Francis De Breval

The Reverend Dr Francis Durant De Breval was buried in the south transept of Westminster Abbey on 29th January 1708 but there is nothing to mark his grave. His wife Susanna (Samoline) was buried in July 1719 aged 73 but in the east cloister.

Francis had been a member of the Capuchin order and preacher to the Queen Mother (Henrietta Maria). It is not certain when he came to England or became a Protestant but he was preaching in London in 1669. From 1671 he was a prebendary at Rochester cathedral and was made a prebendary at Westminster in 1675. He was also rector of Milton near Gravesend in Kent and Minister of the French church in the Savoy. Three children, Theophilus, Catherine and Henry, were baptised in the Abbey and three buried (Henry and Dorothy near the organ and Frances in the east cloister). A son John attended Westminster School and became a captain in the army and a noted author. Daughter Frances married Stephen Dampierre and their son was baptised at the Abbey. Another daughter was Mary Ann.

Further reading

For information on his son John see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004.