Sir John Brownlow, 1st Baronet


Sir John Brownlow, 1st Baronet of Belton, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1640. on 26 July 1641 was created a baronet "of Belton in the County of Lincoln". He died without progeny when his baronetcy became extinct. His monument survives in Belton Church, showing half statues of himself and his wife finely sculpted in white marble.

Origins

He was born in 1590, the eldest son and heir of Richard Brownlow of Belton in Lincolnshire, Chief Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, by his wife Katherine Page, daughter of John Page of Wembley, Middlesex, a Master in Chancery and one of the first governors of Harrow School. His younger brother was Sir William Brownlow, 1st Baronet of Humby, Lincolnshire, who on 27 July 1641, one day after his brother's baronetcy, was also created a baronet, "of Humby in the County of Lincoln", whose great-grandson John Brownlow, 5th Baronet was in 1718 created Viscount Tyrconnel, in the Peerage of Ireland, whose sister and heiress in her issue Anne Brownlow married Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet and was the mother of Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, Speaker of the House of Commons, whose son in 1776 was created Baron Brownlow, the ancestor of Earl Brownlow, of Belton House.

Career

He inherited the manor of Belton, which his father had purchased.

Marriage

He married Alice Poultney, second daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Poulteney of Misterton in Leicestershire, a Member of Parliament for Wigan in Lancashire in 1601 and 1604, by his wife Margery Fortescue, a daughter of Sir John Fortescue of Salden, near Mursley, Buckinghamshire, Chancellor of the Exchequer. The marriage was without progeny.

Death & succession

He died on 24 November 1679, aged 89, as is recorded on his monument in Belton Church. As he died without progeny his baronetcy became extinct. His heir to his property was his eldest great-nephew Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet of Humby, Lincolnshire, who having inherited from him the manor of Belton, built the surviving grand mansion Belton House.

Monument in Belton Church

His monument in the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, comprising half statues of himself and his wife finely carved in white marble, is inscribed as follows: