William Brereton, 3rd Baron Brereton
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William Brereton, 3rd Baron Brereton FRS (4 May 1631 – 17 March 1680) was an English mathematician and politician who sat in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 1659 and became Baron Brereton in the Irish peerage in 1664. He was chairman of the Committee of Accounts, better known as the Brooke House Committee, in 1667–1670. In that capacity he clashed repeatedly with
Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
, whose description of Brereton in his Second Diary, or Brooke House Journal, although no doubt biased, is the best portrait we have of the man.


Early career

Brereton was the eldest son of
William Brereton, 2nd Baron Brereton William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
of Brereton Hall, near
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
William Duncombe Pink, Alfred B. Beaven ''The parliamentary representation of Lancashire, (county and borough), 1258-1885, with biographical and genealogical notices of the members, &c.'' (1889)
/ref> and his wife Lady Elizabeth Goring, daughter of
George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich (28 April 1585 – 6 January 1663) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1628 when he was raised to the peerage. Goring was the son of George Goring of Hurstp ...
and Mary Neville. He studied mathematics and Greek at the
Orange College of Breda The Orange College of Breda ( la, Collegium Auriacum) was a college of higher learning at Breda in the Dutch Republic in the middle of the 17th century, teaching divinity, philosophy, mathematics, and law. In English it was sometimes called the A ...
, where he was tutored by John Pell.MacTutor John Pell
/ref> In 1659, Brereton was elected
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...
in the
Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...
and for Bossiney in 1660. By his own account he was a man utterly without influence at Court. Brereton became an original
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
on 22 April 1663. He inherited the Irish peerage
Baron Brereton Baron Brereton, of Leighlin in the County of Carlow, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 11 May 1624 for Sir William Brereton, of Brereton, Cheshire. William Brereton was from an old and distinguished family in Cheshire, a ...
on the death of his father in 1664. In 1668 he gave the rectory of
Tilston Tilston is a village and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was recorded as 627, reducing to 603 at the 2011 census. St Ma ...
, near Malpas to the mathematician
Thomas Branker Thomas Branker (Brancker) (1633–1676) was an English mathematician. Life He was born at Barnstaple in August 1633, the son of another Thomas Brancker, a graduate of Exeter College, Oxford, who was in 1626 a schoolmaster near Ilchester, and abou ...
.


Brooke House Committee

Brereton briefly became a figure of national importance as Chairman of the Brooke House Committee, properly called the Committee of Accounts, set up by the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
to inquire into the failures of the Navy during the
Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between Kingdom of England, England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas a ...
. By his own admission he was chosen because his lack of influence at Court, which in the climate of the times was seen as a sign of his independence. He faced a formidable opponent in Samuel Pepys, who defended the record of the Navy Office with great eloquence. Pepys' portrayal of Brereton in his Second Diary is probably not entirely fair, since it led later historians to describe Brereton as a "fat old
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
magistrate"; (in fact he lived in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and like Pepys was still in his late 30s). Yet Pepys was noted for the accuracy of his reporting, so his description of the frequent hot-tempered exchanges between them is probably accurate enough. When Brereton angrily denounced Pepys for questioning the Committee's reading of the Statute empowering them to act, Pepys replied that any Englishman may read and form his own interpretation of a public statute. When Brereton sarcastically asked if Pepys would defy the whole world, Pepys replied that he would "defy the whole world and Lord Brereton in particular". Brereton was hampered by the fact that King Charles II and his brother
James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, were present for most of the hearings and made their support for Pepys evident. James on one occasion rebuked Brereton for improper language, and when Brereton produced what he described as written proof that Pepys had taken a bribe, the King asked drily if anyone could believe that Pepys would stoop to take such a paltry sum. When the committee was dissolved, having produced no lasting results, Brereton effectively retired from public life.Bryant p.35


Family

Brereton married Frances, daughter and co-heiress of
Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (baptised 1614; died 23 July 1666 O.S., 2 August 1666 N.S.) was an English peer of the House of Lords. He succeeded to the title on 14 October 1617 on the death in infancy of his elder brother ...
and his wife Elizabeth Cecil. He died in 1680, aged only 48, and was succeeded by his sons
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
and
Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...
; on the death of Francis in 1722 the title became extinct.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, William Brereton, 3rd Baron 1631 births 1680 deaths Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Original Fellows of the Royal Society 17th-century English mathematicians English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
Barons Brereton