Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln

Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (11 March 1516 – 8 March 1534 Southwark) was the eldest child and only son born to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, who was a daughter of Henry VII of England. Thus Henry Brandon was nephew to Henry VIII of England. His younger sisters were Lady Frances Brandon and Lady Eleanor Brandon [ [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/articles/roking07.aspx Burke's Peerage] ] .

Henry Brandon was born in London, about a month after his first cousin Mary I of England. His paternal grandparents were Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. His maternal grandparents were Henry VII of England and his queen consort Elizabeth of York.

His maternal uncles were Arthur, Prince of Wales, Henry VIII of England, Edward Tudor and Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset. His maternal aunts were Margaret Tudor, Elizabeth Tudor and Katherine Tudor.

Brandon was created Earl of Lincoln by Henry VIII on 18 June 1525. His father planned a marriage for him with Catherine Willoughby, a peeress in her own right and daughter of Maria de Salinas, who had been one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting [ [http://www.thebythams.org.uk/places/grimsthorpe/index.html Grimsthorpe estate] ] .

Role in the line of succession

Throughout Brandon's life, there was a small but real possibility that he would one day become king of England. At the time of his birth, Princess Mary was Henry VIII's only child, and his Queen consort Catherine of Aragon was already thirty years old and with little prospect of having any more children. Next in line after the king's children was his sister Margaret Tudor, and her children, but their place in the succession was not secure - Henry would later exclude them by the Second Succession Act (1536), and by his will. Next in line after that came the Duchess of Suffolk and her son Henry Brandon, who during his own lifetime (he died before Henry's son Edward was born), was the only person in the line of succession who had the twin qualifications of being male, and English. However he died unmarried at the age of seventeen.

Brandon's mother pre-deceased him, and his own death created royal ambitions in his sister Frances. After the death of the Duchess of Suffolk, the Duke married Catherine Willoughby himself. Brandon's niece Lady Jane Grey eventually, and briefly, succeeded to the throne on 10 July 1553.

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