Mention is made of a William de la Bruera in the History of Northamptonshire (edit. Oxon., 1791, tom. i. p. 233.), in connexion with the township of Grafton, to which manor Joane, his wife, and her sister Bruna, appear to have been co-heirs, as daughters of Ralph de S. Samson, temp. Henry III.
William Brewer, Bishop of Exeter (brother of the William Lord Briewere already mentioned), was "put in trust" by King Henry III. "to conduct his sister, the Lady Isabella, into Germany, to her intended marriage with the Emperor Frederic." See Jenkins's History of Exeter, 1806, p. 252.
"This Bishop Brewer also went into the Holy Land (transfretavit, cruce signat.) the eleventh of Henry the Third."—Risdon, edit. Lond., 1811, p. 137.
There was another William Brewer, a son of William Lord Brewer; but he died without male issue.
I fear these few notices bear no very precise relation to Ursula's inquiries. Still I send them, in the hope of discovering, by the kindness of some of your erudite contributors, what is the difference (if any) between the names La Bruyère, De la Bruere, and Briewere; and also whether, originally, these names belonged to two or three distinct families, or only to so many different branches of the same family.
J. Sansom.
P.S.—The name Bruere is probably not yet extinct, either in France or in England. In the Bodleian Library there is a letter, addressed by John Bruere to the clergy of the diocese of Oxford, written within the last century, and bearing date "May 19, 1793," "Odington, near Islip," of which place the author was probably the rector. And in the British Museum Catalogue, under the name of (M. de la) Bruere, is mentioned Histoire du Règne de Charlemagne, 2 tom. 12o; Paris, 1745.
SOUTHEY'S CRITICISM UPON ST. MATHIAS' DAY IN LEAP-YEAR.
(Vol. vii., p. 58.)