Margaret Bromley née Lowe (died 1657) was a noted English Puritan of Staffordshire origins. She married Sir Edward Bromley, a noted lawyer and judge of the period. After his death she established a base for sheltering and supporting nonconforming ministers at Sheriffhales. Leaving the area during the English Civil War, she spent the final years of her life at Loughborough.
Origins
Margaret Bromley is identified by the heraldic visitation of Staffordshire as the daughter of Nicholas Lowe of Tymore, Enville, Staffordshire. This Enville connection has been accepted by several authorities since, including successive volumes of The History of Parliament, which name her father as Nicholas Lowe of Enville. It is true that a family named Lowe had a long history as landowners in the region and were once the lords of the manor of Enville: it passed to the Grey family in the 15th century when Eleanor Lowe, heir of Humphrey Lowe, married Robert Grey, son of the notorious marcher lord Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn. However, the house known as Tymore or Timmor was not at Enville: the Victoria County History locates it rather at Fisherwick, near Lichfield, on the other side of the county. It was part of the manor of Lichfield, which was held by the Bishop of Lichfield, although leased to the corporation of Lichfield. Parts of Tymore, including the house, some of the land and other rights, were leased for £100 to Michael Lowe and his heirs in October 1581, using the archaic device of fine of lands, by Peter Roos or Ross. Ross had himself purchased Tymore earlier that year for 400 marks. It seems certain that Margaret Lowe's father was Michael Lowe, the sole Lowe to be mentioned as a tenant of Tymore and the only Lowe resident at Tymore whose will was filed with Prerogative court of Canterbury in the relevant period. The detail of the will makes clear that he was the father-in-law of Edward Bromley. Written in July 1593, shortly after Margaret's marriage, and proved on 13 Feb 1594, it refers to two sons-in-law, George Abney and Mr. Bromley, and three daughters, Margery, Margaret, and Katherine. In his will Michael Lowe mentions his study in the Inner Temple, London, and his law books, as well as his study in Tymore, Staffordshire. His daughter Margery married George Abney and Margaret married Edward Bromley. Katherine was unmarried at the time of writing. Large numbers of relatives are mentioned in his will including Michael Lowe, a nephew and namesake, who received a considerable bequest. It is known that Michael Lowe's wife, Margaret, was buried on 1 April 1584. She was the daughter of Simon Biddulph, a mercer of Lichfield, just as Michael was the son of a Lichfield mercer, Humphrey Lowe. Hence the parents of Margaret Bromley née Lowe were:
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