page_title: George Bromley (politician)
section_title: Justice and recorder
hierarchical_section_title: George Bromley (politician) / Political and judicial career / Justice and recorder
caption_attribution_description: English: "Honoratiss: Dn Thomas Egertonus Baro de Ellesmere," portrait of Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, engraving, by the British engraver Simon van de Passe. 171 mm x 112 mm. Courtesy of the British Museum, London.
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's appointment as Justice of Chester in May 1580 was apparently through the influence of Burleigh himself. He joined Henry Townshend, who had been appointed a year before, and replaced Sir John Throckmorton, who had recently died after falling into disgrace a year earlier for giving judgment in favour of a relative. The month after his appointment at Chester, Bromley was knighted.
  In May 1582 Bromley intervened in the case of the aged Lady Mary Egerton of Ridley, Cheshire, who was accused of recusancy. His attention was probably drawn to this by her husband's illegitimate son, Thomas Egerton, already a distinguished lawyer and a future Lord Chancellor. Bromley wrote to William Chaderton, the Bishop of Chester, and Sir Henry Stanley, asking them to delay proceedings against her for three months and telling them he had "good hope of conformitie in her." He seems to have pulled his more powerful connections into the campaign, for his brother Thomas, the Lord Chancellor, sent a supporting letter in July and Sir Christopher Hatton did the same in January 1583.
  In 1585 Bromley felt compelled to write to the mayor and sheriffs of Chester to complain about the very poor quality of board and lodging they afforded him. He probably had fewer complaints about Shrewsbury, where he was elected recorder in June 1580, admittedly at a fee of only £4 per annum. Even before his appointment, he had advised and drafted ordinances for Shrewsbury School, assuring the headmaster, Thomas Ashton that earlier charters did not prevent him setting aside funds for university scholarships. In August 1581, when his son Francis married Joyce Leighton, daughter of Edward Leighton, the council decided make a gift to each father valued at £5, in goods of their choice, and to make a gift even to George Bromley's nephew, Henry, who was attending the event. The council must have valued Bromley highly, as in 1582 they gave him a considerable say in the financing and payment of a public preacher at St Mary's church. The Puritan Edward Bulkeley was retiring and was replaced by the even more radical iconoclast, John Tomkys. However, Bromley's responsibilities were now heavy and varied. At Bridgnorth, where he was also recorder, he had to install a deputy from 1586, when he was forced to take up leadership of the Council in the Marches.
caption: Thomas Egerton
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