Henry Firebrace

Sir Henry Firebrace (c. 1619 - 1691) was a courtier to Charles I, serving during his conflicts with Parliament throughout the era of the English Civil Wars. He later served Charles II as a Clerk of the Green Cloth and was knighted about 1685.

Early life The Firebrace family are presumed to have been of Norman origin, the name being variously argued to mean "strong of arm" (fier-a-bras) or more likely as a term of admiration for some feat of battle. It is unknown when they moved to England but the family eventually lived in Derbyshire, where Henry was born, the sixth son of Robert Firebrace of Derby and Susan Jerome of Kegworth, Leicestershire in 1619 or 1620. of this, Firebrace would later write

However, his attempts proved fruitless and eventually he felt bound to advise the king to "take a boat and commit yourself to the mercy of the seas, where God will preserve you"; Charles did not take this advice. He was appointed Third Clerk of the Kitchen of the Board of Green Cloth, promoted to Second Clerk in 1661 and Chief Clerk in 1667; For this service he was knighted some time before 2 April 1685 and retired c. 1688 at the age of 69. their second son Basil (b. 1652) later became the first of the Firebrace baronets; his daughter Hester married Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh. Elizabeth died in June 1659 and in 1664 Firebrace married Alice Bagnall, daughter of a Gentleman Usher of the Court, and in 1685 Mary Sergeant, daughter of the Keeper of the Royal Wine Cellar. His first marriage was the only one to produce known issue.

Firebrace died on 27 January 1691 and is buried in Stoke Golding; he had become wealthy and the local church, to which he bequeathed some valuable items of communion plate, contains a marble monument to him.

The poet W. H. Auden was a distant descendant of Firebrace.