try to retrieve the family fortunes.                                                                        Morgan Bryan
                                                                                                                                                               Peter Bryan
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