Sir Thomas BRYAN II [Chief Justice, Court of Common was born about 1438 in Cheddington, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND. He died after 1508. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1471 until his death in 1500. There is heraldic evidence at the College of Arms which indicates that he was connected with the family of BRYANS which settled at Tor Bryan in Devon, from very early times.
Most notable of this Devonshire family was Guy, Lord Bryan, who bore arms (or, three piles in point, azure) at the siege of Calais. He was summoned to Parliament in 1350, and in 1369, the third Edward conferred upon him the Garter. His ancestry is ascribed to the ancient Counts de Brienne, some of whose offspring is said to have come into England with William the Conquror. Thus the surname BRYAN appears to be a place-name, derived from Brienne le Chateau, which was the capitol of a countship during the time of Hugh Capet, in the former province of Champagne, France.