14 Charles William Wallace 
for Allen and his family to have a “room” or box at the Theatre 
free to see plays at any or all times according as he might wish. 
Allen’s real reason for not signing lay in his objection to the 
playhouse and his desire for more money. He claimed also that 
Burbage had not spent 200/. in improvements. So on November 
20, 1585, Burbage had the property viewed by three experts in 
building, former workmen there, Bryan Ellam, William Botham, 
and William Clerke, who estimated his expenditures on buildings, 
aside from the theatre, at 220/., and so entered and signed their 
verdict in Burbage’s account-book. Still Allen refused on the 
evidence to grant the extension. Meanwhile, Burbage made still 
other improvements, and on July 18, 1586, he had six appraisers 
value his expenditures, Brian Ellam, John Griggs, William 
Botham, William Clarke, Thomas Osborne, and Richard Hud- 
son, all practical builders and later important witnesses, who 
found he had spent 240/. in the last three to five years. This 
likewise they entered and signed as their appraisement in Bur- 
bage’s account book. But Allen remained obdurate. 
Meantime, Brayne became heavily involved in debt, mainly, it 
seems, through building the George Inn in White Chapel with 
Robert Miles, goldsmith, at an expense of 800/. to go0/. as already 
noticed. He put all his property into the hands of others by 
deeds of gift to defraud creditors, and absented himself for a 
time, as also did Miles, so that when the bailiff went to levy on 
their goods and arrest them, they could not be found. 
Under this state of affairs, Brayne died in August, 1586, charg- 
ing Miles with being the cause of his death. In fact, he died from 
certain “‘stripes”’ Miles had given him, as is brought out in the 
depositions of Burbage v. Brayne in 1591-92. His will, which 
it is not necessary to publish, an old one, dated 1578, and proved 
Aug. 10, 1586, makes no mention of the Theatre. At the suit of 
the widow and executrix, Margaret Brayne, Miles was tried for 
murder at the coroner’s inquest. Yet Miles and Brayne had been 
close friends, and after this event, the widow and Miles were 
equally close friends even to her death some ten years later, 
Miles becoming then her sole legatee. Miles claimed that Brayne 
at death owed him 500/., and the widow declares in her will that 
14 
