Brereton

Category : Person Category : Article

One of the sculptures at the Town Hall depicts "Sir William Brereton before the Mayor's court". The story around the sculpture starts in 1485 and runs on into the Civil War and the siege of Chester.

Henry VII
The Stanleys were one of Chester's most influential families. Through their connection with the earls of Derby, they held custody of the nearby Watergate. It stands on the site previously between the Friary's of the Blackfriars and the Greyfriars. Thomas Stanley the first earl of Derby, managed to remain in favour with successive kings throughout the Wars of the Roses until his death in 1504. His estates included what is now Tatton Park in Cheshire, Lathom House in Lancashire, and Derby House in the City of London, now the site of the College of Arms. At Bosworth Field Thomas, Lord Stanley (he was the stepfather of Henry Tudor following his marriage to Margaret Beaufort) and Sir William Stanley brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be more advantageous to support. Richard III gambled everything on personally leading a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry Tudor and end the fight - Richard almost succeeded. However, seeing the king's knights separated from his army - perhaps not more than 100 in all - and open to attack, the Stanleys intervened; Sir William led his men to Henry's aid, surrounding and killing Richard. Richard III's last words were apparently "Treason! Treason! Treason!".

No sooner was the new Henry VII on his throne, the citizens of Chester were writing to him:


 * "The humble supplication and lamentable information of the Mayor, Sheriffs, Citizens, and Commonalty.. [pleaded that Chester had been] ..one of the ancient cities of the kingdom of England, and built for the holding and safeguard of the Marches and the parts adjacent, and the Port of the same City with so crowded a concourse of foreign traders landing there at a gate called the Watergate of the same City, and others bringing their merchandise,"

In 1506 got its reward for betrayal of Richard III: The GREAT CHARTER of Henry VII (1506) proceeds:


 * "know Ye that we, for the great affection which we have and bear to our City of Chester, the Citizens and Commonalty of the same City, and in consideration of the good behaviour and great expenses of the inhabitants of the same City, as also of the voluntary service many ways rendered by them against our adversaries and rebels, willing the better estate of the same City, and especially to provide for the convenience and quiet of the said Citizens, their heirs and successors, of our especial grace and certain knowledge, and mere motion, have given and granted, and do give and grant, and by these presents have confirmed for us and our heirs to the aforesaid Citizens and commonalty, their heirs and successors for ever, that the said City, and all the ground within the said City, with the suburbs and hamlets within the precinct and compass of the same, and all the ground within the precinct and compass of the said City of Chester and the aforesaid suburbs and hamlets, (wholly excepting our castle within the walls of the said City), be exempted and separated, as well by land as by water, from our shire of Chester; and that the said City, and the suburbs and hamlets of the same, and all the ground within the precinct and compass of them, (except as before excepted), be henceforth a County by and in itself distinct and separate from our County of Chester, and that from henceforth it shall be called and named the 'County of the City of Chester.'"

The charter next provided for the election of a Mayor, two Sheriffs, twenty-four Aldermen, and forty Common-Councilmen, and one Alderman was to be appointed Recorder of the City. The Charter laid out the process for electing the Mayor. Every year the freemen were to vote for aldermen and councilmen, who made up the Assembly, the ancestor of the present day City Council. The aldermen then voted for the Mayor. In practice, from a very early period after 1506, the Assembly itself elected men to fill any vacancies. There was a brief period of semi-democracy from 1693 to 1698, when the city returned to the old, "closed" system. It was not until 1761 that the freemen got to vote again, and the popular vote (for men) had to wait until 1835.

Francis Gamull
Sir Francis Gamull, 1st Baronet (1606–1654) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War and was active in the defence of Chester. Gamull was the son of Thomas Gamull. The family was of Buerton, Chester. He entered Inner Temple in November 1622. In 1634 he became mayor of Chester. He was elected Member of Parliament for City of Chester for the Long Parliament in November 1640.

