page_title: John Brayne
section_title: The Theatre in Shoreditch
hierarchical_section_title: John Brayne / The Theatre in Shoreditch
caption_attribution_description: English: Burbage's Theatre, Holywell, London - site plan
context_page_description: John Brayne was a member of the Worshipful Company of Grocers. He built the Red Lion playhouse, and financed, with his brother-in-law, James Burbage, the building of the Theatre in Shoreditch, in which he was to have had a half interest. He also leased the George Inn in Whitechapel with a friend, Robert Miles. The latter two ventures, particularly the financing of the Theatre, bankrupted him, and he fell out with both James Burbage and Robert Miles. It was suspected that his death in 1586 was caused by blows received during an altercation with Miles. His widow, Margaret, backed financially by Miles, was involved in litigation with Burbage over Brayne's half interest in the Theatre until her own death in 1593.
context_section_description: Brayne's earliest financial involvement with his brother-in-law, James Burbage, was in 1568, when they lent money to a third party. Eight years later, on 13 April 1576, Burbage leased part of the grounds of the dissolved Holywell Priory in Shoreditch from Giles Allen for the purpose of building a playhouse. To help finance the scheme he took in Brayne as a partner, and it was later claimed that Brayne had supplied most of the £700 spent in the construction of the Theatre, and had bankrupted himself in so doing. Brayne sold his business and house in Bucklersbury, and by 1577–8 was no longer active as a grocer.
  There was no written agreement governing the terms of the partnership, and Brayne and Burbage soon fell out. Brayne, who was now childless, failed to revise his will to leave his interest in the Theatre to James Burbage's children, as he had promised to do, and Burbage failed to grant Brayne a half interest in the 21-year ground lease which he had signed with Giles Allen on 13 April 1576, and kept it solely in his own name. On 9 August 1577 an assignment of lease was drawn up, and on 22 May 1578 Burbage signed a bond in the amount of £400 requiring him to assign a half interest in the ground lease to Brayne, but this was never done. Brayne accused Burbage of double-dealing, and in the following month the partners submitted their dispute to arbitration by two friends, in the course of which Burbage struck Brayne and they fell to fisticuffs. On 12 July 1578 the arbitrators submitted the articles containing their decision, and both Burbage and Brayne signed bonds in the amount of £200 as a guarantee of performance.
  On 26 September 1579 Burbage borrowed £125 8s 11d from the London grocer John Hyde, in return for which he mortgaged the ground lease of the Theatre for a one-year term. Hyde was not repaid, and the ground lease was forfeited to Hyde on 27 September 1580. Hyde allowed Burbage to continue operating the Theatre and extended the lease, but it was again forfeited to Hyde for non-payment. Hyde had Burbage arrested for debt in June 1582, and tried to put Brayne out as part owner of the Theatre.
caption: Modern drawing of ground plan of the Theatre in Shoreditch
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