[2] It is unknown when they moved to England but the family eventually lived in Derbyshire, where Henry was born, the sixth son of Robert Firebrace of Derby and Susan Jerome of Kegworth, Leicestershire in 1619 or 1620.
In 1648, when Charles was imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Firebrace (still trusted by the forces of Cromwell) continued to act as a conduit for illicit communications and to develop further escape plans.
One attempt, in which the plan was to lower the king to the ground using a rope, failed when Charles, who had ascertained that his head would pass through the window-frame, became lodged and was stuck there;[3][4] of this, Firebrace would later write "I gave the Signe, at the appointed tyme.
"[5]However, his attempts proved fruitless and eventually he felt bound to advise the king to "take a boat and commit yourself to the mercy of the seas, where God will preserve you"; Charles did not take this advice.
Firebrace died on 27 January 1691 and is buried in Stoke Golding; he had become wealthy and the local church, to which he bequeathed some valuable items of communion plate, contains a marble monument to him.