Nicholas Browne 849
Dated: 8 Oct 1610
Proved: 22 May 1611

Names:
Anne Ramme, sister
Barbara Browne, wife
William Browne, son
Jane Brown granddaughter, dau of William
Nicholas Browne, son
Nicholas Browne and Joane Browne, grandchildren, children of Nicholas.

Robert Heyhowe, kinsman (probably a nephew, son of a sister named Agnes?)
Elizabeth Wyth, kinswoman (probably a niece, parents and spouse not known)
Faith Browne, wife of son Nicholas
Frances Browne, wife of son William

Samuel Stallon Clarke and William Knowles Clarke (could these be Clerks, not Clarke?)
Steven Clifton, my wifes uncle
Annes Reeve, servant
Thomas Garrett
Joan Fenn, Katherine Ceele, Amye Wenn, servants
Elizabeth Turner, wife of Richard Turner

Barbara is named in the 1610 Will of her husband, Nicolas Browne, and 1620 Will of her son, William.

Also named in the 1610 Will is her uncle, Steven Clifton, indicating her mother's maiden name was Clifton. 849

An alternate possibility is that Barbara’s maiden name was Clifton and she was the widow of a Gosnolde when she married Nicholas Browne.

Mary Gosnold, dau of Charles, was bap. 27 Feb 1676, buried 12 Mar 1676 in Norwich, Norfolk.

Anne Gosnold , dau of Charles & Sarah, was born & bap. 14 Aug 1678 in Norwich, Norfolk.
Martha Gosnold, dau of Charles & Sarah, was born & bap. 14 Aug 1678 in Norwich.

Sarah Gosnold, dau of Charles, was buried 20 Mar 1688 in Norwich, St. Peter Hungate, Norfolk. 850

Brother Stephen?

Name: Clifton, Stephen
Dates: 1618
Place: General, England
Book: Wills Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and now Preserved in the Principal Probate Registry. 1605 to 1619. (Will)

Collection: England: Canterbury - Wills Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1605-1619
Text: 1618 Clifton, Stephen, [P.A.B. bachelor, over the seas] 84 Meade

Parents?
The 1610 Will of Nicholas Browne mentions a Steven Clifton, uncle of his wife Barbara Gossnold, indicating Barbara's mother was a Clifton. There are numerous family trees that claim that Katherine Clifton, daughter of Henry & Barbara (Hewett), married Edmond Gossnolde.

A Clifton/Clyfton family tree in the 1563 Visitations of Norfolk, names Nicholas Clyfton as father of Henry Clyfton//Clifton and that Henry married Barbara Hewyt/Hewett and had four children, Thomas (m. Cecilie Laws), Stephen, Katherine (m. Edmund Gossnold) and Amy (m. Clement Herward).

Additional Ancestry Family trees claim that Henry and Barbara married about 1535 and the birth dates for the children are:

Thomas (1536–1579) married and had issue (daughter Mary, for one).
Steven (1538–) Issue, two sons. (under age in 1554 Will of father; of age in Dec 1558 will of mother).
Katherine (1540–?) m. Edmond Gossnolde of Suffolk Co.. No issue identified (Dec 1558 Will mentions son Edmond).
Amy (1542–1577) m. Clement Herward of Gresnall in Norfolk Co.; no issue identified.

Also in the 1563 Visitations of Norfolk are transcripts of wills for Thomas Clifton (dated 1539), Harrye Clifton (dated Apr 1545 (1554?), proved Dec 1554), Barbara Clifton (dated Jan 1558/9, proved Mar. 1558/9), Cecilie Clifton (dated 7 May 1579, proved 8 Oct 1580) and Henry Clifton (dated 1668, proved 1670)

Henry/Harrye Clifton’s 1545 (1554?) will named his wife Barbara, son Stephene (under age) and Thomas (evidently about to be married). Not named are daughters Katherine and Amy.

Barbara (Hewett) Clifton’s Dec 1558 will names her sons Stephen and Thomas (and his wife Cecilie) and daughters Katherine Gossnold and Amy Harwood (and her husband Clement). She also names granddaughter Mary, daughter of Thomas, grandson Edmond, son of Katherine and grandson Harry Harwarde, son of Amy & Clement.

But if Katherine Clifton, sister of Stephen, was born abt 1540, she could not be the mother of Barbara Gossnolde who supposedly married Nicholas Brown in 1567 and whose first child Nicholas Jr was born Feb 1569/70. Barbara was probably born about 1550, maybe earlier.

Something is amiss. 862

Death/Burial
Diana Spelman provided the burial date and place as shown. An Ancestry record has a burial for a Barbara Browne on 17 Sep 1625 in Eaton, Norfolk.