THOMAS BRINLEY.
Thomas Brinley, Auditor general to Charles First and Second, had a son Francis who settled at Barbados, but the climate not being suited to his habits and constitution, came to New England and settled at Newport, R. I., in 1652. This was about fourteen years after the settlement of that place, and Francis Brinley held various offices; among them that of Judge. He occasionally resided in Boston, owning a large estate at the corner of Hanover and Elm streets. He died there in 1719, aged eighty-seven, and was buried in a grave in the King's Chapel burial-ground in Boston, on the spot where the family tomb now stands.
Thomas, son of the latter, was one of the founders of King's Chapel and resided in Boston. He married Mary Apthorp, and in 1684 went to England, where he died in 1693. His daughter Elizabeth married William Hutchinson, Esq., a graduate of Harvard College, in 1702. Mrs. Brinley, Francis and Elizabeth, returned to Newport, R. I.
Francis Brinley, the son of Thomas, was born in London in 1690, and was educated at Eton. He became a colonel and resided in Roxbury. His mansion was named Datchet from the house of that place in England. Colonel Brinley returned to London, where he died November 27, 1765. Francis Brinley's wife was Deborah, daughter of Edward and Catherine Lyde, and his marriage took place April 18, 1718. They had five sons and two daughters; one of whom married Colonel John Murray, and the other Godfrey Malbone.
Of the sons, Thomas Brinley was a Mandamus Councillor, and lived on Harvard Street. He married his cousin Elizabeth, the daughter of George Cradock, but they left no children. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1744, and became a Merchant in Boston.
His name appears among the one hundred and twenty-four merchants and others, who addressed Hutchinson in Boston in 1774; and among the ninety-seven gentlemen and principal inhabitants of that town, who addressed Gage in October of the following year. In 1776 he went to Halifax, and thence to England in the same year. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. His death occurred in 1784, and Elizabeth, his widow, died in England in 1793.
Edward Brinley, brother of Thomas, married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Tyler and left many descendants.
Nathaniel Brinley, another brother, also married his cousin, Catharine Cradock, was a resident in South Street and at one time lived in Framingham. About 1760 he leased the "Brinley Farm" of Oliver DeLancey, agent of the owner, Admiral Sir Peter Warren, of the Royal Navy, and as is said, employed fifteen or twenty negroes, in its cultivation. It is related that Daniel Shays, the leader of the insurrection in 1786, was in the service of Mr. Brinley on this farm. In 1775 he was an Addresser of Gage, and was ordered, in consequence, to confine himself to his own leasehold. He fled to the Royal Army in Boston, and after the evacuation of that town, he was sent to Framingham by sentence of a Court of Inquiry, ordered to give bond in £600, with two sureties, to remain there four months and to be of good behavior.
"In September 1776, Ebenezer Marshall, in behalf of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, represented that the 'people take him for a very villain,' as he had declared that 'Parliament had an undoubted right to make void the charter in part or in whole'; 'that ten thousand troops, with an artillery, would go through the continent, and subdue it at pleasure'; that he had conveyed 'his best furniture to Roxbury, and moved his family and goods into Boston,' and had himself remained there, 'as long as he could have the protection of the British troops;' that he approved of General Gage's conduct in the highest terms;' that 'his most intimate connections were some of our worst enemies and traitors;' and that, while he had been under their inspection, they had seen nothing 'either in his conduct or disposition, that discovers the least contrition, but otherwise.'"[236]
To some of these allegations, Mrs. Brinley replied in two memorials to the General Court. She averred that, by the conditions of the recognizance, her husband was entitled to the freedom of the whole of the town of Framingham; that he was in custody on the sole charge of addressing Gage; and that instead of being a refuge in Boston, he was shut up in that town while accidentally there, etc. She stated that he at one time had been compelled to work on John Fisk's farm, without liberty to go more than twenty rods from the house unless in Fisk's presence; and that he was denied the free use of pen, ink and paper. She said that after Mr. Brinley had been transferred to the care of Benjamin Eaton, he was not allowed to go from the house, and was fearful that his departure from it would occasion the loss of his life; also that she or any other person was not allowed to converse with him, unless in the hearing of some member of Eaton's family. She urged that he might be removed to some other inland town, and be treated in accordance with his sentence. Mr. Brinley's defence of himself seems to have been the simple remark: "I am a gentleman and have done nothing to forfeit that character." He merely had a rational opinion, but that was enough.
On the 17th September, 1776, the General Court, by resolve, committed him to the care of his father, on security in £600 for his appearance; and, in October of the same year, the committee of Framingham reported to the council that they had disposed of his farm, stock, farm-utensils and household furniture. Nathaniel Brinley removed to Tyngsborough, where his son Robert, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Pitts. This staunch loyalist died at that place in 1814, at the age of eighty-one.
LIST OF CONFISCATED ESTATES BELONGING TO THOMAS BRINLEY IN SUFFOLK COUNTY AND TO WHOM SOLD.
To Gustavus Fellows, Sept. 28, 1782; Lib. 136, fol. 11; Land, dwelling-house, distill house and wharf in Boston, Hollis St. S.; heirs of Joshua Henshaw deceased W.; low water mark.