Royal Lineage

According to Ormerod's pedigree of the Breretons the family are royal blood descendants from the maternal side back to Kenneth the first Celtic King of Scotland A.D. 850, and to Egbert, the first Saxon King of England, and are also related to William the Conqueror's sister Margaret .

Many of the Brereton family members also held high offices in the courts of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, James the I, Charles I and Charles II. Probably the most well known of the family members serving the royal family would be William Brereton. The reason he is best known is because he was beheaded after being accused of having an affair with King Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn. Later someone discovered that the affair had been an impossibility because Anne had been sequestered following the birth of her daughter. Unfortunately, the punishment couldn't be reversed. The television show "The Tudors" has brought recent notoriety to William Brereton in North America.

The most interesting thing about William Brereton is he held the office of groomsmen of the privy chamber of King Henry VIII. He was responsible for presenting all financial matters to the King. He kept careful letters and journals. After the beheading all of his papers were archived and offer to us today some valuable insight into the politics and handling of royal matters at the time. His journals offer more history on the Tudors than any other writings available for that time period. I am fortunate to hold a copy of his journals.


The details of Williams trial are also held in the archives for England. In the documents his name is spelled two different ways. Brereton as the English form and Bryerton as the Latin form.

Keep following this blog and you will discover some of the contents of his journal and discover the lost branch of the family.