BROWNE, Francis (1610-82)

The Browne family had been established at Cowdray since the mid-sixteenth century, when Sir Anthony Browne^‡ inherited the estate from his half-brother Sir William Fitzwilliam^†, earl of Southampton, and added it to his own, already extensive, holdings in Sussex and elsewhere. Browne was well connected, several of his sisters marrying well, including Mary, who married Robert Petre^†, 3rd Baron Petre, in 1620. The family remained resolutely Catholic and the 3rd viscount suffered severe financial penalties during the civil wars since he was both a recusant and a royalist. Although his debts were extensive he was nevertheless solvent, and in 1672 he was able to buy out rents which had been reserved to the crown in the original grants. TNA, C54/4362 no. 4; C54/4364, no. 21.

Montagu was one of the last of the Catholic peers to take his seat in the Convention Parliament, first sitting on 23 May, but thereafter he was present on 35 days before the adjournment on 13 Sept. 1660, amounting to 37 per cent of the remainder of the session; he was absent from a call of the House on 31 July 1660. He signed the address of the Sussex gentry to the king in June 1660. A. Fletcher, A County Community in Peace and War, 320. He possessed a strong interest in the constituency of Midhurst through his ownership of burgages, but any influence had to be exercised discreetly. In 1661 he was able to return his distant cousin Adam Browne^‡, although Browne chose to sit for Surrey. HP Commons, 1660–90, i. 424–5.

Montagu was not present when the session resumed on 6 Nov. 1660, first sitting on the 13th. In all he attended on 29 days, 64 per cent of the total. On 13 Dec. he entered a protest against the vacation of Sir Edward Powell’s fines. He attended on the opening day of the new Parliament, 8 May 1661, being present on 43 days (two thirds of the sittings) before the adjournment on 30 July. He was expected to vote on 11 July 1661 in favour of the claim of Aubrey de Vere, 20th earl of Oxford, to the office of lord great chamberlain. Six days later he entered a second protest against the vacation of Sir Edward Powell’s fines. Montagu was not present when the session resumed on 20 Nov. 1661, being listed as ‘sick’ at a call of the House on 25 Nov. and first attending on 5 December. In total he was present on 28 days (22 per cent). He was absent when the 1663 session convened on 18 Feb., being excused as sick on the 23rd but attending two days later. He sat on 26 days of the session, 30 per cent of the total. His absences between 2 Mar. and 6 Apr. 1663 were covered by a proxy in favour of Charles Howard, Baron Howard of Charlton (later 2nd earl of Berkshire).

Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, listed Montagu as likely to support the attempt of George Digby, 2nd earl of Bristol, to impeach Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon. After 7 July 1663, Montagu attended on every day of the session, bar 10 July, a crucial day in the proceedings against Clarendon. On 18 July the committee considering the bill on subsidies named him as one of the assessors of peers. He attended on the second day of the 1664 session, 21 Mar., and was then present for 24 days, 68 per cent of the total. He missed the opening of the 1664–5 session, first attending on 28 Nov. and sitting on 25 days, 52 per cent of the total. He did not attend the brief session held in October 1665, and was absent when the 1666–7 session convened on 18 Sept., being excused attendance on 1 Oct. and attending just ten days of the session, between 9 and 23 Nov., 9 per cent of the total.

Montagu was in London in June 1667, when he asked Dudley North, 4th Baron North, for a buck for the use of Sir Samuel Barnardiston^‡ at the Bury St Edmunds assizes. Bodl. North c.4, ff. 176–7. He was present in the House on both 25 and 29 July 1667 when the king called a short session to proclaim the peace. He was also present at the opening of the 1667–9 session on 10 Oct. 1667, and on 21–22 Oct., but on 29 Oct. was once again excused attendance and did not return to the House until 9 November. He was present on 29 days before the adjournment on 19 Dec., nearly 48 per cent of the total. He was absent when the session resumed on 6 Feb. first sitting on the 14th. Thereafter he was present on 28 days (one-third of all sittings) before the adjournment on 9 May, sitting for the last time on 7 May. He returned to the House for the opening of the 1669 session on 19 Oct. and attended on 14 days, 41 per cent of the total.

Montagu was present on the third day of the 1670–1 session, 21 Feb. 1670, but after a further two days in attendance he then absented himself until 4 April. From 4 Mar. to 4 Apr. his proxy was held by his nephew, William Petre, 4th Baron Petre. He was present for a further three days in April, making just six days in total before the adjournment on 11 April. He was not present when the session resumed in October 1670. On 11 Nov. he asked Richard Sackville, 5th earl of Dorset, to present his excuses to the House on account of gout, promising to attend ‘as soon as ever I am able’, and was duly excused on 14 November. Kent HLC (CKS), Sackville mss U269/C89/4. He attended for three days in mid-December, for five days in January 1671 and seven days in the first part of February. From 10 Mar. he was rarely absent until the end of the session on 22 Apr., missing only two days. In this part of the session he was present on 49 days, 43 per cent of the total.