During the Civil War, Gamull was very active in the defence of Chester. In June 1643 he established a town guard, of which he was colonel, and enlisted all able-bodied men between 16 and 60. After the governor, Sir Nicholas Byron, was captured in March 1644, King Charles proposed Gamull in his place, but Gamull was rejected because he was unpopular with the citizens and opposed by other royalist leaders. Gamull was disabled from sitting in parliament on 22 January 1644, but was created in the baronet of Chester in April 1644. He was nominated as mayor in 1644 but was rejected. By April 1645 there were signs of popular antagonism towards Gamull and his Welsh soldiers, as conditions under the siege became increasingly difficult. Gamull entertained King Charles at town house in Chester and was with him on the Phoenix Tower when they watched the defeat of the Royalist army at the Battle of Rowton Heath.

After the siege was ended Gamull and other Royalists were dismissed from the town's administration in October 1646, and he was fined £940. Gamull died at the age of 48 after an abortive uprising for the future Charles II. His son-in-law stated that he was executed at Exeter. The Parish Register of St. Mary-on-the-Hill in Chester states that he was buried there on 27 November 1654.



William Brereton
Sir William Brereton was the eldest son of William Brereton of Handforth in Cheshire, he inherited substantial estates in Cheshire on the death of his parents around 1610. After attending Oxford and Gray's Inn, Brereton emerged as an energetic magistrate in Cheshire during the 1620s and '30s. He was made a baronet in 1627, travelled extensively in Europe and acquired property in New England. Although Brereton failed to win a seat in the election for the Parliament of 1625, he was elected MP for Cheshire in 1628 and 1640. As a staunch Puritan, he advocated root and branch reform of the Anglican church.

Brereton was commissioned by Parliament to supervise the transportation of troops and supplies from Cheshire to Ireland to suppress the Irish Uprising in 1641.

On the outbreak of civil war in England, he tried to seize Chester for Parliament, but was driven out by the Royalist citizens. He returned to Cheshire in January 1643 and defeated Sir Thomas Aston at Nantwich on 28 January, which he then fortified and held as Parliament's headquarters in Cheshire. Appointed commander-in-chief of Parliament's forces in Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire, Brereton developed an effective network of spies and agents and conducted a relentless military campaign against the Royalists in the region.

In alliance with Sir Thomas Myddelton, Brereton seized territory in Shropshire during September and October 1643, defeated the Royalist commander Lord Capel and confined his forces in Shrewsbury. Brereton and Myddelton then advanced into north Wales, capturing Wrexham and several castles on the western side of the Dee estuary, thus threatening to blockade the Royalist stronghold of Chester. However, Brereton's forces were driven back into Cheshire by the arrival of the first wave of the King's reinforcements from Ireland. The King ordered Lord Byron to secure Cheshire for the Royalists, and Brereton was defeated at Middlewich on 26 December 1643. The following month, however, Sir Thomas Fairfax led a force of Yorkshire Parliamentarians across the Pennines to join forces with Brereton and defeat Byron's Royalists at the battle of Nantwich (25 January 1644).

From the autumn of 1644, Brereton was occupied with the long-drawn-out siege of Chester, which was defended by Lord Byron. The siege was so important to the Parliamentarian cause that Brereton was one of the few commanders allowed to retain both his military command and his seat in Parliament after the Self-Denying Ordinance of April 1645. After the surrender of Chester in January 1646, Brereton was involved in mopping up Royalist resistance in his region. Sir Jacob Astley surrendered the last Royalist field army to Brereton at Stow-on-the-Wold in March 1646.

After the First Civil War was over, Brereton was richly rewarded for his services to Parliament. He was given Eccleshall Castle in Staffordshire and acquired Croydon Palace, the former home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, Brereton's enthusiasm for public life seems to have rapidly waned. He declined to sit as one of the King's judges in January 1649 and played little part in events during the Commonwealth and Protectorate.

Sources and Links

 * The Breretons of Cheshire (e-book);
 * Brereton Hall (e-book);
 * Sir William Brereton's diary;