Brereton Hall

During the Norman Conquest the land taken from the Saxon holders was divided among the companions of William the Conqueror. Each division of land was called a barony and were granted to the knights. Gilbert de Venables owned the Barony of Kinderton which consisted of six dependencies one of which was Astbury which contained Brereton. This is evidenced in the Domesday Book.

Through out the history of the family you will see many family members named William who were named after William the Conqueror. It seems that each male in the family would name one of his sons William. This makes things complicated when trying to determine the genealogy.

A description of Brereton is given in George Ormerod's history of Cheshire,
"Breerton standeth upon the London Way, two miles north from Sandbach, and hath yearly a Fair, which is held on Breerton Green on Lammasday, being the first day of August, (when the lambs are taken away from the ewes). Not far off is the Parish Church of Breerton, and near unto the church the goodly Manor Place, newly builded (1586), all of brick; the like whereof is not in all the country again. Therefore, it is not to be omitted, and not so much for the buildings as for the number of ancient and valiant knights and gentlemen who had, and have, their origin from thence."

Brereton Hall is located on a slope on the bank of the stream Croco,which collected into a lake known as Blackmere or Brereton's Lake.

In Sir Philip Sydney's "Seven Wonders of England," are the following lines,

"The Breretons have a lake, which, when the sun
Approaching warms (not else), dead logs up sends
From hideous depth,. which tribute when it ends,
Sore sign it is the Lord's last thread is spun."

This is because there is an old legend that claims that on the night of the beheading of William Brereton the lake threw up black logs from the bottom.

Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation stone of Brereton Hall because she remained connected to the Brereton family because William had stood by her mother's interests even to his own death.

Distinguished Family

The Breretons during the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries were among the most distinguished families in England. They intermarried with other noble families like the Caringtons, Cholmondeleys, Davenports, Hanmers, Traftords, Radclyffs, Edgertons, Corbets, Stanleys, Booths, etc.

The early ancestors spelled their name Brerton, Bretone, Breerton, Brierton, and Brereton. I have found over 175 different spellings of this ancient surname. The lack of standardized spelling in the English language at the time means that many spellings for the surname exist today. Many families are unaware that they are actually descendants of this family.

Sir William Brereton the IX in 1516 was the first person to adopt the current spelling and also the first person to drop the de from the surname.

Some of the Irish branch of the family used the Brierton spelling. A John Brierton in 1602 discovered the land of Martha's vineyard and Cape Cod along with Captain Bartholomew Gosnold. He wrote a book addressed to Sir Walter Raleigh on his discoveries which can be read on line through the public archives. He helped build the first English fort and storehouses and planted wheat, barley, and oats in New England.

His account of his journeys inspired John Smith (best known from the story of Pocahontas) to travel to this new found land to help settle it.

It is also believed that the John Brierton returned to England following his exploration of Massachusetts and shared tales of his adventures with his close friend William Shakespeare. It is believed that John Brierton's stories inspired Shakespeare's play the Tempest.

Sir William Brereton Bart. IV of Handford known as the "Warrior" during the Civil war obtained a large land grant in the northeastern portion of Massachusetts from Sir Fortunatus Gorges the father of the Plymouth colony in 1620.