Brinley family

Deborah and Francis Brinley, portrait by Charles U. Bond (ca.1830) after John Smibert (1729)

Englishmen and colonial Americans, Loyalists and Patriots, colonial Canadians and American citizens, the members of the Brinley family were a diverse group of characters, ranging from auditors to officers, businessmen, lawyers, legislators, book-collectors, historians, aristocratic ladies and housewives, devoted mothers, husbands, and fathers. A few were slave-holders. Yet through decades of tumultuous social and political change, the family maintained certain distinctive traits and traditions, clinging most notably to their strong ties to England and to the status quo at home. The Brinleys were wealthy, business-minded members of the colonial elite, profoundly Protestant, and most were highly educated and steeped in knowledge. Many became prominent public figures and many more served their respective nations in uniform.

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