WilliamBreretonEsq
Son of Randolph Brereton and Eleanor (Dutton) Brereton
Brother of Richard Brereton Knight, Peter Brereton, Joan (Brereton) Hanmer[half], Eleanor Brereton, Roger Brereton, John Brereton, Randolph (Brereton) of Malpas, Anne (Brereton) Pershall, Elizabeth (Brereton) Mainwaring and Urian (Brereton) of Hanford Knight
DescendantsFather of Thomas Brereton gent and Henry Brereton
Profile last modified | Created 21 Feb 2011
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William Brereton, Groom of the King’s Privy Chamber,[1]Steward of Holt Castle,[2]Master William Brereton, equire, Chamberlain of Chester[3]
William Brereton was born between 1487 and 1490.[1]
He was the seventh son of Sir Randle Brereton of Ipstones, Shocklach, & Malpas, Knight, Chamberlain of Chester, knight banneret and knight of the body of Henry VII, and his wife, Eleanor Dutton, the daughter of Piers Dutton of Dutton.[4] His parents had thirteen children:[4]
William and three of his brothers entered royal service.[1] William was groom of Henry VIII's privy chamber from 1524.[1] On 9 July 1527, John Puleston, serjeant of Caernarvon Castle, wrote to Master William Brereton, of the king's privy chamber, to complain about John ap Mad. ap Hoel, deputy to Sir Hugh Vaughan, sheriff, impanelling "thieves and wretches to indite his servants without cause" and requesting Brereton to bargain with Vaughan for the reversion of deputy sheriff.[5]
In 1529, Brereton married Elizabeth Savage, the daughter of Charles Somerset, first earl of Worcester, and a second cousin to Henry VIII.[1] Lady Elizabeth was the widow of Sir John Savage, the grandson of Sir John Savage, a Lancastrian commander at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. The lands of Elizabeth's former husband had, before his death, been sequestered and granted to Brereton to farm.[1] The Chamberlains' and Ministers' Accounts recorded in the "Records of the Superior and Abolished Courts &c" in 20-2 Henry VIII [1528-30] hold the accounts of the Lordships, manors, etc from the Lordship of Barrowe, late of Sir John Savage, knt, (deceased), as jointure of Dame Elizabeth Savage, his widow, now the wife of William Brereton, Esq.; also of the lands given by the King to the same William of those farmed by him.[6]
William and Elizabeth had two sons: Henry and Thomas Brereton of Barrow Gent.[7]
In reward for his work for the King, Brereton gained many grants in Cheshire and the Welsh Marches, and was made Chamberlain of Cheshire in 1531.[8] On 12 August, 24 Henry VIII [1532], a plea was heard in Chester Castle before William Brereton, esq, the King's Chamberlain, about the property of Sir Robert Sutton, knight, which refers to an Inquisition post mortem of Sir John Savage.[6] Brereton's many grants eventually brought him more than £10,000 a year.[1] However, he was ruthless, for example, he engineered the execution of Sir John Eyton for instigating the killing of one of his own retainers.[1] Complaints were heard by the Star Chamber about Brereton's ‘mayntenaunce of murderers, theves and misruled persons and bering of ill factes and dedes’ (TNA: PRO, STAC 2/14/194, 195).[1]
Thomas Cromwell, chief minister of King Henry VIII of England, 'authorised and commissioned by the king', masterminded the proceedings against the Queen, Anne Boleyn, and her co-accused,[9][10] one of whom was this William Brereton. The allegation against Brereton was that Anne solicited him on 16 November 1533, and misconduct took place on 27 November. However, Anne's daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, had been born on 7 September. This would have kept Anne in seclusion for a long time. Other charges of misconduct at Hampton Court certainly could not have happened, because at the time in question the court was at Greenwich. The historian Eric Ives argues that Cromwell added Brereton to the plot against Anne in order to end the troubles Brereton was causing in the Welsh Marches, and to reorganise (and centralise) the local government of this area.[1]
Brereton's words as he faced the executioner's axe, "The cause whereof I die, judge not. But if you judge, judge the best," may be interpreted as a cautious declaration of his innocence which would avoid the forfeiture of his estates. An indication of his wife's continued trust in her husband is provided by her bequest to her son nine years later: 'one bracelet of gold, the which was the last token his father sent me.'[9]
William, "accused of criminal intercourse with Anne Boleyn"[8] and found guilty, was beheaded on 17 May 1536, at the Tower of London, then buried at St Peter ad Vincula, Tower Green.[1]
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