William Brereton

Sir William Brereton, (September 13 1604 – April 7 1661) (baronet), English soldier, politician, and writer.

Related Topics:
September 13 - 1604 - April 7 - 1661 - Baronet

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Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford and at the Inns of Court. He was elected MP for Cheshire in 1628, where his seat was Handforth Hall. He worked hard to increase the value of his estates. For example he was interested in field sports and built a duck decoy at Dodleston which became something of a commercial operation.

Related Topics:
MP - Handforth - Decoy

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In the summer of 1634 he visited Holland and the Seventeen Provinces and wrote a detailed account of his travels. He took a keen interest in military matters and studied siege warfare there at first hand. In the following year from June 11 to August 4 he journeyed through north eastern England to lowland Scotland and thence to Ireland, returning to land in England at Minehead from where he made his way back to Chester. In other years he journeyed in France and other parts of England although his records of the journeys have been lost.

Related Topics:
June 11 - August 4

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Re-elected to Parliament in 1639, he took a stand against the monarchy. In 1642, he joined the Parliamentarian forces, and was appointed to be Major-General of the Parliamentarian army for the region of Cheshire and Shropshire, where he quickly established a formidable intelligence network of spies and agents. he seiged the Royalist forces in Chester in 1645.

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Brereton masterminded the defeat of Sir Thomas Ashton at the Battle of Nantwich in 1643.

Related Topics:
Thomas Ashton - Battle of Nantwich

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A series of letter books survive in which he preserved copies of letters he wrote, especially during the Civil War.

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