quaries (elected 1763), a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, treasurer of that body, and keeper of the Black Book. He was member of parliament for Ilchester in Somerset from 1775 to 1780, and constable of Flint Castle from 1775. He died at his residence at Windsor, on 8 Sept. 1798, in his eighty-fourth year, and was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 22 Sept.
To the 'Philosophical Transactions' of 1781 he contributed an account of a storm at Eastbourne, and to the 'Archæologia' he sent several papers:
- 'Round Towers in Ireland,' ii. 80.
- 'Observations in a Tour through North Wales, Shropshire, &c.,' iii. 111.
- 'Extracts from a MS. relating to the Household of Henry VIII,' iii. 145.#'Particulars of a Discovery of Gold Coins at Fenwick Castle,' v. 166.
- 'Description of third unpublished Seal of Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France,' v. 280.
- 'Brereton Church Window,' ix. 368.
- 'Silver Coin of Philip of France,' x. 465. In vols. viii. x. xi. and xii. of the same work are particulars of various objects of antiquity exhibited by him. The paper on Brereton Church contains several unaccountable inaccuracies, which have been commented upon by Mr. Ormerod in his 'History of Cheshire.'
[John Holliday in Trans. of the Society of Arts, xix. 4-8, with portrait; same article in Chalmers's Biog. Dict.; Gent. Mag. 1798, lxviii. part ii. p. 816; Ormerod's Cheshire, ed. Helsby, 1882, ii. 573; Welch's Westminster Scholars, 1788; Return of Members of Parliament, 1878, ii. 154.]
BRERETON, THOMAS (1691–1722), dramatist, was descended from a younger branch of the noble family of Brereton in Cheshire, his father being Major Thomas Brereton of the queen's dragoons. He was born in 1691, and after attending the free school of Chester, and a boarding school in the same city, kept by a Mr. Dennis, a French refugee, he matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, 16 April 1709, proceeding B.A. 14 Oct. 1712. His father died before he reached his majority, leaving him a considerable fortune, which, however, he soon dissipated, his wife and family being compelled by destitution to retire to their relations in Wales in 1721. The same year he received from the government a small office connected with the customs at Chester. In connection with the election of a relative as member of parliament for Liverpool he wrote a libellous attack on the rival candidate, and to escape prosecution was advised to abscond. To baffle pursuit he determined to cross the Saltney when the tide was coming in. In the middle of the stream he quitted his horse, resolving to trust to his remarkable powers as a swimmer, but he was unable to reach the shore. His death took place in February 1722. Brereton was the author of two tragedies, or rather English adaptations of French plays, but they were never acted and do not possess much merit. They are:
- 'Esther, or Faith Triumphant, a sacred Tragedy in Rhyme, with a chorus after the manner of the ancient Greeks; translated with improvements from Racine,' 1715; and
- 'Sir John Oldcastle, or Love and Zeal, a Tragedy,' 1717, founded on the 'Polyeucte' of Corneille. To 'Esther' he prefixed a 'large dedication to the Lord Archbishop of York, in defence of such compositions against the rants of Tertullian and Mr. Collier.' He also published 'A Day's Journey from the Vale of Evesham to Oxford, to which are added two Town Eclogues,' no date; 'An English Psalm … on the late Thanksgiving Day,' 1716; 'George, a poem, humbly inscribed to the Right Honourable the Earl of Warrington,' 1715; and 'Charnock Junior, or the Coronation, being a Parody on Mack Flecknoe, occasioned by Dr. S——l's late exploit at St. Andrews,' 1719. This had been published in 1710, badly printed and without the author's knowledge. It is a burlesque on Dr. Sacheverell's progress after his trial.
He married Jane (b. 1685), daughter of Thomas Hughes of Bryn Griffith, Mold, Flintshire, on 29 Jan. 1711. Two daughters survived him. His wife died at Wrexham on 7 Aug. 1740. She wrote a good deal of verse in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' and elsewhere, which was collected after her death and published, together with some of her letters (1744).
[Rawlinson MSS. 4to, i. 379; Jacob's Poetical Register (ed. 1723), i. 283; Biogr. Dramatica (ed. Baker), i. 63-4; Brit. Mus. Catalogue; Mrs. Jane Brereton's Poems.]
BRERETON, THOMAS (1782–1832), lieutenant-colonel, was born in King's County, Ireland, on 4 May 1782. He went as a volunteer to the West Indies with his uncle, Captain Coghlan, in 1797, and received his commission as ensign in the 8th West India regiment in 1798, being promoted lieutenant 1800, and captain 1804. With the exception of a short term of service in Jersey in 1803-4, he appears to have remained in the West Indies until 1813, acting for a time as brigade-major to his relative, General Brereton, governor of St. Lucia, and being present at the capture of Martinique and Guadaloupe. In consequence of ill-health and of injuries received during a hurricane in 1813, he
