page_title: George Bromley (politician)
section_title: The Council in the Marches
hierarchical_section_title: George Bromley (politician) / Political and judicial career / The Council in the Marches
caption_attribution_description: Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1534-1601). The escutcheon of six quarters shows the following arms: 1: Per pale azure and gules, three lions rampant argent a bordure compony (Herbert, differenced) 2: Argent, two bars azure a bordure engrailed sable (Parr) 3: Or, three water-bougets sable (Ross of Kendal, a Parr heiress); 4: Azure, three chevrons interlaced in base or a chief of the last (FitzHugh, a Parr heiress); 5: Vair, a fesse gules (Marmion, a Parr heiress); 6: Or, three chevronels gules a chief vair (St. Quentin) The arms of FitzHugh and St Quentin appear on the font of Mapelton Church, Holderness (See The coats of arms of the nobility and gentry of Yorkshire by Turner, J. Horsfall, 1911, p.185[1]).
context_page_description: George Bromley was an English lawyer, landowner, politician and judge of the Mid-Tudor and Elizabethan period, a member of an important Shropshire legal and landed gentry dynasty. Although his career was overshadowed by that of his brother Thomas Bromley, George Bromley was of considerable importance in the affairs of the Welsh marches and the Inner Temple. He was an MP for Liskeard 1563, Much Wenlock in 1558 and 1559 and Shropshire in 1571 and 1572.
context_section_description: Bromley was a member of the Council in the Marches of Wales by 1560, but may have been appointed considerably earlier. It was the main organ of the state not only in most of Wales but also in the neighbouring counties of England and even Worcestershire, and for 26 years from 1560 its president was Sir Henry Sidney, a pillar of the Protestant establishment and brother-in-law of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the queen's favourite. Bromley the chief legal official of the council, receiving the substantial salary of £200 per annum.
  Bromley was sometimes given tasks beyond his remit as a legal officer: in 1569, for example, he was one of those named as responsible for the official store of arms and ammunition in Merionethshire. Frequently he was involved in the imposition of the Elizabethan religious settlement, a role he took on also at the Inner Temple. In 1573 he was appointed to a commission of oyer and terminer with the task of imposing the Act of Uniformity 1558, which made it mandatory for everyone to worship regularly in their parish church according to the Book of Common Prayer. In 1577 he was appointed to another commission of oyer and terminer on the death of the assize judges.
  Like other council members, Bromley was reputed for his attention to justice, especially to speed and fairness to the poor. In November 1580 Bromley and Henry Townshend, the MP for Bridgnorth, and Justice of Chester, wrote to Thomas Bromley, now Lord Chancellor, asking him to intervene against one John Hughes, who was using vexatious tactics against 17 poor men of the region, deliberately taking up residence in Westminster and suing them in the capital. Bromley and Townshent pointed out that Hughes had already acquired a reputation as a litigious nuisance in Montgomeryshire. Next month, Bromley was appointed to the Denbighshire commission for musters, the body responsible for raising troops in the county: in this case extremely detailed instructions were given to ensure that all eligible men were available and equipped. The council was proud of its efficiency as well as its relative freedom from corruption. In January 1581 Bromley and Sidney raised by 50% the pay of the clockkeeper at Ludlow Castle, where the council generally met, because of his diligence. In 1586, on the death of Sidney, Bromley took the leadership of the council until a new appointment, Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, could take over.
caption: Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
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