Sir William Brereton, Soldier, 1604-61

Of Handforth (Hamford), Cheshire. He was created a baronet in 1627 and elected MP for Cheshire in 1628, but he relinquished his seat in order to travel. Whilst in the Netherlands, Brereton took a keen interest in military matters and studied siege warfare. Re-elected to Parliament in 1640, he went into opposition to the King. On the outbreak of civil war in 1642, he tried to raise troops for Parliament in Chester but was driven out by Royalist citizens. However, he was appointed Major-General of Parliament's forces in Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire where he developed an effective network of spies and agents.

In January 1643 Brereton defeated Sir Thomas Aston at Nantwich, which he then fortified and held as Parliament's headquarters in Cheshire. He collaborated with Sir Thomas Fairfax to defeat Lord Byron at Nantwich in January 1644 and clashed with Byron again in the long-drawn-out siege of Chester, which finally surrendered to him in January 1646. Brereton was one of the very few Parliamentary commanders allowed to retain both his military command and his seat in Parliament after the Self-Denying Ordinance. Sir Jacob Astley surrendered the last Royalist field army to Brereton at Stow-on-the-Wold in March 1646.

After the First Civil War, Brereton played no further part in public life, but was richly rewarded for his services to Parliament. He was given the tenancy of Croydon Palace, the former home of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1652, and died there in 1661.