Montagu attended on the second day of the 1673 session, 5 Feb., and 14 days in all (37 per cent). He did not attend the short session of October–November 1673. He was, however, present on the opening day of the 1674 session on 7 Jan., attending on seven occasions. On the last day he attended, 27 Jan., he obtained the protection of the House against prosecution for recusancy. However, he probably found the situation threatening because on 21 Feb. 1674 he received a pass to travel abroad. CSP Dom. 1673–5, p. 175. Further, in May 1674, he entered into a debt trust to cover debts amounting to £20,000, a move which probably reflected a need to reassure creditors at a time of heightened anti-Catholic agitation. TNA, C6/244/50; W. Suss. RO, Montagu mss SAS-BA/124. Two of the trustees, John Caryll and William Roper, were also members of Catholic families, and the third, William Yalden, was a neighbour. Montagu’s relationship with the Roper family was also a personal one, as around 1674 his daughter, Elizabeth, married Christopher Roper, 5th Baron Teynham.

Montagu appears to have been at Newmarket in March 1675, where he had a horse running. CSP Dom. 1675–6, p. 28. He missed the opening week of the session of April–June 1675, first attending on 20 Apr. and being present on 17 days, towards 42 per cent of the total. He was excused attendance on 29 April. He attended just three days of the session of October–November 1675, being excused attendance on 10 November. In March 1676 and again in October and December he was engaged in horse-racing at Newmarket. Verney ms mic. M636/29, J. to Sir R. Verney, 23 Mar. 1676; W. Stewkeley to same, 14 Oct. [1676]; M636/30, J. Verney to same, 23 Nov. 1676. In about May 1677 Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury listed him as worthy, a not uncommon designation for those also marked as papist. Montagu was absent from the House when the 1677–8 session began on 15 Feb. and was excused attendance on 9 March. He was present only on 10–12 Apr. before the adjournment on the 16th. He then attended on the first two days when the session resumed on 21 May. He was absent when the session resumed on 15 Jan. 1678, first attending on the second day, 28 Jan., and sitting on 38 days, 62 per cent of the total for this part of the session.

Although there was only a prorogation of a week, Montagu missed the first three days of the session which began on 23 May 1678, first sitting on the 27th. He sat on 21 days, 49 per cent of the total. In the same year he petitioned the king against the assumption of the title of Viscount Hereford by the descendants of Sir Walter Devereux, which would deprive the Montagus of the right to be regarded as premier viscounts of England. Add. 38141, f. 113. This petition was referred to Parliament by the king and Montagu was present on 30 May 1678 when it was received by the House, which put off consideration until Leicester Devereux, 7th Viscount Hereford, came of age (he being only about five at the time); as he died in 1683, the next opportunity for the House to consider the issue was in connection with a private bill concerning the marriage of Edward Devereux, 8th Viscount Hereford, presented in 1690. W. Suss. RO, Cowdray mss 182.

Montagu also attended the prorogation of 1 Aug. 1678. He was present on the opening day of the 1678 session, 21 Oct., and attended on ten days of the session, 17 per cent of the total. Not surprisingly, on 15 Nov. 1678 he voted against the declaration against transubstantiation in the Test bill, the inclusion of which effectively barred him from Parliament. On 29 Nov. Cary Gardiner reported that Montagu had told his sister that the Commons’ address for the removal of the queen would not pass the Lords. Verney ms mic. M636/32, C. Gardiner to Verney, 29 Nov. 1678. He did not attend after 29 Nov. and on that day he was granted a pass to go abroad, in the company of his wife, son and daughter-in-law; by 5 Dec. he had left for France. CSP Dom. 1678, p. 615; Verney ms mic. M636/32, C. Gardiner to Verney, 5 Dec. 1678. His second son, Henry Browne, the future 5th Viscount Montagu, received a pass to travel abroad on 19 Jan. 1679. CSP Dom. 1679–80, p. 330. Montagu was allowed to compound for £20 a month, rather than lose two-thirds of his lands under the recusancy legislation. J. Miller, Popery and Politics in England, 1660–1688, 62.

On 20 Dec. 1681 the attorney-general agreed to a petition of the previous May from the bailiff and burgesses of Midhurst for a renewal and confirmation of their privileges, with a grant of markets and fairs specifically to Montagu and others in trust for the inhabitants. CSP Dom. 1680–1, p. 282. On 20 Mar. 1682, Edward Conway, earl of Conway, at Newmarket, wrote to his fellow secretary, Sir Leoline Jenkins^‡, for a licence from the Council for Montagu to attend the king at Newmarket for ten days. CSP Dom. 1682, p. 132.

Montagu died on 26 Oct. 1682, and was buried at Midhurst on 2 November. Wood, Life and Times, iii. 28. At his death he owned lands in Sussex, Surrey and Kent; he also possessed a personal estate valued at £5,000. TNA, C6/244/50. Even after payment of his debts he anticipated that the lands he bequeathed to his younger son, Henry, would enable him to raise portions of £2,000 for any daughters he might have. His will of May 1677 made bequests to such poor people as attended his funeral and provided generously for Henry. The remainder of his property passed, subject to a life interest in Cowdray House and Park for his widow, to his son, Francis Browne, 4th Viscount Montagu. His executors were all prominent Catholics with the exception of his servant, John Tourner, who was presumably also Catholic.