William (Brereton) de Brereton (abt. 1326 - aft. 1386)

Biography

William Brereton of Brereton was born about 1326, probably at Brereton cum Smethwick, Cheshire, England (he was aged 60 and more in 1386).^[1]

• William married twice:

1. Ellen Egerton in 1349 in Brereton, Cheshire, England.
2. Margaret Donne in 1354 in Brereton, Cheshire, England.
   1. Elizabeth Brereton,^[2] who was married to William de Cholmondelegh, son of Hugh de Colmondelegh.^[2] Elizabeth's husband, William, died before 49 Edward III [1375], when her father, this Sir William Brereton, paid the Black Prince, as earl of Chester, 166/3/4d for the grant of the marriages of William Cholmondeley's children Richard, Katherine and Margery, and the wardship of Richard, with the reversion of the dower of Matilda, widow of Richard de Cholmondeley, brother of Hugh, father of William.^[2]

From 13 January, 1363/4, William de Brereton, Kt, farmed all the lands and tenements of William his son, in Crouton, Workhull and Dokynton, which descended to him in fee tail on the death of Philip de Eggerton, to hold until his son William came of age, at 24 marks yearly.^[3]

In the historic contest in the Court of Chivalry between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor, both Sir William, aged 60, and his son, William, aged 32, were called to testify by Grosvenor. Sir William was one of a few witnesses also called by Scrope and for whom he refused to speak; after three admonishments for this, he was fined £20 for contumacy; however, he willingly gave evidence for Grosvenor. Sir Laurence de Dutton, Sir William de Brereton and William Danyell attested that the right of both Grosvenor and Scrope to the bend or had been previously disputed in the last expedition of Edward III in France, when Grosvenor, a minor, was there with his father-in-law, Sir John Danyell (or Daniers, of Bradley), who had challenged a Cornish esquire called Carminowe who was bearing the same arms on Grosvenor's behalf.^[1]

Sir William Brereton of Brereton and Malpas died after 3 SEP 1386, probably at Brereton cum Smethwick, when he was called to testify by Sir Robert Grosvenor.^[1]

During the reign of Richard II (1377-1399), William's first wife, Ellen de Egerton, became the sole heir to the estate of her father, Philip Egerton.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} R Stewart-Brown, “The Scrope and Grosvenor Controversy, 1385-1391.” Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire & Cheshire Volume 89, (1937), 12, 15 and 20. e-Book The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire pp. 4, 20.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} George Ormerod, ed., "Containing the hundreds of Edisbury, Wirral, and Broxton", The history of the county palatine and city of Chester compiled from original evidences in public offices, the Harleian and Cottonian mss., parochial registers, private muniments, unpublished ms. collections of successive Cheshire antiquaries, and a personal survey of every township in the county; incorporated with a republication of King's Vale royal, and Leycester's Cheshire antiquities, Vol. II, (London: Lackington, Hughs, Harding, Mavor, and Jones, 1819), accessed 28 May 2014, https://archive.org/stream/historyofcountyp02orme#page/352/mode/2up pp.352.
3. ↑ Peter Turner, comp, "Appendix II: No 1. Welsh Records: Calendar of Recognizance Rolls of the Palatinate of Chester, to the End of the Reign of Henry IV", The Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records [13 February 1875], (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1875), 53, e-book Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/annualreportdep02offigoog/page/53/mode/1up : accessed 16 October, 2022).
4. ↑ George Ormerod, The History of Chester, Vol. II, (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor and Jones, 1819), https://archive.org/stream/historyofcountyp02orme#page/62/mode/2up pp.62.

See also:

• Harleian Society. The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580, The Publicatons of The Harleian Society (London: The Society, 1882) Vol. 18, Page 41